While it was meant to be a celebration of AC/DC’s 40th anniversary and Albert Record’s 50th, it was more accurate to describe the evening as a showcase for some of Melbourne’s finest wailing, hard and heavy rock.
Grindhouse kicked off the bill. Mick Simpson, their lead singer, is particularly impressive – he’s a big man with an even bigger set of pipes. The highlight of their set was the disgustingly-titled and excellently rock‘n’roll-driven $2 Spoof Bin.
Child followed with their brand of stoner/bluesy hard rock. Their lead singer, Mathias Northway, has some of the world’s skinniest pins and a neat turn of phrase – he described Touch Too Much, their AC/DC tune as a “Red, rockin’, throbber of a song”. Indeed it is.
Dead City Ruins absolutely nailed it. They’ve taken the tack that if you’re gonna’ lick it, you might as well fuck it. Good on them. We wish more bands would push that rock excess boat out. They sound more like Anthrax than AC/DC, but fuck, they were fun and they’re unabashedly theatrical. Jake Wiffen’s range is also extraordinary. He can hit notes that dolphins would hear.
Ostensibly, King of The North headlined. Bloody hell, they make an extraordinary sound for a two-piece, but the highlight of their set for mine was when they were joined by former AC/DC bassist Mark Evans for Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be and Highway To Hell.
Sadly, The Bad Boy Boogie Band seemed a bit tacked on. They only played Let There Be Rock and Rock‘n’Roll Damnation – with Evans on bass – but by then, the crowd had mostly dispersed. It might’ve been aural fatigue, because the bands were all ear-bleedingly loud, but that was a royal shame because it rocked. It goes without saying that no one does AC/DC as well as AC/DC, but it’s still a kick to hear those songs played live and a rare treat to have Evans playing them.
BY MEG CRAWFORD
Loved: The Bon lookalike in the audience wearing overalls.
Hated: That peeps split before the main event.
Drank: Too much Diet Coke.
