[First filed: June 21, 2009 @ 15:19]
Ten rocking bands on a hectic schedule running from 5pm until after 1am.
It’s the world’s smallest rock festival and it arrives every year at The Pot Belly of Weedon Close, Belconnen.
Last night it took off again and RiotACT was there, trying to reconnect to our inner rockers.
There were plates of chicken wings, there were pint mugs of Coopers Pale.
And there was more rock and roll than you could point a chicken bone at.
None of that mopey acoustic stuff, none of the tribal beats, or latin influence, or jazz noodlings, that graces the bars of the inner north. This was bands that the ABC will never invite into the studio.
This was stuff you could bang your head to.
(Language warning for the video)
More on the acts we saw below:
Tim Maloney:
We arrived in time to see the last of the solo performers.
Tim eased the audience into the night with, well, the thoughtful sort of stuff an Inner Northican is familiar with.
An excellent Pearl Jam cover characterised his tone and mood.
Pleased To Jive You:
Oddly enough Pleased To Jive You had almost no jive content at all.
All the more amusing because their music contained a zillion other sounds, changing styles mid-song to great effect.
Some in our group thought they were just a little too cool and good looking. A nice problem to have.
Hard rocking, reminiscent at times of a cross between The Strokes and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Basically they gave us a lesson in old school rock and roll.
The Heroines:
Two girls up front, three blokes rocking away behind the Heroines are ones to watch on the Canberra music scene.
The darker haired vocalist had an astonishing talent for disappearing in pools of darkness at the front of the stage which didn’t help the photographers in the crowd (or the audience at the back of the bar). But she more than made up for it with doom-laden wailing vocals.
They’re a very tight outfit with some impressive musicianship coming from the boys at the back, if you like your girl-rock all dark and brooding. Our group was particularly impressed by the lead guitar, but thought he needed feeding more.
Paulie The Water Tiger:
No vocals at all, just instrumental metal.
I can’t recall seeing any band enjoying their music as much as this three piece.
Bass, guitar, and drums all played the part of rock gods, especially when the blokes got excited and stripped off their shirts.
Showmanship can be a rare beast on the Canberra music scene but these guys delivered it in spades while showing every sign of having an amazing time.
Ffatt Controller:
It was certainly nice to see Little Smoke’s bass drum getting out and about.
A band so bassy and boomy they made the creases in my trousers resonate. A strange experience.
Their lead singer just oozes charisma, complete with silk waistcoat, and had a really good manner with the crowd.
They stayed in the hard rock theme, but had a story telling quality in the vein of someone like Johnny Cash.
Johnny Roadkill:
Well with a name like that we’re hardly going to expect Belle and Sebastian covers are we?
They’ve got an amazing ability to sound a lot like ACDC, while still singing their own songs. In fact ACDC would be better advised to do some Johnny Roadkill numbers in favour of the dire recent album.
Roadkill’s also got a scary looking lead singer able to strut even on the Pot Belly’s small stage. A little bit of showmanship can go a long way and they’re not afraid to play the moves.
Apologies to the acts we missed. At the start: Dan Ihasz and John Lollback. At the finish: ZZG and Grassy YoYo. After six hours of pints some of our group were getting a little tired and emotional and it was time to depart.
Slideshow of the action:
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