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“home to Jimmy Barnes, home to AC/DC…and home to Bon Fucking Scott”. Before The Lazys made their Scottish debut, there was the small matter of three (count ‘em) opening bands. First up were one of two local supports, Last Alibi. As their name can often be found on gig posters in Glasgow, you might class Last Alibi as old hands at this local support malarkey. Surprisingly, they only recently released their debut EP. Vocalist Jamie Ramage has a gruff, raspy voice, which means that obvious comparisons to Spike from The Quireboys, or hair metal icons Taime Downe and Tom Keifer, will be made. This type of vocal style can sometimes hover too close to being “forced”, and you could imagine that afterwards, Ramage might have been feeling the effects of his vocal gymnastics. Musically, it’s straight up, guitar driven rock, with a hint of punk attitude (‘Generation Dead’) and a modern twist (‘Prophet and The Thief’). Guitarist Andy “Paws” Christie is a rather nifty player, and delivers some delicious guitar licks. Their all-too short set hits the spot and backs are slapped as they exit the stage and make their way to the merchandise desk. Second local support, and making their debut gig under their new moniker were Salt River Shakedown. Formerly known as Magic Trik, the Zeppelin/Rival Sons influence is strong with this one. On the subject of magic tricks, these guys have one up their collective sleeves in the guise of guitarist Alek McMillan. He comes across as quiet onstage, studious, completely lost in his playing. When he starts playing though, he fills the entire room (renamed “The Arctic” tonight – fecking Baltic it was). Retro/classic rock can be a dangerous path to tread. The fact that it’s “in” at the moment means, if it’s not played with heart and soul, then it can be relatively easy to come across as simply jumping on the bandwagon. But, Salt River Shakedown don’t suffer from such accusations, they also mix it up by pulling a track like ‘Feast For The Wolves’ out of the hat. More of a traditional power/classic metal vibe on this beauty, and the dude down the front is really going for it in the headbanging stakes. Once these guys get a more gigs under their belt, they will surely grow in stature. There is the makings of a decent band here, just waiting to stick its head up from the parapet. The job as main support for the entire European/UK tour, fell to Canadian duo The Standstills. Described as “The White Stripes body slammed by Queens Of The Stone Age”, The Standstills don’t half make one hell of a noise for just two musicians. Perhaps it’s the fact that there is only two of them onstage, but they set out to (and succeed) in rattling the foundations and giving the crowd a bit of a jolt. Lead singer/guitarist Jonny Fox is stationed at his mic stand, way over to one side in the darkness. If he was positioned front and centre then he would be obstructing the audience’s view of powerhouse drummer/vocalist Renee Couture. A very visual drummer, Couture is up high behind her kit, a kit that she proceeds to batter the living hell out of. And there’s cowbell, especially on ‘Orleans’, which has copious amounts of cowbell, love her already! Fox makes up for the insane darkness by spending every minute, when he is not at the mic, away from the mic. They play songs about “Drinking whiskey and getting fucked up” and “songs about sex”, ‘Shaker Down’ gets the heads bobbing, only for them to explode ‘Scanners’-style during ‘The Butcher’. Job. Done. Stage right in The Attic is a small curtained off area, for the bands to get ready to go onstage. Just before the intro tape started, The Lazys could be heard psyching each other up. Almost like they were in a sports-style huddle, getting the adrenaline flowing. Then the intro tape started. ‘Time To Say Goodbye’! The Sarah Brightman version, sadly not Will Ferrell at the Catalina Wine Mixer, bummer. The Lazys don’t as much take to the stage, they assault the stage. Whatever they were doing in the curtained off area certainly worked. Like the proverbial kid who ate all the blue Smarties, times five. Glasgow, buckle up, you are in for a night to remember. If you were unaware of where The Lazys hailed from, within a few minutes of hearing them, you would instantly know, Australia. Straight-up, no-bullshit, hard rock n’ roll. Not as full on AccaDacca like Airbourne, plenty of boogie, plenty of riffs, and plenty of rasp to Leon Harrison’s vocals. It’s honest, good time music that finds a home with the audience. ‘Picture Thieves’ is killer, ‘Little Miss Crazy’ is effortlessly cool, thanks to an impossible-to-resist head-bobbing guitar groove from Tom Araya’s younger self, otherwise known as lead guitarist Matty Morris. With its tale of attempting to play snooker with a piece of rope, ‘Half Mast Blues’ should have you grinning ear-to-ear, this doesn’t normally happen y’know…honest. “Wake the skipper..fire the gun!” bellowed out by Harrison, perfectly backed up by his band mates. It did take a while to sink in what the song was about, a lovely, bawdy moment that is so delightfully not-2019. Current album ‘Tropical Hazards’ is a little belter, and as expected, the setlist leans towards it in a big way. ‘Louder Than Youth’, ‘Can’t Kill The Truth’ and ‘Nothing But Trouble’ all have the floorboards creaking as the energy is ramped up a notch or three. Older tracks like ‘Shake It Like You Mean It’, ‘Howling Woman’ and the sizzling ‘Black Rebel’ have punters crowding round the merchandise desk later on, eager to seek out the hard to find earlier material. Before the band take their leave, Matty Morris goes walkabout through the crowd, ends up atop the bar and spends the next few minutes wailing away on his guitar, while the band are locking in a jam onstage. On a cold, damp, miserable Monday night, The Lazys knocked the crowd for six. Like an Aussie bush-fire, word will spread very quickly, The Lazys are a band not to be missed. Catch them during the summer at a festival near you. Review – Dave S Images – Dave J ]]>
