The Vasco Era @ Oxford ArtFactory, Sydney (17/04/10)

Wed 21st Apr, 2010 in Gig Reviews

“Does anyone have a cigarette lighter?” A series of lighter go up into the air ready to be swayed along to a slow song. Sid interrupts “No, seriously, I need one to play this slide guitar. Just throw it on-stage.”

It’s this abrupt ignorance of safety, a brazen control of their crowd whilst still being grounded in the real world that makes a Vasco Era show. These are three men (plus one off-stage keyboardist) who play rock and roll straight up with a chip on their shoulder and a smirk on their faces.

Keeping a surprisingly straight face, however, was support act Simon Carter, best known as the frontman of big-in-2007 The Cops. He has since moved to something slower, more melodic and, in all honestly, absolutely forgettable. He comes along complete with a six-piece band with more redundant musicians than your average “electro” band and ends the set by butchering the few decent memories we have of him. I should commend him though; at least I woke up from the delusion that The Cops were once relevant.

The Vasco Era frontman Sid shamelessly dons a wifebeater, screeches lyrics and makes his guitar do the same, while the front fifth of the crowd moshes like this is a metal gig.

It felt like their heaving and sweating guided their instruments, rather than themselves. In a set that took just over an hour with no need for an encore, words were kept to the lyrics from sophomore album Lucille and music was kept to the maximum their bodies could endure. At times, drummer Michael and bassist Ted looked in pain; only to crack jokes at the end of the song like nothing was wrong.

But above all, above the energy, the swagger and the sweat, they were just fun. And no matter how short the set was or what it was made up of (Can we agree that covering The Smiths just isn’t your thing, okay?), they got a Saturday night crowd on Oxford Street dancing and singing along like it was the end of the world. And that is one grand feat, indeed.

Check out the photos from the gig