Hell City Glamours @ Candy'sApartment (24/03/07)

Sun 25th Mar, 2007 in Gig Reviews

Saturday night started out dreary and wet but in a tiny break between downpours I made my way through King’s Cross to Candy’s Apartment. I got there at 8 pm in order to catch all three bands and I was welcomed by the screech of guitars and shrill of an abused microphone. In true rock star style, the bands were running late and still sound checking. So after a bit of a wait, I was allowed into the venue. I’ve heard a lot of hype about the Hell City Glamours and so naturally, I was keen to experience them for myself. The other bands playing that night were both Melbourne bands that I hadn’t heard of before but the night was young and there wasn’t a better way to spend it.

The club was pretty much empty when I first stepped down into the basement, probably due to the early start and the rain. However, the audience was littered with the members of the bands playing that night and a few eager fans. I found a comfy seat from which I had a good view of the stage and it wasn’t long before the first band, the Skybombers started up. Playing, unfortunately, to a mostly empty room the band started off enthusiastically and loud. The lead singer, a Brit with Pete Doherty style and sass dominated the stage. The set was fresh, haphazard rock mostly enjoyable except for one or two songs dominated by the cymbals which echoed annoyingly in the small brick room. The band definitely set the mood and gave it everything they had and in the process gained many adoring glances from female audience members.

Next up were Devil Rock Four, four long haired guys with skinny jeans turning heads from the first chord hit. The band literally had an electrifying show when guitarist and vocalist Jonny Driver shocked his mouth on the microphone in the first song. Jonny dramatically grabbed his face and raced off stage, disrupting the energizing vibe building up. However, the band recovered by laughing the mishap off and encouraging the growing crowd to come closer with the promise that no one would be hurt. The crowd was obeyed with excitement. The rest of the performance was astounding and had everyone in the crowd, young and old tapping a foot or dancing. Both vocalists did a brilliant job and the combination of their voices screaming over the crowd was invigorating. The band definitely has potential with their “radio friendly” songs and I can’t wait to hear what they do next.

The Hell City Glamours had a hard act to follow but the lead singer Oscar McBlack drew in the crowd from the start. Clad in low cut skinny jeans and with an exposed torso covered in tattoos and donning a hat, his stage presence was captivating and reminiscent of Steven Tyler, minus the scarfed microphone. I had seen him working the room before going on stage, the man just oozed charm and personality. The band immediately drew in the large crowd with their loud guitar solos and on stage antics and made sure everyone in the room was rocking their hardest. The hype I had heard about the band fitted like Oscar’s tiny jeans. The band seems to have a large following already here in Sydney and with some massive gigs lined up (supporting the New York Dolls and Paul Stanley in the coming weeks) it’s sure to get them even more deserved attention. This band proves rock is not dead!

Overall the entire evening rocked and by watching the mood of the crowd I think this was generally the conclusion. The crowd was diverse but composed primarily of long curly haired, tight jean wearing males with a few sassy ladies strutting black angled bobs. I definitely noticed a couple of AC/DC and Motley Crue t-shirts amongst the crowd, the show was nostalgic of these rock greats. Towards the end of the evening the crowd for the next dance event starting dribbling in, and with surprise many enjoyed rocking out with the Glamours! Although a few did make a bee line for the back room where a dj was warming up.