The Ska movement is well and truly alive… just ask the sell-out crowd who ventured out to night one of two shows at the Rosemount Hotel in Perth as British heavyweights Bad Manners closed in on the end of a hugely successful Australia & New Zealand tour.
Opening tonight’s entertainment were Perth four-piece, Radio Radio, who warmed things up nicely with an array of covers destined to get the most reluctant of audiences moving. The Cures ‘Boys Don’t Cry’, Elvis Costello’s ‘Pump it Up’ and The Buzzcocks ‘Ever Fallen in Love’ were all played with fun and frantic passion, much to the excitement of the audience.
As the clock approached 9.30pm, the tension built as lights dimmed and Madness’s hit ‘One Step Beyond’ blasted through the sound system. The room was a sae of ill fitting Fred Perry tops, black and white checks and pork-pie hats as Bad Manners’ six-piece band bounded onto the stage before launching into ‘Echo 4 + 2’ and as the song drew to a close the immediately recognisable figure of lead singer and only original member Buster Bloodvessel graced the room, introducing ‘This is Ska’, as the crowd chanted the now customary, “You fat bastard, you fat bastard!
With the audience like putty in his hands, Bloodvessel, blitzed through a twenty-one set including hits ‘Special Brew’, ‘Ne-Ne-NA-Na-Na-Na Nu-Nu’ and ‘Lorraine’. Covers like ‘My Girl Lollipop’ and Frankie Valli’s ‘You Just to Good to be True’ threatened to cause structural damage to the newly renovated Rosemount Hotel. The band were lively, with choreographed jumps, spins and turns throughout the set, allowing the red jacketed Buster could concentrate on orchestrating his choir.
There were plenty of shaven heads & braces in the audience, although judging by the average age of the crowd, most of those cuts weren’t by choice, but the passion and energy of yesteryear was soon rejuvenated, as youthful legs replaced tired and aching limbs.
The baying crowd wanted more, and more they got with a three song encore which included ‘Lip Up Fatty’ and ‘Can Can’. A wonderful night in a party atmosphere. And if you want to do it all again, there is always tomorrow night.
With thanks to John Howarth and Metropolis Touring for the media access.
Photos by Shotweiler Photography
GALLERY
Radio Radio
Bad Manners
