It was a case of Kram by name and Kram by nature last night, as a packed house at The Ding Dong Lounge were treated to a show that had it all including guest appearances, offers to play house parties, countless styles of music and a whole heap of drumming.

First on stage were Perth’s The Novocaines. Sweeping the crowd up in a tornado of skinny jeans, long hair and tambourine bashing, their frenetic set of old school rock n roll, a la the Datsuns or Casanovas was the perfect way to start the night’s proceedings. Lead singer Corey Mariott is a natural front man who hurled his body around the stage like he had just jammed a fork in a toaster. He took time between tracks to talk with those in attendance and even offering to come along and play a free concert for anyone with a house that was willing to host them. Based on the fury with which they performed, a bomb shelter would be the only safe place to host these boys. The band performed tracks from their Ragdoll EP which included Lazy Hoof and the track that won them an opening slot at the WAMIs, Cup of Coffee, the latter being like pure shot of adrenalin straight to the heart.

Next on stage, were Melbourne’s own, Hot Little Hands. Whilst the Novocaine’s approach was like a sledgehammer, instantly grabbing the crowd’s attention, Hot Little Hands were a little less aggressive in their approach. They played an eclectic set that ranged from Unit-era Regurgitator synth-pop to Kinks style rock, with a little bit of disco and dance thrown in. Whilst a little less immediate and direct in their approach, the set was still a highly enjoyable one that had everyone at front of the stage dancing along to the groove-soaked bass lines and slinky, high hat driven drum beats. Their set included tracks from the debut album including Love Unusual, Scene of The Crime and Dynamite in Black and White as well as treating the crowd to a cover of Reguritator’s The Song Formerly Known As.

After over 15 years in the Australian Music Scene, Kram is a man who needs no introduction. Touring in support of his first solo release, Mix Tape, his set is packed full of so many highlights, musical guests and instrument swapping, that it is almost impossible to list it all.
Musically, his set includes a little bit of everything, rock, blues, hip-hop even some country.

Kram clearly enjoys the freedom of being able to move from behind the kit, whether it be bounding around stage with just a microphone in hand or by himself with nothing but an acoustic guitar and harmonica. Nonetheless, Kram is clearly a drummer at heart. Like Animal from the muppets he just cannot stop drumming, he drums on stage lights, tables, microphone stands, he even drums whilst playing guitar!

Over the years he has clearly learnt how to construct a set list. Starting with latest single Good Love, he gets the crowd well and truly warmed up before choosing to play slower and quieter numbers. Just as the set starts to lose even the slightest bit of energy, Kram pulls his first trick from his sleeve, as the crowd are treated to a cameo performance from none other than Tex Perkins, who in typically laid back Tex fashion, grabs a pot of beer, strolls onto stage performs one song before casually walking off into the night.

After this cameo, there is a sense of – œit cannot get much better than this’ excitement in the room. A performance of lead single Silk Suits takes advantage of this energy in the crowd, with Kram transitioning from drums, to front of stage, to off stage, to once again drumming everything in sight.

If the set was to finish there and then there would have been no complaints from anybody in attendance, however Kram is in a very generous mood tonight as he invites Australian trumpeting virtuouso, James Morrison to join him on stage for the last song of the night in a trumpet and drum jam duel, the pair locking in with each other like they had been playing together for years.

Tonight’s show clearly demonstrated that there are few things that beat a local venue, a few pints and a handful of great local acts to start your weekend. The Novocaines are a band that are just starting out and have a very bright future ahead as long as they don’t actually explode. Hot Little Hands have been around for a few years now and based on the strength and diversity of their songs it is only a matter of time before they really start to get the recognition they deserve as one of Australia’s top indie acts.

Nonetheless, even with a fantastic pairing of support acts and his little bag of tricks, there is only one true star of the show tonight: The long-haired, sunglass wearing, one man drumming machine himself, Kram.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE GIG HERE