Review - Floyd Vincent &
the Child Brides
@ Beach Road Hotel, Bondi
11/4/99
Like the rest of Bondi of a Sunday night, Floyd
and his Child Brides had the upstairs band-room packed to
standing-room-only. That was just for the end of the first set which ended on a
quasi-Eastern note with Big Bwana.
Working with cues rather than a set-list (which made for more spontaneity and
the occasional bass-player dance if Bill had to change guitars), the
band launched Set 2 with Chanteuse, a
latin number with all the whistles and bells.
Obviously from the reaction and attention of
the crowd through this set, those later comers were here for the band only. OK
- you’re always going to get the pool-players but they must also be getting
into the sounds because there’s dozens more tables downstairs. The rest of the
45 continued as promised (more people - more tempo) with nary an exit from the
punters, drinkers, fans or dancers. Stand-out songs included I Gave Myself To You complete with
satanic vocal-enhancement, and Mr Brain
with a drum-break extraordinaire from Robbie Siracsa.
By the time Set 3 came around, there was not
even standing room! Punters and fans alike were primed for the last songs of
the night, and many of the partiers would doubtless find somewhere else to continue
their reverie even though it was a Sunday. Shouts of ‘Come on Vince, let’s go!’
were answered with Sanity, as
straight-ahead-rock as the band seems to get. The party continued with a set
which included their latin/Aus-folk jazz combo for the drug-fucked Rock The Bondi, as well as Blue Decade with the 68
ending, and the medley that seemed to comprise songs that Floyd thinks of on the
spur, tonight being KC’s
That’s The Way (I Like It) and Led
Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love
(who would have dreamed of those songs appearing back to back on a Sydney
stage!?).
My
live introduction to Floyd was an acoustic support
spot for a Jazz act at the Basement,
but his regular nights at the BRH with his
full entourage are your ‘party to end all parties’ type of thing which, if you
don’t enjoy them, you probably weren’t in the mood to start with.