The Dead Daisies
Southport RSL 19.03.13
Southport RSL: a fitting venue for Australia’s new working class band.
If you like hard, honest Aussie pub rock, you’ll love The Dead Daisies. The band’s pedigree speaks for itself, comprising members from Noiseworks, Guns and Roses, INXS, Cold Chisel and The Angels. We were in good hands tonight.
The Dead Daisies kicked off the evening with a set so tight that you’d never guess it was only their second gig.
Jon Stevens energetically toyed with the crowd in a charismatic way. His vocals are reminiscent of a young Jimmy Barnes, but with more clarity, and less Smirnoff. The guitar work from Richard Fortus was stellar. Bending his way through guitar solos with ease. The Dead Daisies had the moves, and knew how to use them.
It is always hard for a new band to preform their repertoire of largely unheard of songs to an audience, as there is no ‘sing-along chorus favourite’. Despite this, with the notion of headliners ZZ Top to look forward to, the crowd greeted each song with hands in the air and boisterous applause. Carrying on with the built up momentum, The Dead Daisies finished with a solid performance of The Beatles classic, Helter Skelter, capping off their set in a very rock n’ roll fashion.
Warning: The rest of the article contains: Beard stroking, dark sunglasses, sharply dressed men and sleazy twelve bar blues.
Just as the lights started to dim, a short video, rated ‘ZZ’, was played on the visuals overhead. From what I could gather, it was about a girl in the desert, dressed in lingerie, who received mysterious gifts at her front door step from two bearded figures… and why not? When you have been playing the blues for forty years you, can do whatever you like.
Straight from the get-go any doubts about ZZ Top’s sound were put to rest. Dusty Hill’s bass sounded like an anvil being dragged behind a pissed off elephant. It was ballsy and in your face. Billy Gibbon’s voice was still in fine form after all these years- and by that I mean it sounded like he had been gargling hot engine oil for breakfast –it still sparkled on a soulful rendition of ‘Legs’, fluffy white guitars included.
Frank Beard (ironically the only clean shaven member of the band) played like a perfectly balanced machine, never missing a fill the whole set.
Tone, taste and tenacity had all been kept in check.
The band played songs from all their key albums, sprinkled with a few tracks off their latest release ‘La Futura’. Leaving the hits towards the end for a strong ride home, the lighting guy got into the encore, strobing in time with cheers from the crowd.
These three Texans exude showmanship. Billy and Dusty’s choreographed stage routine is expected but doesn’t feel forced. They are from Texas, let them line dance.
ZZ Top are a true testament to rock and roll and the blues. Why someone hasn’t carved their faces into the side of a mountain is beyond me. The key to their longevity is the fact they know what works and how to do it right. As Mr Gibbons himself professed “We’re the same three guys right here; playing the same three chords right here”, gesturing to the Fender Telecaster grasped in his left hand.
ZZ Top don’t get old, they just get dirty.
Words and Photos by Thomas Oliver
