Dirty Divas Done Dirt Cheap
I actually swooned at a concert on Sunday, May 23rd, 2004. I became infatuated with the lead singer of an AC/DC tribute band. The vocalist sounded very much like the late Bon Scott and had moves that just shook me to the bone. I couldn't take my eyes off of this person; the long hair, the tight jeans with the big leather belt that drew my attention over and over again to the pelvic region and the swagger that just oozed "rockstar". The guitarist was cute too, but the singer had me from the first "oi" of TNT.
By the way, just so there's no further confusion, this was an all-female AC/DC tribute band, AC/DShe. I didn't want you thinking I'd switched teams on y'all.
I'd seen a listing for this show on some time ago and thought it would be a kick to see women playing AC/DC tunes. In a way, I thought it would be sort of a joke. AC/DC's music is heavily geared towards males and the thought of females playing this stuff seemed as strange as an all male Go-Go's tribute band. (After some internet research, I found out there are a couple--my favorite name being We Got The Meat from Portland, OR).
So I called around, fishing for those who'd like to see the show.
The only takers this night were Chris Brown and Steve Portela, both of whom have links to their blogs on this site. I met them down at Club Fred around 5:30. AC/DShe's site mentioned that they'd come on at 6:00pm. I thought that to be very strange but beneficial as far as getting home at a decent hour. As it turned out, there was an opening band at 6 o'clock and they weren't awful, but I would have rather spent the time talking with Chris and Steve not having to yell to be heard and not trying to fit mini-conversations in between songs. I never did catch the name of the band, but the bassist (who laid down some nice lines, by the way) did say once, "We're back". That could have been a statement to the "in" crowd or their name--We're Back--, I just don't know. They were a decent trio with some nice riff oriented rock tunes to start their set, but they degenerated into some sort of jangly pop that still was fine to listen to, but didn't hold my complete attention. The lead singer/guitarist did a fine job, but about two-thirds into their set I leaned over to Chris and asked, "Has she played a solo yet?" He simply shook his head. Now, I really don't care about guitar solos, but a really good ripping one here and there reassures me that you know how to play that thing. But hey, there she was onstage playing rock and roll, while I sat at an unbalanced table in a resin patio chair mostly concerned about a spill of the Newcastle. Who wins here? Geeky rock dude: 0; Rock Chick: 1. I score it in her favor one to nothing because that is what forfeits are scored as.
AC/DShe took the stage and won the crowd over pretty quickly. I had a feeling that they might clunk their way through AC/DC's repertoire, being forgiven by the crowd because they're attractive and isn't it cute that these girls are trying to rock out. Man, was I wrong. Dead wrong. They were nailing it solid. I was never a huge AC/DC fan, but I'm at least familiar with most of the Bon Scott catalog. AC/DShe played the hits, B-sides and even some album tracks that I never heard on the radio back in the day. I got to hear my favorite, Sin City. I blast that one every time I head to Vegas.
The guitarist, Agnes Young--a play on the name Angus Young, was wearing a variation of Angus' schoolboy outfit. Obviously, and I'm sure to the benefit of the males in the crowd, it was fitted for a more feminine figure. This gal ripped through the songs with that six-string, playing searing solos and even doing Angus Young's signature heavy metal-cum-Chuck Berry duckwalk.
Vocalist Bonnie Scott, again with the play on names--this time Bon Scott, held most of my attention. Not just because she was....umm, let's see... how do I say this? Is the term XXXXXXXX offensive? It is? Okay, how about........oh, forget it. There's no polite way to say it; she was sexy as all hell. And she could sing. She screamed, growled, moaned and sang the crap out of those songs. Steve commented to me that if Brian Johnson, AC/DC's current lead singer, were to die that they should hire this gal. I thought about that for a moment and thought it was an excellent idea, if not a groundbreaking one. Judas Priest hired a Judas Priest tribute band singer when Rob Halford left the band and enjoyed a moderate degree of continued success. So I think AC/DC would gain a considerable larger amount of press, fan curiosity and eventual respect by putting a woman out front in one of the biggest bands in hard rock history. Upon further reflection, Steve said that Brian Johnson should have a hit put out on him so we could get Bonnie in there sooner. A little harsh, but hey, this is rock and roll baby.
