The Vasco Era

The Vasco Era returned to the Republic for 2 shows on October 20th and 21st for their second national tour since the release of their debut “Oh We Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside” this time with The Fumes and The Novocaines in tow.

The Novocaines were the first band up; a group of young guys from Perth (several members underage) with a highly entertaining take on 60s rock with a hint of punk and clear Rolling Stones influences. The frontman’s frantic vocals were interspersed with tambourine and harmonica and the bass playing was a stand-out. For their style, the guitarist seemed to overplay a bit and should probably keep it to one solo per song and not be afraid to play to occasional power chord.

Although they revealed a potentially original sound throughout their set, rather than harbouring this they unfortunately made the mistake of occasionally venturing into generic mainstream rock and roll territory and some of the lyrics fell into the clichés of their genre.

Their performance was energetic and enthusiastic yet didn’t appear to be orchestrated or calculated as is too often the case. Although the Johnny Ramone-esque posture of the guitarist began to shit me – along with his insistence on leaning into a microphone at about stomach height. The bassist was content just to play without engaging in an over-the-top physical display, which more added to the authenticity of the performance of the rest of the band rather than detracting from it.

Having been part of a nation-wide tour at this age, I have no doubt we will be hearing more of The Novocaines over the next few years.

The Fumes were next on and seemed to have a bit of a following at the Republic after playing last year’s Falls Festival and returning to Tassie for the second time since. I personally have a soft spot for two-pieces so I was looking forward to their set. While they delivered on some fronts, they never exceeded expectations and did nothing but stick to blue-prints of the blues/rock genre. They missed the Black Keys vibe as they seemed to lack personality; the improvisation all ran a bit too smooth and they refused to keep it simple (again, the occasional power chord would be nice.)

They delivered for the crowd though, and the radio-flogged Automobile was obviously a favourite of many. Although they were nonetheless quite enjoyable to watch and obviously talented at what they were doing, I couldn’t help but feel like their set was all blending into the one song. I guess this happens with the blues/rock style and open tuning, although the drumming was original and powerful at times and helped make this less obvious.

The Vasco Era took to the stage and began with singer/guitarist Sid covering Bob Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country” before launching into a set of material mostly from their album. The newer material being a lot heavier and faster than the sound on their first few releases really compliments their vigorous and dynamic live performance. Throughout the set were snippets of songs by The White Stripes (…I Ain’t That Lonely Yet) and the Beatles (Happiness is a Warm Gun) as Sid showed his extraordinary ability to interpret the material of other artists.

As is the case at every Vasco Era gig, the members of the crowd less familiar with the work of the band took to repetitively yelling out “play Kingswood!” to the annoyance of the rest of the crowd and apparently the band themselves. Although it is arguably their “hit” song, I don’t feel like it belongs in their set anymore with its simplicity and almost cheesiness - it certainly no longer stands out in comparison to the performances of their newer songs. I get the impression the band feels the same way about the song, but continue to play it to shut up the crowd.

Most reviews of the band focus on frontman Sid; singing within an inch of breaking my voice and soloing with bleeding fingers. While all this is true, for me the rhythm section is what makes a Vasco Era performance unique and enjoyable. Having seen them perform several times, bassist Ted and drummer Fitzy never give any less than 100% and it puzzles me how this so often goes without being commended. At the height of a basketballer, Ted’s energetic performance appears slightly unusual but adds so much to the intensity of the band’s performance. Drummer Fitzy hits the drums harder than any other drummer I have ever seen and looks as if he is trying to destroy his cymbals.

The highlight of the set was the finale – Honey Bee, in which Fitzy took to drumming upright and the drummer from The Fumes and frontman from The Novocaines joined them on stage attacking Sid’s set of drums and stealing Fitzy’s snare to blow apart the remainder of the song.

While I enjoyed their set, I felt like something was missing for The Vasco Era that night – Sid seemed a little sick and perhaps they were just having an off night, so I decided to head along to the gig the following night. Being a Sunday, the crowd was much different, and much smaller. This was only a good thing for The Vasco Era, who put their efforts the previous night to shame – with a set twice as loud, energetic and fun. The small crowd created a much more intimate feel and without the bunch of jocks from the previous night, The Vasco Era really settled into themselves – enough to bring out a few unexpected White Stripes and Kings Of Leon covers; which along with the finale again, where the highlight of the performance.

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