This was a gig I had been looking forward to for a very long time, and let me tell you, it was an absolute cracker!
The very warm Melbourne weather during the day had not really cooled down during the evening and this made for a hot, steamy, stinky, sweaty and bloody (I'll get to that later) night of metal at Cherry Bar.
As I strolled down AC/DC lane towards the door I spied a few of the Heaven the Axe guys standing around having the pre-show chat and waiting to hit the stage.
We stood for a bit and talked about the ways of the world (true, we did!) as it had been quite some time since I'd seen any of the guys and girl.
It was now getting close to stage time for Heaven the Axe so I went in and got a spot near the side of the stage, shot off a few tests and then they were on!
On the money from the word go were HTA. Smashing through a set full of their style of rock n' metal and sounding very tough and heavy. Thick double guitar attack from Mat and Steve and the bottom end from Trav was sitting very nicely indeed, all while one of the three (yep, three!) HTA drummers Tommy, starts out the set in blistering form, Aramis takes over for the rest of the set behind the kit and boy does he know how to bang the bongos!
Finishing their well received set with a brand new "heavy-as-all-fuck" song "Good Things Come", saw Phoebe sing like never before, guttural and raw! WOW! Wait till you get a listen to this one ladies and gents!
I really must send the Melbourne City Council a letter of thanks for the awesome fireworks display at the end of the set, I guess they dig HTA too!!!
Frankenbok were up next.
A band that have done the rounds and played their asses off for many people over many years.
Now with a line-up thats been around for quite a few years now, they've never looked better.
Dan's vocals are spot on, Azza and Yeti are like a well-oiled-machine-of-bok and the backbone of Tim on bass and Mik behind the kit just plain kick you in the ass!
With Steve from Heaven the Axe even joining the boys on stage for a jam on "Backpack + Passport".
Sweating up a storm on stage they ripped through some classics and left the punters certainly wanting "More BOK".
King Parrot were tonights headliners.
If there is one band that from the moment they hit the stage 100% command your attention, King Parrot are that band.
Anyone who has seen a KP show knows, if you're standing front and centre, chances are Youngy is going to jump right on your skull and then laugh at you!
It's just insane, the energy and emotion that comes out of all of the KP lads in a little under an hour's set.
Manning the "seat-of-doom" for KP for a few months is Matt "Skitz" Sanders, if you've never head of Skitzy, get on "The youTube" and check out Damaged, a brutal little band from good old Ballarat (Mat from HTA was also a member too).
There also has to be a special mention to the fuckwit that through a pot glass that smashed and cut my head open, thanks ass clown! Like the metal trooper I am, I carried on shooting with blood streaming down my face which was made worse from the sweat already covering my ample forehead!! See, I told you I'd get to the blood part!!
It looks like I may also be heading on the Regional Roulette Tour with these three bands and also Abreact from Bendigo in April. I'll keep you posted on that later.
Anyways, enough from me.
Enjoy.
-F.K.P.
