Reviewed onFriday June 17 (photo by Ashley Mar)
It’s nothing short of bizarre seeing a band like Black Stone Cherry in the flesh. This is the kind of band that has made a career out of soundtracking montages on sports shows and pre-match packages for WWE pay-per-views. It’s all nondescript downtuned guitar muscle and guttural Southern drawl that’s not pressed for subject matter beyond the phrase “hell yeah” and perhaps the odd mention of a truck. In direct contrast to tonight’s headliners, too, they take themselves deadly seriously. There’s not really an Australian equivalent to compare it to, either, such is the fervently American nature of what they’re doing.
At first, it’s so caveman-like and brutish that it takes one aback entirely. Eventually, however, their true colours shine through – they’re a dumb, harmless rock’n’roll band making dumb, harmless rock’n’roll. When you’re able to come to terms with that, they turn into a more entertaining prospect. They close on ‘Lonely Train’ – which, coincidentally enough, probably came to most of the audience’s attention via its appearance on WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2007 – and a sloppy, fun cover of ‘Ace Of Spades’. It might be ham-fisted, but Black Stone Cherry git ‘er done.
Call Steel Panther what you will – stupid, obvious, a poor man’s Spinal Tap. One thing you can never, ever call them, however, is non-committal. This is a band wholly dedicated to its onstage persona and the characters contained within – even when the primary focus is not on a particular member, they’re never breaking the façade. No-one would dare – there’s too much riding on all of it.
This is a complete homage to the dolled-up, bouffanted metal that ruled arenas of a bygone era. It’s routinely hilarious, both in forms of song (the faux-monogamous ‘Eatin’ Ain’t Cheatin’’, pitch-perfect ballad send-up ‘Girl From Oklahoma’) and their continuous run of banter, mostly involving sledging one another.
All jokes aside, this is a band that can certifiably shred when the time calls for it, too – Michael Starr is still able to hit a mess of high notes, and guitarist Satchel is enough of a presence to carry nearly five minutes of the show entirely on his own with a guitar solo that wanders the whole stage. He even takes over the kick drum to lead claps through a riff montage, including ‘Smoke On The Water’ and our very own ‘Advance Australia Fair’. Too much fun.
