By now, the troubled history of the inaugural Pandemonium Rocks festival has been documented ad nauseum. The last-minute withdrawals of Deep Purple, Placebo and The Dead Kennedys seemed a dire portent for a festival already sailing into the headwinds of a cost-of-living crisis that had seen similar events either cancelled or postponed. Adding to the calamity was the fact that the first of two scheduled sideshows was cancelled, and headline act Blondie were hastily installed as the co-star of the second show, headed by Alice Cooper.
Pandemonium festival promoters should not be immune from criticism, especially in-light of the data breach impacting fans seeking refunds. The media, though, should also be more measured. Instead of belabouring the absence of certain acts, it would be better to celebrate the artists that remained. Afterall, both Alice Cooper and Blondie’s Debbie Harry are well into their 70’s, this may be the last time they grace Australian shores. If the heavy-handedness of media outlets dissuaded even one fan from attending Tuesday night’s Pandemonium Rock’s sideshow, then it unfortunately deprived them of a truly magnificent, once-in-a-lifetime rock-n-roll experience.
This reviewer arrived at said experience a smidge before 5pm and a queue had already formed along the wire fence skirting the Newcastle Entertainment Centre. The crowd understandably skewed older, but amongst the faded tour-T wearing veterans of the scene, were enough youngsters to serve as a heartening reminder of rock-n-rolls cross-generational appeal. The venue itself complemented the music perfectly: dated décor and lighting that bathed the audience in a retro-wave palette of neon violets and electric blues.
Wolfmother kicked things off at 6pm. From fuzz-soaked guitars to the world’s best Robert Plant impersonator in the form of Andrew Stockdale, it should not be controversial to claim that Wolfmother wear their influences on their sleeve. While songs like ‘Rock Out’ are perhaps dangerously unoriginal, the band exude a boyish enthusiasm for their music. When combined with an incredibly tight live performance, this palpable love they have for performing makes it difficult not to bop along. Special praise should be heaped on the live sound mixing. During ‘Apple Tree’ in particular, it perfectly captured the depth and resonance of the toms as drummer Christian Condon beat out an almost tribal tattoo. Crowd favourites ‘Woman’ and ‘Joker and the Thief’ were well received and Stockdale’s Hendrix inspired guitar shenanigans were entertaining to watch.
British New Wave icons, The Psychedelic Furs, were up next and set the scene perfectly for Blondie. Resembling a funeral director who got lost on his way back from Glastonbury, frontman Richard Butler struck an enigmatic figure on stage. The opening marimba riff to ‘Love My Way’ set off excited murmurs in the audience and Butler carried the song perfectly. In what was unfortunately one of the night’s only duds, Butler struggled to find the melody for ‘Pretty in Pink’. Overall, though, the Psychedelic Furs were energetic and included enough hits in their setlist to keep the crowd engaged.
Co-headliners, Blondie stunned. Dressed in a bright pink pant suit and accompanied by pop art animations, Harry’s awkward repartee with the audience was instantly endearing. While the famous crystalline quality of Debbie Harry’s voice may have diminished with time, she has modified her delivery in most songs to accommodate the raspiness. In many ways, the added grit perfectly matches the vaguely psychotic ex-girlfriend energy Harry oozes in songs like ‘One Way or Another’ and ‘Hanging on the Telephone’.
At times, the healthy dose of nostalgia Blondie offered prompted some in the crowd to start dancing. The band took an interesting turn with ‘Tide is High’ which became an all-out sonic assault midway through that was deafening in the best way possible. Impressively, Harry was still able to hit the head notes in ‘Rapture’ and managed to deliver the somewhat dated rap section with gusto. Breathy may have bordered on breathless in parts of ‘Heart of Glass’, but Harry demonstrated incredible vocal control in keeping the song together. Up until this point the crowd had been largely sedentary, but Blondie’s energy was infectious. By the end of their set, the crowd was out of their seats, showering the New York legends in raucous standing ovation.
The lights darkened and stagehands set about transforming the stage into a courtroom. A large canvas resembling a front-page tabloid story covering Alice Cooper’s ‘trial’ descended from above and obscured the stage. Emerging ominously from the eaves, bell wielding plague doctors ushered in proceedings. Opening with ‘Lock Me Up’, a sabre brandishing Cooper sliced through the canvas drape, appearing like a demented, top hat wearing choirmaster. Cooper’s voice, always known for its scratchy quality, has taken on the timbre of Jack Daniels poured over a cigar-a-day smoking habit. The added gravel made the music much heavier. Belting out classics like ‘I’m Eighteen’ and ‘No More Mr Nice Guy’, the septuagenarian shock rocker was as energetic as ever.
The stage antics Alice Cooper is famous for were also on full display. A 10-foot Frankenstein monster chased the band during ‘Feed My Frankenstein’. Throughout ‘Snakebite’, Cooper’s pet boa constrictor leered at the audience from around his neck. Guitar virtuoso Nita Strauss showed off her chops as she descended from one of the court staircases during ‘Black Widow Jam’. However, the theatrics peaked during the ‘Ballad of Dwight Fry’. Led onto the stage by a cattle prod wielding goon, a straight jacketed Cooper gave voice to psychosis as he screamed the song’s chilling chorus. As per tradition, Cooper freed himself from his restraints at the song’s climax and killed his captors. Just as he seemed truly free, he is confronted by Sheryl Cooper, who frolicked onto stage dressed as Marie Antoinette. Sheryl leads Alice to the prop guillotine and rock-n-roll’s eccentric elder statesmen is decapitated to the delight of the crowd.
Following Cooper’s execution, guitarists Strauss, Ryan Roxie and Tommy Henriksen led the band in an instrumental interlude, exchanging face-melting guitar passages before Cooper made his return for ‘Elected’. A ‘Schools Out’ and ‘Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2’ remix rounds out the night. At some point during the last two songs, several giant, confetti filled balloons were launched into the audience, who at this point had all risen from the seats and were clamouring for more.
“Father time remains undefeated” is an adage often invoked by boxing and MMA fans to describe a fighter’s inevitable decline with age. Like professional fighters, musicians are also often victim to the ignominies of time. Whether through the drying of the creative well, or a tragic decline in physical performing ability, age reduces many great artists to shadows of their former selves. Alice Cooper and Blondie, however, remain defiant. Whether it was through listening to the radio when these artists first charted in the 70’s and 80’s; browsing the once cavernous physical media isles at the local mall; or YouTube and Spotify deep dives alone in the bedroom – great live performances transport us back to warm moments of happiness and discovery. For 4 hours on Tuesday night, Alice Cooper and Blondie did just that, proving that sometimes it is possible to turn back the clock and hold father time at bay – even if only for a night.
10/10
With huge thanks & appreciation to Maric Media for the media accreditation
