LIVE REVIEW: A Fistful of Rock featuring The Angels, Baby Animals, Rose Tattoo and The Poor at Enmore Theatre, Sydney

On my arrival at in Newtown, It was fairly obvious that there was a Rock show in the vicinity. Obviously, Newtown Station is still a reasonably colourful precinct at the best of times, but the tell tale procession of black t-shirts hollering of AC/DC tunes at the traffic along Enmore Road certainly gave the game away that something was afoot.

The bill for this Fistful of Rock extravaganza, 10 months after its initial booking (in the way that things roll these days), was a godsend to lovers of Australian Classic Rock after the last 2 + years of little to no shows at all, so it was no surprise that the punters were a little wound up.

‘Wound up’ also went some way to describing The Poor’s singer Skenie, because ‘Hot Diggety’ he hit the stage like a tattooed tornado. With the opening salvo ‘Poison’ & ‘Trouble’ it’s clear that in the (at least) 25 years since I last saw the Poor boys play, he’s every bit as energetic now as he was then…Indeed by the 3^rd tune he’s in the photo pit communing with the crowd up-close. The band then play a number of new tunes, the heavy rumble of ‘Payback’s a Bitch’, a reworked version of ‘Love Shot’ from the first EP, and the moody ‘Cry Out’, before finishing strong with the inevitable ‘More Wine’ & ‘Only the Night’. New guitarist Daniel Cox, somewhat reserved early on, is spinning across the stage like the cartoon Tasmanian devil by the last song. The Poor were here for a good time, not a long time, but with a new album, and a European tour in the offing, it appears that they will definitely be haranguing waiters & scaring neighbours somewhere near you very soon.

Rose Tattoo saunter on next with little to no fanfare. But then, you don’t need introduction when you’re (still) the baddest band in town. In another universe, Rose Tattoo would be every bit as big as AC/DC. As it is, it feels like they’re more revered overseas than at home. 5’1½” of pure attitude, Angry Anderson is standing up front like he doesn’t need to prove anything at all, He’s in his element on stage! Opening with ‘Out Of This Place’ and ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll is King’, you can see why ‘the Tatts’ are so influential, a seamless blend of old school Rhythm & Blues, soul and plenty of hard rock, with lyrics that show a storytellers heart.

The set consists of one classic after another: ‘Scarred for Life’, ‘We Can’t Be Beaten’, The Zepplin-esque into of ‘Rock ‘n Roll Outlaw’ (although the detour into Eagle Rock could have stayed in the rehearsal room), finishing with ‘Nice Boys’, and off. Again, no hullabaloo, just Wham, Bam, Top That!

Baby Animals seem to draw the biggest crowd of the night. Not surprising, given that they probably have the most cross over appeal of any of the bands tonight. The set is so peppered with hits, I had forgotten just how many this band actually had over just 2 albums! Opening with ‘Rush You’, ‘We get Waste of Time’, ‘Painless’, ‘One Word’, ‘One Too Many’, ‘Early Warning’, the band is super tight, the sound is very bass-heavy, the drums kicking like a mule on an amphetamine bender, while Dave Leslie is a genuine guitar hero.

The band are right at home on the sizable Enmore stage, and they’re given a genuinely affectionate response from the crowd. Suzi playing up to the locals, singing the praises of living just up the road from the gig. (Mind you, with parking how is in Newtown, its generally easier to walk anyway). Baby Animals would have inspired a whole generation of rock bands in the heyday, but there aren’t many that can rock as hard as them even now. Finishing up with ‘Ain’t Gonna Get No Love Tonight’, the Baby Animals got plenty of love from the Enmore.

Not many bands would be able to follow the first 3 sets, but The Angels are the perfect headliner. Not having seen or heard Dave Gleeson fronting the band, I was genuinely curious to see how it would go. The thing is, he’s a really underrated singer, and does a fantastic job with his material. He’s also a lot more restrained than in his ‘day job’ with The Screaming Jets, he’s almost reverential in his performance. It’d be a tough gig singing for a band that you would have idolised growing up, but I don’t think anyone else could fill Doc Neeson’s shoes as well as Gleeso does.

After the ‘Rain’, ‘Fashion & Fame’ come early, then we get the unusual sight of Dave Gleeson on guitar for ‘Devils Gate’. ‘No Secrets’ gets the crowd sing-along “We’re the Angels, Its Friday Night… Go Nuts!”. ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again’ is followed by ‘Face The Day’ (for my money, their best song… not surprising that it was covered by Great White in 1986).

Mention needs to be made of the Brewster Brothers, the solo spot highlighting the fact that this is clearly their show, their guitars drive the whole train. Playing together their whole life with almost 50 years in this band on & off, they have a synergy that cant be faked. ‘Comin’ Down’ & ‘Shadow Boxer’ bring more crowd interaction (and loon Dancing from the singer), before finishing with ‘Long Line’ & ‘Marseilles’. The inevitable encore of ‘Can’t Shake It’ brings the curtain down on a fantastic showcase of Australian Classic rock.