Three guys went up to stand in front of the very low stage (about two feet high) and they had very large hair. Two of them had the classic 3/4 length jerseys favored by early '80s rockers like myself, although I couldn't imagine wearing one now. Their headbanging in unison looked like a rear view of the Pacer scene in Wayne's World during Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. Their antics would turn my attention away from Bonnie for a moment, then that belt buckle would catch a bit of the spotlight and guide me back home.
At one point, a pseudo punker came across the dance floor trying to stir things up a bit. The Stoner Trio were not interested. While this punker, who I thought looked from a distance like that bad guy that raced John Travolta in "Grease", was egging them on to slam dance it old school, the only response I saw from one of them looked like a celebratory belly-bump. Party on Garth. Party on Crater-Face.
At times, I would look around the club and watch people react to the band. All I saw were smiles and heads nodding in time to the crashing beat. It was then that I wondered what the true attraction was. Tribute bands are a strange beast. Are people there because they love the original band and want what could basically be described as a "live jukebox"? Or do they genuinely like the tribute band itself? I once saw a Led Zeppelin tribute band and enjoyed the show. (No, not Dread Zeppelin. They go waaay beyond tribute and on into a genre that they alone invented. DZ stories to come, but they will be epics and cannot be rushed.) This Led Zeppelin tribute band was good and put on a fine show, but basically boiled down to a really good cover band because, well, nobody sounds like Zep. On this night at Fred's, I think most people were there like I was; seeking the answer to what exactly an all girl AC/DC tribute band was all about and could they pull it off?
The answer is a resounding "Oh, hell yeah". I think my only issue with the band is their name. On paper, it is very clever; AC/DShe. We all get it. But when you're telling someone that you're going to see AC/DShe tonight, sometimes it comes out AShe/DShe and they think you are seeing AC/DC and your jaw is wired shut.
Check 'em out here at AC/DShe.com!
By the way, just so there's no further confusion, this was an all-female AC/DC tribute band, AC/DShe. I didn't want you thinking I'd switched teams on y'all.
I'd seen a listing for this show on some time ago and thought it would be a kick to see women playing AC/DC tunes. In a way, I thought it would be sort of a joke. AC/DC's music is heavily geared towards males and the thought of females playing this stuff seemed as strange as an all male Go-Go's tribute band. (After some internet research, I found out there are a couple--my favorite name being We Got The Meat from Portland, OR).
So I called around, fishing for those who'd like to see the show.
The only takers this night were Chris Brown and Steve Portela, both of whom have links to their blogs on this site. I met them down at Club Fred around 5:30. AC/DShe's site mentioned that they'd come on at 6:00pm. I thought that to be very strange but beneficial as far as getting home at a decent hour. As it turned out, there was an opening band at 6 o'clock and they weren't awful, but I would have rather spent the time talking with Chris and Steve not having to yell to be heard and not trying to fit mini-conversations in between songs. I never did catch the name of the band, but the bassist (who laid down some nice lines, by the way) did say once, "We're back". That could have been a statement to the "in" crowd or their name--We're Back--, I just don't know. They were a decent trio with some nice riff oriented rock tunes to start their set, but they degenerated into some sort of jangly pop that still was fine to listen to, but didn't hold my complete attention. The lead singer/guitarist did a fine job, but about two-thirds into their set I leaned over to Chris and asked, "Has she played a solo yet?" He simply shook his head. Now, I really don't care about guitar solos, but a really good ripping one here and there reassures me that you know how to play that thing. But hey, there she was onstage playing rock and roll, while I sat at an unbalanced table in a resin patio chair mostly concerned about a spill of the Newcastle. Who wins here? Geeky rock dude: 0; Rock Chick: 1. I score it in her favor one to nothing because that is what forfeits are scored as.
