rock n roll | Musicosity

rock n roll

Dracorex

Get ready for an electrifying celebration of the release of Dracorex’s latest high-energy single, “Fucken Wild.”

They’ll be bringing their best to the stage alongside Dreamworm, who blend industrial, death, thrash, punk, and funk into a cosmic, otherworldly experience. Rounding out the lineup is DevilMonkey, serving up their unique “DirtyPopSpacePunk” as an epic first course.

Don’t miss this explosive night of genre-defying music at Melbourne’s most iconic live music venue! This will also be serving as birthday celebrations for both James from DevilMonkey & James from Dracorex!

John Corabi

John Corabi - Acoustic & Solo

Journeyman, stalwart or just The Mayor of Rock ‘n’ roll, John Corabi certainly needs no introduction.

As the voice of The Scream, The Dead Daisies, Union and ESP, but perhaps most notably, as the voice of Motley Crue during their brief departure from life with Vince Neil in 1994, anything featuring the raspy vocals of John Corabi cannot be mistaken.

On the eve of the release of his autobiography “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades”, in which he recounts his life from the streets of Philadelphia to the Sunset Strip and beyond, John Corabi brings his intimate solo acoustic show to Australia for the first time in what can be considered a career retrospective of sorts.

Fans can expect to hear Corabi perform music from all stages of his career intertwined with stories and anecdotes that only John Corabi can deliver.

They don’t come more seasoned than Corabi and with a wide repertoire of rock ‘n’ roll at his disposal, this will be a unique insight into one of the biggest and most recognisable voices in rock ‘n’ roll.

Perry Keyes

Perry grew up in the inner city working class area of Sydney known as Redfern. He grew up in a home populated by various uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents. Every Saturday morning his grandmother would do the house work whilst playing the likes of Ray Charles and Roy Orbison at a volume loud enough to spill out onto the neighbouring streets, lined with tightly-packed terraced houses, warehouses and textile factories.

When he was 12, he got his first guitar from the local pawn shop and within six months he’d written his first song. It was during his first year at high school that his family moved to the neighbouring area of Waterloo, with its high-rise Department of Housing blocks. It was within this environment that Perry formed the band The Stolen Holdens in 1989. Musically inspired by the likes of The Clash and Elvis Costello and lyrically taking his cue from artists like Lou Reed and Bruce Springsteen, Keyes and The Stolen Holdens developed a small but loyal following in the local Sydney music scene.

The band faded by the early 90’s and Perry re-emerged in 2003, playing solo sets featuring songs that would make up the bulk of his debut double album Meter – released in 2005 to critical acclaim and numerous years end best-of lists.

His next album The Last Ghost Train Home was received with even greater acclaim upon its release in 2007. It went on to be short-listed for the Australian Music Prize and was named the ABC Radio National Album of the Year.

Johnny Ray’s Downtown contains 16 tracks that once again draw on Perry’s local environment – the marginalised, often neglected and rapidly decaying inner city areas of Sydney – for their inspiration. These are songs about growing up, or trying to grow up, in the face of an environment that often suggests that the mere thought of getting past your late adolescence is hoping for more than what’s actually on offer.

With Sunnyholt the focus shifts west to the outer Sydney suburbs where Perry's family travelled in the late 1960s and 1970s only to find an environment devoid of infrastructure and struggling to birth a community.

Jim Salmon's Lament was released October 5, 2018. “I started thinking about the families I grew up with and a particular family that lived in the James Cook [Housing Commission] flats, a brother and sister. I thought I would write about the dad, because I was pissed off with narcissistic blokes where everything they do is fuelled by self-interest but every time it got to mentioning the kids I would start writing a song about them, so I realised that the centre of the album was the brother and sister. That is the grace in the record.”

In 2020 Perry released a series of singles including "Railway Square" and "Wentworth Park".

"I think putting the songs out at regular intervals is a good way of keeping up contact with the people that like what I do and at the same time, hopefully, have some new people hear it as well," he says. "There's a nice immediacy to it as opposed to going away for two years to record albums whilst nobody hears from you for all that time.

"Having said that, there are three albums in the can that I hope to get out in a relatively short amount of time. And, there's also a live album ready to go."

That album was Live in B-Town, and was released at the end of 2021.

Bob 'Bongo' Starkie

BOB 'BONGO' STARKIE'S SKYHOOKS SHOW -RAZOR SHARP Riffs and a lotta laughs!!! Skyhooks helped change the face of rock n roll in the 1970s with #1 and Top 10 singles to their credit, as well as two of the country's biggest selling albums, Living in the 70s and Ego is Not A Dirty Word.

Damage Inc

Sleep with one eye open, gripping your pillow tight because
Damage Inc – The Australian Metallica Tribute Band are here to KICK YOUR ARSE!

Nothing else matters once Sydney boys Clint, George, Brad and Drew light up the stage; they will Seek & Destroy! For 14 years Damage Inc has brought their Metallica Tribute to the crazy ‘Tallica fans of Australia, every show promises to be an experience you’ll never forget.

