LIVE REVIEW: ABLAZE with special guests Wicked Things and They Might Be Dead Frogs

Ablaze made a triumphant return to the stage to launch their latest single ‘Old Scratch’ at the iconic Cherry Bar on Melbourne’s Little Collins Street on Saturday night.

The evening proceedings were opened with They Might Be Dead Frogs, who are a raw, unpolished punk grunge rock band. With Doc Martens and fishnet stockings, their lead singer Laura Russo leads the band with high energy. The band consisting of bass guitar, lead guitar and drums are loud and chaotic in the perfect early style of punk. The early bird crowd created a mosh pothole (too small to call it a pit) and thoroughly enjoyed the performance. They performed an eight-song set which contained originals with plenty of non-PG rated lyrics full of angst and covers, notably “Mother” by the Idles.

Sydney-based four-piece Wicked Things, consist of four brothers but unfortunately one of the brothers was overseas, so instead of cancelling they joined forces with Dangerous Curves, with Alex Richmond on lead guitar and Kym Britten sharing vocals with Wicked Things vocalist Kaleb Hills. Wicked Things and Dangerous Curves combined for the perfect marriage of big hair hard rock. Both vocalists have big strong voices and the band was tight.

This was a Level 11 performance by the boys, with an obvious love for the music they were playing. Both Gericho on bass and Alex on lead have magical fingers which fly over the strings. If you like the movie ‘Rock star’ you would have loved this sound. The highlight for me was the final song, a cover of ZZ Top;s ‘Sharp Dressed Man, with the two lead singers and Mango from Ablaze joining the boys to sing. It was a great lead singer jam.

As already mentioned, tonight was Ablaze’s single launch of “Old Scratch” with special guest appearance of the Devil (Damien). Ablaze are a great hard rock pub band. They are a high energy party band who made you feel good with every note played. They had the crowd singing from the first chorus and captivated to the last note. Ablaze are led by vocalist Danny Slaviero, who was battling a cold after returning from the UK after a stint playing with Warbirds, but he never let the crowd or the band down with his vocals.

On drums is Mango, the cult hero of the band with the crowd chanting his name throughout the night. Matt John on Rhythm guitar, Ben Anderson on lead and one of the highlights for me was Paris Rowe the smiling, dancing, rocking-out bass guitarist. With a set of twelve songs, Ablaze set the stage and crowd on fire. Leaving everyone hot and sweaty and the floor moving from all the jumping. Ablaze pull the crowd into their act, making everyone feel part of the show. Even pouring drinks down throats when they sang “Where’s My drink?”

Ablaze closed with Screaming Jets Classic ‘Better’, which they dedicated to Paul Woseen and Aiden McGarrigle from Massive, who both recently passed away. The lead singers from all the supporting bands joined them on stage for the ultimate closing number.