‘The Rolling Stones Tribute’ teams a host of Melbourne music legends on the one stage
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24.10.2018

‘The Rolling Stones Tribute’ teams a host of Melbourne music legends on the one stage

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In 1973, The Rolling Stones touched down on Australian soil with their ‘Exile on Main Street’ tour, a string of shows which saw the band perform a monumental matinee at Melbourne’s Kooyong Tennis Centre.

 

45 years later, the memory of Jagger and co.’s visit is perpetuated by the accounts of those lucky enough to have glimpsed the band in the flesh. 

 

On the anniversary of the show in question, a special tribute will be performed by a group of Stones-loving local musicians. Dubbed The Monkey Men – a tip of the hat to The Rolling Stones’ catalogue – a band comprising You Am I’s Tim Rogers and Davey Lane, Even’s Ash Naylor and Matthew Cotter, Stephen Hadley, Bruce Haymes, and a bunch more will perform the ‘Exile on Main Street’ tour setlist, track by track. 

 

“We don’t do this tribute stuff for a living so when we do get to do it, we do it with a sense of passion,” says Ash Naylor. “Not that tribute bands aren’t passionate, I’m not saying that, its just we’re positioned from a super-fan kind of standpoint.

 

“It’s different to the psychological burden that one carries when taking your own band out on the road,” he says. “When you get to have a night playing a Stones show, it’s like jumping out of an aeroplane, you know – just go for it.”

 

Naylor cites The Rolling Stones’ musical freedom and the band’s versatility as key components to what makes them so remarkable. This sense of constant evolution offers a level of malleability when it comes to outsider interpretation.   

 

“The band grows within itself and it enables you to not have to replicate some kind of fastidious carbon copy of their music,” says Naylor. “They’re kind of like a musical feast.”

 

In addition to the thrill of performing iconic Stones tracks such as ‘Midnight Rambler’, ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ and ‘Love In Vain’ – the latter allowing the chance to throw in some slide guitar – for Naylor, the opportunity to perform alongside fellow musicians is rewarding in itself. 

 

“If you had have said to me in 1995, that in 2018 you’ll be playing a Stones show with Steve Hadley, Timmy Rogers, Davey Lane, The Wolfgramms, Jack Howard from Hunters [& Collectors], Benny Marsden, Matt from Even, myself from Even, it’d seem like a rock fantasy kind of concert,” he says. “Being on stage with Tim when he’s in his element, it’s a very thrilling thing to be a part of.”

 

As well as paying tribute to the past, 2018 has seen Naylor’s band Even breaking new ground – releasing their first album in 7 years, Satin Returns, and embarking on a subsequent tour. Though the album was a long time coming, having been in the making for four years, releasing an LP for the sake of meeting a deadline isn’t Even’s game. 

 

“The record takes as long as it takes, and if it’s a good record when it comes out I’d like to think it’ll be a good record forever,” says Naylor. “Naylor hopes it isn’t a matter of years before we see Even’s next record, though he is reluctant to put a timeframe on it. For now, he is simply glad to be doing what he loves – playing and making music. 

 

“It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s the kind of music that makes me get out of bed in the morning,” he says. “I think I’m fearful of putting out something that’s only half-baked. Part of me wants to just let this record sit for a while. That said, I just wrote two songs on the couch in a rare moment of tranquillity, so things are bubbling away all the time.”