Damage Inc first hit the road in March 2004 and after playing a handful of gigs, the word quickly spread that this rocking tribute ban
d really know their stuff and were serious about moving ahead. Being able to brandish the kind of musical fire-power that Metallica has unleashed for more than three decades, Damage Inc has plugged right into the strength of Metallica’s music and helped heavy music shine.

Damage Inc recreates the live Metallica experience so well, you’ll swear you have just seen the heavy metal legends themselves. Covering songs from Metallica’s 30 plus year career, Damage Inc is a band not to be missed if you love Metallica or Heavy Metal

Keiron McDonald combo

Delighting audiences for years with their energetic and original interpretation of 1950’s rockabilly and rock ’n’ roll music, The Kieron McDonald Combo are one of the most well-known rockabilly acts in Australia.

Kieron is well known for his singing and songwriting, both at home and abroad, with a total of eight CD releases and three vinyl releases spanning 18 years. After spending many years out of Australia, Kieron teamed up with some of Melbourne’s finest roots musicians – Dave Cantrell, Andrew Lindsay and Til Vex to compliment his style of traditional rockabilly.

Totally living up to the 50s-inspired lifestyle, from the way they dress to the music they listen to and cars they drive, The Kieron McDonald Combo deliver authentic, wild, garage-style rockabilly, hillbilly bop and rock ’n’ roll music in total style that’s guaranteed to have you jivin’, boppin’ and strollin’ on the Cooly Rocks On dance floor this June 2022!

Itchy Fingers

Itchy Fingers are a four piece 50's & 60's Rock'n'Roll, Rockabilly, Rythym & Blues band from Melbourne. Formed in 1992 the band has been gigging for the last 27 years, performing at various Festivals, Pubs and clubs, dances, Hot Rod Shows, Car Club events and private functions.

Plastic Section

Plastic Section and The Vibrajets live at The Tote front bar on Sunday April 14, 3pm-6pm. Plastic Section play dirty garage rock ‘n’ roll inspired by weird rockabilly and raw rhythm & blues. Their latest album “Ready” was recently released by Outtaspace Presents to rave reviews, as was their previous album “Twisted” and their Off the Hip release “Trouble Is Our Business”.

Hank’s Jalopy Demons

Hank’s Jalopy Demons have performed publicly in Melbourne and Internationally since 1996. The latest line-up has been particularly active in seedy late night bars, where they have assailed unsuspecting victims with their well practiced and expert renditions of unadulterated Rock-a-billy music (sometimes cut with illicit substances such as late-50s garage Rock‘n’Roll and Hillbilly).

Hank Ferguson is a notorious Rock-a/Hill-billy singer, previously convicted for crimes against musical taste with the “Starliners” (1991-2002); specializing in vocal gymnastics and six-stringed acoustic guitar.

Dave Cantrell – Highly dangerous! Previous convictions include musical assault with electric guitar, vocals, steel guitar, trumpet and saxophone. Said assaults occurred between 1984 and 2011 on behalf of such bands as the “Stringbusters”, the “Straight 8s” and the “Starliners”.

Til (Snappy) Vex – Convicted of grievous bodily harm against numerous bull fiddles, electric basses and amplifiers over the last two decades. Connections with wild combinations include the highly sought after “Black Slacks”, “Rockin’ Bandits”, the “Roadsters” and “Straight 8s”.

Andrew Lindsay – known as “Mr. Rhythm” in hip circles; has served time most of his adult life for the supply of specialist drumming in such outfits as the “Roadsters”, the “Dancehall Racketeers”, the “Moonie Valley Drifters”, the “Starliners” and “Benny & the Flybyniters” between 1986 and 2012.

Thee Cha Cha Cha's

It’s a barrage of rough and raucous rock and roll from this one-woman-one-man duo out of Melbourne. Four bracing songs on a seven-inch that sit comfortably in the garage-punk oeuvre without breaking down any barriers. Distortion and dual vocalising, done right.

Thee Cha Cha Chas are Lluis Fuzzhound (also of Intoxica and Midnight Woolf - guitar, drums and vocals) and Kylie Kooks (bass and vocals), and they’ve been carving a place on the Melbourne band scene for about five years. A big burst of touring over 2019-20 had the spreading their word further afield but with that not currently an option, this vinyl EP will do. The title track articulates these crazy times.

Labelling an A and a B side can be a fraught concept in the digital era with the consumers having no respect for format, but "It's Coming After You" is strictly vinyl so don't expect to cherry-pick songs by downloading them indvidually. My own call is that the two tunes on the flip (“Day is Done” and “Midnight Bus”) edge out the title track and its companion piece, “Worried Sick”, for impact, but it’s kind of a moot point. In the end, it’s all lo-fi goodness. And I’ve just learned that “Midnight Bus” is a cover of a John D Loudermilk song.

Sam Agostino (Digger & The Pussycat) did the mastering thing so that should give you a hint of what to expect. It's available from Outtaspace’s shop. Don't be tardy.