Date: August 21, 2009
Venue: The Zoo, Brisbane
Acts: X, SixFtHick, The Jim Rockfords
The Jim Rockfords‘ rockabilly-blues stylings trod a fine line between chrome and grime. Bulldog-like frontman Junio Hickey’s voice isn’t the most memorable, but his harmonica interludes add verve to the pacey guitar-bass attack. Anyone who can take their eyes off bassist Kylie Lovejoys’s heart-stamped, black denim pants has no pulse.
No pretensions to subtlety or decorum, SixFtHick hammer-blast The Zoo from go to woah with sleazy antics and gritty canepunk. Ben Corbett dribbles spittle across his nipples and thrashes on the floor in ecstasy while brother and hard-roaring staight man Geoff incites the close-pressed crowd to frenzy. Amidst this mania, it’s easy to overlook “backing” trio bassist Tony Giacca, guitarist Dan Baebler and surnameless drummer Fred, but their ramrod rhythms on The Floor Is The Limit, Subject To Change, Dogshit Blues (and more) are as essential to SixFtHick as the Corbetts’ deranged on-stage machismo.
In the wake of SixFtHick’s punishing set, X prove a disappointment. Plenty are here to see the veteran Melbourne punksters, but the trio’s delivery feels a case of the flesh not quite fulfilling the demands of the spirit. Craggy-faced frontman Steve Lucas certainly looks the rebel — all black leather, faded tatoos and a ragged loop of bullets stitched to his guitar strap — but bereft of grit and intensity, there’s not enough in the tunes to hold the attention tonight.