JOHNNY CASINO'S EASY ACTION
+ THE SHIMMYS
Town Hall Hotel, North Melbourne
Friday 25 March, 2005

By PATRICK EMERY

I've just finished reading Christopher Sandford's biography of Keith Richards. The biography (which I picked up for $10 – reduced from $40 – and given the quality of the book, the sale price is far more appropriate than the original retail price) finishes by describing the metamorphasis of The Rolling Stones – originally a blues cover band that played in small smoky London clubs – into a theatrical phenomenon, playing huge stadiums with elaborate props and video screens to allow the masses to actually see their idols.

Friday night's Johnny Casino gig was the antithesis of the contemporary Stones live show. This was a performance for the true believers, housed in a room that barely held enough oxygen to accomodate the audience. The Town Hall in North Melbourne barely has a stage to speak of – there's a raised floor at the rear of the band room, but that introduces nothing more than a vague symbolic barrier between band and audience. This provided some valuable subject matter for a sociological analysis about the player/audience dichotomy in rock'n'roll.

The Shimmys had already begun their set by the time we arrived. After a number of near misses, it was finally good to get to see this band. I'm sure girl garage stuff doesn't appeal to everyone, but it was certainly well appreciated tonight. The uniform – colourful 60s tops, thick white belts, pedal pushers and beehives – provided the appropriate visual aesthetic, while the sound was raw, rudimentary and equally suitable for the occasion. The cover of The Scientists' Last Night was good to hear (far more melodic than Mach Pelican's rough and ready version), and The Who's Leaving Here caused me to search through my tape collection the next morning for a copy of Who's Missing. The weight of crowd opinion was in favour of an encore, but was apologetically dismissed by the band on the basis "that we don't know any more songs". I doubt that's true, but it was a good line upon which to finish.

With such a small space to work with, and a large sound to expel, Johnny Casino's Easy Action was never going to merely blend in with the decor. The band struggled to fit within their nominal performance area (I actually thought that Phillys Steve was a member of the audience until he launched into a ruthless guitar solo), and when you're trying to accomodate someone with the personality of the Cosmic Commander, it's even harder. I think an earlier Bar review referred to John Spittles being able to kill at 20 paces with his guitar; well tonight, he was so close he could've bayonetted the crowd with each chord.

I didn't grab a setlist, and the combination of that, alcohol consumption and the passage of time has diluted my memory of what songs were played when. But I do know it was all good – the covers (Sorry, Expressway to Your Heart, Midnight to Six) were given brutal but tender treatment, while the Chuck Berry homages Roy the Boy and Back at School gave ample opportunity for Spittles and Phillys Steve to go hammer and tongs with 50s riffs. In the midst of it all the Cosmic Commander sang (in his distinct gravelly voice), ranted (about what nobody really seemed to know) and danced (waving his maraccas at the sky in a innercity Philadelphia interpretation of some indigenous rain dance). Brother Grahame Deluxe had a look about him that made you wary of even contemplating crossing him; the brooding demeanour, denim jacket and exuberant vocal style ... heaven help anyone who claims rock'n'roll is dead.

The show built up to a crescendo that culminated with the cover of MC5's Back to Comm – how could any show that features that legendary tune be anything other than superb. Another song followed – what was it? Dunno, but whatever it was, it rocked.

It's only the end of March, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better show in 2005 than this.

BACK TO THE BAR