‘THE BOYS ARE STUCK IN TOWN’ BLOW THE ROOF OFF THE BRIDGEWAY HOTEL
FEATURING BOYS FROM THE ANGELS/THE SCREAMING JETS, ICEHOUSE, ROSE TATTOO, THE ZEP BOYS & ALMOST HUMAN
In a move reminiscent of The Party Boys of the 80s, six of Adelaide’s finest musicians got together for a night of good old fashioned rock and roll.
The Party Boys were an Australian rock supergroup formed in 1982, with a floating membership of artists who weren’t currently touring with their respective bands or were having downtime from their other projects. Frontmen for the group included Richard Clapton, Shirley Strachan, Angry Anderson, John Swan, Doc Neeson, Mark Gable and Vince Contarino.
They released four live albums, a studio album and achieved a number one hit single with ‘He’s Gonna Step On You Again’.
Since the dawn of Rock ‘N’ Roll, Adelaide has proven formidable with its musical talents. Out of the continued border closures, a new supergroup has been born – appearing one night only at The Bridgeway Hotel.
Dave Gleeson, front man of not one, but two great Aussie bands, The Angels and The Screaming Jets, shared vocal duties with legendary singer from The Zep Boys, Vince Contarino. Rockin’ Rob Riley, the hard rocking guitar player from Rose Tattoo brought a whole lot of pure grunt, in conjunction with Dave Kennedy guitarist from Almost Human. The bass was provided by bass player/songwriter Stuart Rudd from The Superjesus and Keith Moon-like drumming was provided by the ever-smiling Paul Wheeler from Icehouse.
It was a welcome surprise to see the proceedings opened by newly formed YouBlues Band, Vince Contarino’s new blues outfit. They took control and “rocked the bejeezus out of the throng”, as media personality Greg Clark aptly put it when they generously performed at a SupportActSA charity event recently. The band has Dave Kennedy pulling double-duty on guitar, Joe Turtur on drums, Ron Anderson on bass, Mark Snoad on harmonica and Vince on vocals.
The band was originally put together to jam for fun because “we couldn’t play golf’ and are now being asked to play at gigs. The setlist was an interesting blend of originals and covers, including the surprising ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ by The Beatles.
Then the Boys Are Stuck in Town band, with Dave Gleeson out front initially, delivered a powerful set of good old Aussie rock with some Screaming Jets, Angels and Rose Tattoo hits.
Then Vince was back on vocals with more solid rock including Free, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin of course, Icehouse and Rolling Stones.
Both singers joined together for a Rose Tattoo number and some Animals.
One thing that could have topped off a great night was if they’d come back to do AC/DC’s ‘Let There Be Rock’ for an encore, but we certainly got our money’s worth. A great lineup of mostly Australian songs for fifty bucks!!
Chatting to some of the boys on air before the gig, it sounds like a great time was had by all at rehearsals held at Rockin’ Rob Riley’s garage/rehearsal room, where amps and guitars stand side by side with old motors and carburetors, and apparently many frothies were to be had.
Listen to the podcasts of the pre-gig chats with Dave, Vince & Rob and Stu & Paul here:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
My face still hurts, I found myself unable to wipe the smile from my face the whole time (that’s me in the centre, red top). It was so good to be out and about listening to some old time rock n roll and blues. Who was having the most fun, the band members or the audience?
Very tricky to pick the highlights in a night filled with absolute bangers, but here goes:
- With Dave singing you can’t go past favourite Jets song ‘Better’ and perennial crowd pleaser, ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again’ by The Angels.
- With Vince on vocals Led Zep’s ‘Rock n’ Roll’ and AC/DC’s ‘School Days’.
- Also loved seeing Rockin’ Rob Riley revisit his Rose Tattoo hits.
Would loved to have heard a Superjesus song, maybe one from their Jet Age album which has recently celebrated it’s 21st anniversary, but I guess they may not have had someone to do Sarah McLeod’s female vocals.
All in all, we loved the show, didn’t want it to end and want to do it all over again tonight!!
Congratulations to the Grape Organisation and House of Sap for putting a great show together.
Here’s a couple of sneaky shots from soundcheck:
Photo Credit: Victor Marshall
See Cheryl Lee on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/ThatRadioChick
Hear Still Rockin’ It Podcasts here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Qbm4HmfAXtd4SqbwqnfnA
