On Friday 12th January, I seemed to stand out, walking upstairs into the Greenroom just as
the doors open with my leather lace-up sandals, my hippie headscarf and wooden natural
jewellery. The venue manager spotted me as I may have looked a little lost and
recommended me to get some earplugs from downstairs. At that stage, I had no idea what I
just got myself into. I was starting to get a bit worried getting bashed up for not wearing
the right look, i.e. faded black jeans and an ACDC t-shirt. But I was happily surprised to find
out that the night was actually really great and that the atmosphere was fantastic – I nearly
got up to head-bang along with the mixed crowd of young and old, small yet enthusiastic
people!

Moh Van Wah opened the night and set a great pace. I must say there is nothing
worse then seeing a rock band that has short and tidy haircuts wearing ironed clothing.
Well, tonight you sure wouldn’t have been disappointed as these guys sure looked like
serious rockers with long, oily, shaggy hair flying around. If that’s not enough to satisfy your
hunger for real rock, then I don’t know what is! Their sound was a recognisable Sound
Garden, cliché 90-esk classic rock, with the lead singer sounding like a mixture of
Creed and the guy who sings the theme-song to the movie Team America,but they
defiantly gave it everything they had and did a good job that achieved a satisfied crowd.

Next up stumbles the lead singer from Mink, who had all the right antics and stage
presence to make up for 10 rock bands. The whole band had a fantastic energy, which
seemed to lift you up along with them. The drummer Stella Mozgawa, was just in a league
of her own, bashing the crap out of those skins, thumping some fantastic intros, solos, and
adding some rock drummer flair, antics and facial expressions – it could have been a one
chick band for all I cared. Despite all the crazy dancing and slinky movements from what
could have been a Mick Jagger look-a-like lead singer, all eyes seemed focused and
dazzled by one foxy drummer. The New York band seemed to have it all. Nice hooks, build-
ups, great solos and song structure, a ‘radio friendly’ vibe and just a great entertaining,
tight live set. They had something different about them, which can get you excited as a
spectator and just want to pick up a guitar and join them, as they seemed to be having the
time of their life.

Now I must say, after being awe-ed by Mink, the Hell City Glamours sure had a hard
act to follow. By this stage a lot of the crowd had left, but this didn’t worry the Sydney-
based band. The lead singer – Oscar McBlack was at times – I found – a little too pretentious
for his microphone to handle – or he may have been just plain drunk. Anyway, he called for
the drunken, long-haired crowd to surround him and rock out. He sure got them rocking
out, and they loved it. Now I’m not sure if maybe my earplugs were in wrong place or if
maybe this wasn’t their best gig, but I just couldn’t get into it. They seemed to have
everything you want in a rock band; their pants were low with bear-tattooed, sweaty
chests, long-hair – crikey – they even were good-looking boys. Their guitar solos were great,
and their set was really tight, maybe a bit too tight. I felt they seemed a little too polished
and tried a little too hard, especially their onstage rock-star antics. In the end, they lost
my attention.



But for me the highlight of the night was watching the audience. There was a particular
drunk, crazy, shaggy-haired guy in the crowd, dancing so hard that at times I felt – and he
probably thought – that he was even more a dancing rock-star than the musicians on stage! I
especially loved it when he would pause mid-head swing to reply to an SMS. Rock on dude!
Next time I’ll remember to take my earplugs, my rock clothes and wear my hair loose –
ready to rock!