AC/DShe took the stage and won the crowd over pretty quickly. I had a feeling that they might clunk their way through AC/DC's repertoire, being forgiven by the crowd because they're attractive and isn't it cute that these girls are trying to rock out. Man, was I wrong. Dead wrong. They were nailing it solid. I was never a huge AC/DC fan, but I'm at least familiar with most of the Bon Scott catalog. AC/DShe played the hits, B-sides and even some album tracks that I never heard on the radio back in the day. I got to hear my favorite, Sin City. I blast that one every time I head to Vegas.
The guitarist, Agnes Young--a play on the name Angus Young, was wearing a variation of Angus' schoolboy outfit. Obviously, and I'm sure to the benefit of the males in the crowd, it was fitted for a more feminine figure. This gal ripped through the songs with that six-string, playing searing solos and even doing Angus Young's signature heavy metal-cum-Chuck Berry duckwalk.
Vocalist Bonnie Scott, again with the play on names--this time Bon Scott, held most of my attention. Not just because she was....umm, let's see... how do I say this? Is the term XXXXXXXX offensive? It is? Okay, how about........oh, forget it. There's no polite way to say it; she was sexy as all hell. And she could sing. She screamed, growled, moaned and sang the crap out of those songs. Steve commented to me that if Brian Johnson, AC/DC's current lead singer, were to die that they should hire this gal. I thought about that for a moment and thought it was an excellent idea, if not a groundbreaking one. Judas Priest hired a Judas Priest tribute band singer when Rob Halford left the band and enjoyed a moderate degree of continued success. So I think AC/DC would gain a considerable larger amount of press, fan curiosity and eventual respect by putting a woman out front in one of the biggest bands in hard rock history. Upon further reflection, Steve said that Brian Johnson should have a hit put out on him so we could get Bonnie in there sooner. A little harsh, but hey, this is rock and roll baby.
Three guys went up to stand in front of the very low stage (about two feet high) and they had very large hair. Two of them had the classic 3/4 length jerseys favored by early '80s rockers like myself, although I couldn't imagine wearing one now. Their headbanging in unison looked like a rear view of the Pacer scene in Wayne's World during Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. Their antics would turn my attention away from Bonnie for a moment, then that belt buckle would catch a bit of the spotlight and guide me back home.
At one point, a pseudo punker came across the dance floor trying to stir things up a bit. The Stoner Trio were not interested. While this punker, who I thought looked from a distance like that bad guy that raced John Travolta in "Grease", was egging them on to slam dance it old school, the only response I saw from one of them looked like a celebratory belly-bump. Party on Garth. Party on Crater-Face.
At times, I would look around the club and watch people react to the band. All I saw were smiles and heads nodding in time to the crashing beat. It was then that I wondered what the true attraction was. Tribute bands are a strange beast. Are people there because they love the original band and want what could basically be described as a "live jukebox"? Or do they genuinely like the tribute band itself? I once saw a Led Zeppelin tribute band and enjoyed the show. (No, not Dread Zeppelin. They go waaay beyond tribute and on into a genre that they alone invented. DZ stories to come, but they will be epics and cannot be rushed.) This Led Zeppelin tribute band was good and put on a fine show, but basically boiled down to a really good cover band because, well, nobody sounds like Zep. On this night at Fred's, I think most people were there like I was; seeking the answer to what exactly an all girl AC/DC tribute band was all about and could they pull it off?
The answer is a resounding "Oh, hell yeah". I think my only issue with the band is their name. On paper, it is very clever; AC/DShe. We all get it. But when you're telling someone that you're going to see AC/DShe tonight, sometimes it comes out AShe/DShe and they think you are seeing AC/DC and your jaw is wired shut.
Check 'em out here at AC/DShe.com!
posted by Tony at 10:10 PM
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