Concert Review: Bobby Holidays, Superturtle, Freaks of the Deep – Clare Inn December 16, 2020
The Best Pub Gig in the World works best in an actual pub in the heart of Auckland’s iconic Dominion Road.
A genuine Irish bar. Craic,camaraderie and Guinness. Retro, Pop, Punk and Metal. Each band crack a dozen. Band members in common. Quality music and freedom of spirit and expression with the shadow of Control and Lockdown still hovering. Party like it’s over.
The Bobby Kennedys is the passion project of Robert Werry. Began 20 years ago at the (late lamented) Kings Arms. Had fun then and found himself in resurrection mode over the last few years.
Like Your Mother is an impressive start. Country Soul with a nice guitar twang and strong drum lead. The Bakersfield sound and Dwight Yoakum in feel with understated vocals.
Burn the House Down and a great ringing rolling guitar riff that echoes and brings Buddy Holly back to life. The style of Country Rock as celebrated by fans of Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers really had its genesis in Lubbock Texas, when Charles Hardin Holley first heard Elvis. A Country artist up to that point. Then Buddy was created. The Beatles followed. They end the night but be patient.
The Bobbys are Country Rock or Country Soul and the two are probably the same. Their current album which they play tonight has been recorded through the interference of Lockdown. The cover is a homage to The Buddy Holly Story in exactly the same way that the Clash designed the London Calling cover to echo the first Elvis album. Go and buy it.
The emphasis is more on the Rockabilly side of Country and this is music deeply rooted in the Sun Studios of the mid-Fifties.
Missed Opportunity has some jungle drums, a descending bass and rhythm guitar riffs. A Ubangi Stomp.
Love Is. Finn Scholes, fresh from The Abbey Road Show, joins the stage and plays a jazzy solo. Country and Pop and finishes on she loves you yeah yeah.
Train to Melbourne and also arrives Nick Atkinson on saxophone. The horns combine with a Pop Jazz hook and sound like the Stones in their Sticky Finger period with Bobby Keyes.
Both play on the released album. As does bass player Darren McShane who also produced. Aletta Johnson on harmony vocals.
With the bigger ensemble we pitch into New Orleans R’n’B.
The Happy Ending and Heavens Above has Ska to Rocksteady horns. Drum leads of the Cosimo Matissa studio courtesy of Gareth Scott. New Orleans Rockabilly.
Paul’s Called a Hui. Rhythm riff dominated Country Soul. A Gary US Bonds pastiche of sounds with some great singing.
Happens Again. The drums lead and lay down the martial law. Black Fife and Drum sound. Wild Rockabilly like Panther Burns if he got in tune and played it straight. Guitar shreds and then comes back with some Surf licks.
A great retro band to discover in the heart of Auckland.
Superturtle have been active and quietly building a musician’s reputation for 12 years. Since their debut in 2008. The Retro this time comes forward to Punk and New Wave of the later Seventies. Darren McShane leads the band and writes the material. Plays guitar and bass. Dean alternates on guitars too and sings a bit. James Still on drums.
Christmas in El Salvador is a brand-new single and kicks off their set. A nice Pop Pub-Rocker with a great ringing tone from a 12-string electric guitar.
It’s a Heartbreak also has those spectral guitar tones. Nice Pop song which ends up a bit Country. Sort of when Elvis Costello got mellow with George Jones and Merle Haggard on Almost Blue.
Bad for Business opens with tribal Punk drums like Pretty Vacant. Surf guitar licks played with some nastiness and Punk vocals. Boosts the energy of the album version.
There are a lot genres in that mix. It is kept tight and disciplined as they race through a dozen plus two songs. Smart, incisive and funny. Not discordant or abrasive. The melodic Power Pop style of that time.
Dress the Same. A Devo type jumpy dance rhythm. Borrowing a bit from another great NZ band who were also a perfect Pub Rock band. We all look the same/ We all dress the same/ But we’re not the same/ Let’s have another/ Just like the other/ We’re heading for the bar but we didn’t get very far.
I Love Those Cigarettes. Rhythmic New Wave and I mention it here as it is a direct reference to the failed referendum on legalising cannabis. Listening to this, that outcome makes even less sense. The album version starts with a huge bong hit.
Hanging in the Mall. Besides a great Power Pop song, it is scathing and humorous social commentary. As good as Guadalcanal Diary’s Always Saturday.
Robert De Niro is led by fast tribal drums and I wanted to mention my favourite actor. I swear I was not talking to you.
They have a number of albums and singles to check out.
Freaks of the Deep. Gareth Scott comes back and is out front on guitar. So, it’s his baby. We head into fast Indie Pop pitched half-way been the original Ramones sound and Husker Du. Drummer James from the’Turtles stays in the chair. There is Anthony on bass guitar and a hand-held keyboards player. I think it’s Gary.
To be more accurate, on their set they channel a lot of the sound of Sixties American Garage Rock. After the Stones kick-started that and the Yardbirds provided the riffs.
Do You Believe a perfect example. Tinny keyboards tones, bratty snarling vocals. Woke up early and stayed up late.
Rescue off a new EP is even better. Incantatory voice. The drummer powers this with fast vicious fills.
Form an Opinion has the same structure but the guitarist takes on that brutal riff style of the Stooges. Matches it with ragged singing.
36 is called a Trip song. Anthony sings. Drums like gunshots and artillery fire. The guitarist lays out some pyrotechnics. Hendrix-mutated Funk.
Let It Out addresses sexual frustration, they say. Pure Punk and closer to the original Ramones. Guitar solos with a barrage of riffs cycling through Stooges and Radio Birdman. I wanna die. As the audience is predominantly Boomer down at the Clare tonight, we are talking Viagra taken through the ear.
The Freaks bring it all back home and here comes the second Beatles reference. Helter Skelter. Written in blood on the wall. A scream of incandescent rage. The Beatles inventing Metal and much more. Given a fiery workout. When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide/ Don’t you don’t you want me to love you.
It may have just been a night at the pub with some great bands but it seemed a lot bigger than that.
Rev Orange Peel
Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Marty Duda (Freaks shots by The Rev)
