If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is there to hear it, does it still make a sound? If The Scare plays in Canberra and only 40 people show up, do they still rock out? Hell yes. Despite the poor turnout for such a great line-up The Scare, Jack Ladder and Cabins put together an amazing show.
As part of the Oozeevoodoo album launch tour, The Scare have been hosting pool comps before the start of their gigs. I found myself out on the first round with 7 balls on the table when Drummer Sam Pearton sunk the black. Looking back, playing the guy with the most hand-eye coordination in the band was a mistake.
The pool comp soon wrapped up and it was time for the first band in the line-up, a group of strapping young Sydney lads who call themselves Cabins. The sweeping octave jumping keys along with vocals and guitar from Leroy got the crowd’s attention as Cabins began the first song for the evening, Catcher In the Rye. While the group’s members are only just getting started on their 20’s, they’ve already brought their psych sounds on tour with both The Vines and Wolf and Cub.
Next in line for the stage was Jack ladder, with some big changes to the mix. Jack Ladder’s amazing baritone voice and cryptic lyrics remain, and so do the skin tight drainpipe jeans. However the drummer for the band seems to have been replaced by a robot, an Ace tone TR6 drum machine straight from the early 70’s. These things belong on top of organs in the dance halls of retirement homes. Still, guitarist Kirin J Callinan, puts the machine to good use, running it through a series of guitar pedals to create some unique and hypnotic beats to accompany the humans.
It seemed the enigmatic Kiss Reid was not satisfied with the small crowd, deciding to boost the numbers a little by performing amongst the punters. Fans found themselves up close and a little too personal with the singer as The Scare got to work producing yet another infamous show. Fans found themselves both embraced and tackled by Kiss. Everybody got a shot at the mike with obvious favorites being No Money and Could Be Bad. With the last song out of the way, the rest of the band where soon over the crowd barrier to join the fray. The Scare are history in the making, they are iconic, they are legendary, they are a bit crazed, but genius and madness go hand in hand and Kiss hasn’t quite crossed the line.
to listen to their music now on 
k-rad
said on the 9th Nov, 2009