I’m defeated before I even begin, ‘cause when the talent’s this awesome, how is there any chance of writing a balanced and critical review? WARNING: the following review may contain shameless gushing.
Thursday was a rainy day and Newtown’s traffic was as hideous as ever, so it was a very pleasant surprise to find The Vanguard chock full of people by the time I arrived at 9.15pm. My partner-in-funk for the evening, Miss Lydia, and I had dined across the street at the Ice & Slice and were running late due to a particularly good second gelato cocktail (the Gin Sing is spectacular). Walking into The Vanguard was like escaping from the ugly old tired world and re-entering the comforting womb, a haven of clinking glasses, warm red lights, flashing smiles and excited murmurs. I don’t know how many people there were long-time Oohlala fans and/or how many saw them recently support Bon Jovi at Acer Arena (quite the coup) but everyone seemed amped up to see singer Simon Meli strut his stuff out front of their favourite band.
Clayton Doley’s Organ Donors were laying down their smooth funk as we entered the room. Normally The Vanguard’s front-of-stage is filled with tables and chairs, but not tonight. Understanding that the punters would need extra room to shake their collective booty, all dining was moved upstairs to the mezzanine, and we were free to take over the dance floor. Clayton Doley is just a ridiculously talented keyboardist, and paired up with Jak Housden, one of this city’s greatest blues/funk/rock guitarists (solo artist, The Whitlams, The Badloves), anyone watching would have to be dead from the neck down not to move to this retro groove. Spy movie chic glides seamlessly into reggae, into purple-velvet lounge, into Southern blues, into red hot smokin’ soul, into a searing cover of the Sonny Boy Williamson classic, Help Me. Everything about these guys is totally tight, even when they’re swinging-hip loose. Groovy, baby.
So you can imagine how chuffed we were to see Doley return as part of Oohlala’s lineup for the night. Some would say that the classic lineup of Simon Meli on vocals, Tony Kvesic on guitar, Serge Coniglione on bass, and the hyperactive Shane “Steel” O’Neil on sticks needs no augmentation, but to hear Doley’s Hammond rising righteously over the top would prove the nay-sayers oh-so-wrong. When you put it all together, these guys make a collective sound that descends on the audience like a freight train.
With a set list (see below) combining blues with soul with rock ‘n’ roll, Oohlala know how to host a party. Three songs in with You Gotta Move, and the crowd (a Sydney crowd, notoriously difficult to move) is doing just like the song says. Peace And Harmony is a grand old mastadon-stomp of a song, with rock-out breaks for the hip-shakers down front, and in Kindness Of Strangers, there’s an epic guitar riff that would do Oasis or Queen proud. The Hunter by Free gets the Oohlala treatment, Meli’s voice by this time still finding unseen rafters to climb into. His is an amazing instrument – I thought they stopped making voices like his back in the era of Otis Redding and Sam Cooke? It’s warm, mature, cracked in the right places, soulful and righteous by turns. Standing alone (but for Doley on organ) halo’d by a constellation of stage lights, Meli proves he’s not just a rocker when performs the bluesy lament of Love Will Be The Death Of Me.
The cheering, clapping, stomping crowd had by this time demanded an encore, and Oohlala respond with a powerhouse version of their favourite show-stopper, One Night Only. Everyone returns to the stage for this one, and it’s a full-on, ballsy bandfest, with O’Neill standing upright and shirtless behind the kit with his sticks raised in the air, as if in worship. We in the crowd are doing likewise, hands raised in adoration, whistling, clapping, cheering… There’s a whole lotta love in this room – if Bon Jovi themselves were to take the stage now, I don’t think they could get a better audience reaction.
Show over, canned music on, ugly lights up, we trickle happily back out into the ugly night, counting down the days ‘til Oohlala’s next show. It can’t come soon enough for me.
Set list:
Water Into Wine
(I’ll Be Your) Lover Man
You Gotta Move
Peace And Harmony
Searchin’
Kindness Of Strangers
The Hunter
Get On Your Knees And Pray
Yeah People
