“If you answer these questions correctly, the whole band will give you a blowjob!” he grins. “One, do we look fabulous?” The audience howls in the affirmative, and Honda laughs. “Good! Two – does my ass look big in this dress?” The requisite “no” filled the space. “Haha, okay, three – do you love rock ‘n’ roll?” An overwhelmingly affirmative response. “Number four, people – would you die for rock ‘n’ roll?” And the crowd went positively apeshit as Honda and company launched into opening number Cop Song.
Get You Back just flat-out rocked, a reminder of the period of time when punk-rock began to bleed into popular culture, akin somewhat to The Ramones. There was a bloody sublime cover of Blondie’s Tide Is High, and Love’s Unfair brought to mind the Calypso-tinged rock of The Police from their Regatta de Blanc days.
“Hot Melbourne boys!” Honda bellowed before playing the evening’s featured single. “After this show, you will have a dream. A wet dream. The best dream of all!” I Am A Homosexual, the first single off their upcoming debut album From Tokyo To Melbourne Town, simmers with a guitar-washed raucousness, with a great catchy chorus. It was at about that point where I thought to myself that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this album.
I think even Honda himself would probably be one of the first to agree that his voice isn’t the star of the show. Probably best described as a “bad karaoke” style, the quality (or lack of) his voice isn’t really the point of The Hondas’ free-wheeling and energetic rock ‘n’ roll dealings. Still, it was a shame that his voice seemed to have been mixed really low, so that during some songs his lyrics were completely drowned out by the music. I think Honda has some really insightful things to say about his move from Japan to Down Under, and the fact that we as an audience were deprived of this aspect of the music seemed to me to be a bit of a letdown.
But damn, what a great, boisterous show, full of double-entendres, blistering rock, fancy frocks and flowing wigs. This was brilliant pub rock, made all the sweeter having been delivered by four talented musos who just happen to look great in a frock!
BY THOMAS BAILEY
