The Astor Theatre continued to maintain its commitment to the rock scene with a stellar night of Australian music in the form of the Baby Animals & The Angels. Billed as ‘They Who Rock’, the double headline show was a night full of hits & highlights, going to prove that the songs these two bands wrote & still perform, remain timeless and once again The Astor proved there really is no better venue in Perth to see & hear bands like this, with full credit going to the team on the sound desk.
The night opened with the Baby Animals striding on stage before lead singer Suze DeMarchi, took to the centre mic to begin the night with four of the first five songs coming from their 1991 self-titled multi-platinum debut album starting with ‘Rush You’, before the first of many crowd favourites & arguably one of their biggest hits ‘One Word’. Sounding & looking incredible, DeMarchi toyed & teased the crowd with flirtatious fun, swigging beer from the bottle between songs, while thanking the crowd for “coming out to the show so close to Christmas”. ‘Painless’ & ‘Break My Heart’ sounded as fresh as ever, as guitarist Dave Leslie let his solos fly at every opportunity. ‘Because I Can’, ‘Bupata’ & ‘Backbone’ from 1993’s Shaved & Dangerous kept the crowd on tip toes as Suze told us during a short break between tracks that “It feels good to be home”.
Jumping forward to 2013’s ‘Hot Air Balloon’ before seamlessly slipping back to ‘One Too Many’, Baby Animals continued to show why they are continually included in festival shows like Red Hot Summer with their fan friendly brand of aussie rock. Drummer Mick Skelton & bass player Dario Bortolin effortlessly kept things in check with tight rhythm work as the band launched into the final furlong with ‘Under Your Skin’ & ‘Ain’t Gonna Get’ before closing their wonderful set with ‘Early Warning’.
The Angels are one of Australia’s rock institutions and having had the pleasure & honour of interviewing both Rick & John Brewster, I was finally getting to see one of the building blocks of this country’s rock foundations… and they didn’t disappoint in the slightest! With a back catalogue spanning 45 years the band certainly had plenty to choose from to entertain the bustling crowd, kicking off with ‘Ivory Stairs’ from 1979’s No Exit album. It’s hard to believe that vocalist Dave Gleeson has been front & centre for eight years now but you can clearly see he is enjoying every damn minute he’s there as he joyfully led the band into ‘After The Rain’ & ‘No Secrets’.
With John’s son Sam on bass, The Angels line-up may have changed over the years but clearly they have a unity most bands could only wish for after 45 years in the music industry. ‘I Ain’t The One’, ‘My Light Will Shine’ & ‘Under The Stone’ continued the night before it was crowd participation time, with a wonderful rendition of ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your face Again’, with Gleeson saying that only in Australia would fans tell their favourite band to “Get F**ked, Fuck Off” while maintaining a smile while saying it. And still the songs kept coming with ‘Skid Row’ & ‘Coming Down’ meaning we didn’t have a moment to catch our breath. Gleeson encouraged the audience to raise a glass for the dear departed Doc Neeson before ‘Face The Day’ & ‘Shadowboxer’ continued the musical history lesson and then it was another Astor choir moment with the band launching into ‘Take a Long Line’ and finishing the night with ‘Marseilles’.
Australia needs to hold its musical heritage & history close to its chest and with nearly 50 years of creating some of this country’s finest rock music, you could expect The Angels to just “go through the motions” each & every show – this most certainly isn’t the case, as the band look as hungry and full of life as they ever have. If they are at a town near you and even may not be “your thing” don’t miss out to see The Angels before it’s too late… judging by last night’s performance you have quite a while before “too late” comes round! Legends!
