Reviewed on Sunday November 22
There are few places on earth where one is likely to overhear someone ask the question, “Do you happen to have the Sesame Street disco album?” and fewer still where the answer will be yes. But that’s the Rock ‘N’ Roll & Alternative Market in a nutshell. It’s a perfect example of what happens when the niche gets writ large, and from the moment the doors of Manning House flew open, the space buzzed with a thrilling sense of community.
There were stalls dedicated to fashion; to jewellery; to obscure art horror films from the ’80s; to moustache wax. DJs blasted Gene Vincent, and a gozleme stall kept the steady flow of people fed. And of course, there was vinyl: boxes and boxes of the shiny black stuff, all supplied by Sydney’s premiere record outlets.
The live music was as varied and offbeat as one might expect. Rockabilly rising star Pat Capocci proved to be an immensely watchable performer – swathed in his beautiful American Primitive tattoos and armed with an electric guitar, he shuffled and spasmed about the stage, backed by a singularly impressive band.
Of all the groups that played, Shaggin’ Wagon were probably the outliers. But given the current decade, they may always be outliers one way or the other, and their loving throwback to the kitschy solos of ’80s hair metal and raucous ’70s choruses went down well with the respectful but entranced crowd.
Introduced as astronauts forced back to Earth by the overwhelming need to use the loo, Men Into Space set rockabilly riffs and cosmic lyrics on a collision course. As gimmicky as their unique brand of astro-billy might sound, the end result was something genuinely special, as the spacesuit-clad musicians added noodled layers of Theremin to the tracks and sent the audience into a frenzy of twirls and thrusts.
In fact, though every one of the bands played with skill and talent, one could easily have stood with their backs to the performers and watched the audience. Clad in a dizzying array of ’50s- and ’60s- inspired outfits, balancing their towers of hair, the onlookers danced with abandon, becoming active participants in the action. They moved separately but as one; unique parts of a wholly unique whole.
