The Bellrays

Is this the greatest live band in the world? Well, perhaps on drugs.

“I don’t care how punk rock you think we are, you do not throw shit up onto this stage” screamed Lisa Kekaula the unconventionally sexy black vocalist at the crowd. A moody mix of mascara and sweat poured like tears down her face. The bass player’s red shirt and bleached hair clung to him like his own skin. Whilst their eyes seemed to roll back into their heads every so often (being the heat or the consumption of illicit drugs as the girl next to me exclaimed: “They must be coked off their faces!”). The combination of these things added to the alcohol fuelled attitude and frenzy of the hour and twenty minute set.

The older crowd crammed itself into the usually spacey Spanish Club in Melbourne’s Bohemian suburb of Fitzroy. Along the 10 metre bar, the queue was five people back. It was clear that it certainly wasn’t the best venue for the gig. The sound, although brilliant from the front dissolved into the mass of bodies the further you went away. Having only just listened to The Bellrays lastest album Have a Little Faith a couple of weeks in advance: the songs, both old and new, seemed after an hour to blur into one. More verbal crowd interaction was subjectively needed. As guitarist and primary songwriter Tony Fate declared “We don’t go out and play just twelve hits, it’s a whole communal thing. Everybody has to give something. There has to be an energy exchange. It’s not like watching a T.V. show.” The philsophy is great, but i just don't think they exchanged enough verbal themselves.

The sound as described on their website is that of “hard edged rock-meets-R&B. The sound of late sixties/early seventies Detroit”. Punked-up soul was how i thought it was.

After just over an hour and 10 minutes they walked off stage only to return a couple of minutes later for an encore of several more tunes. However much I wanted them to, The Bellrays just didn’t blow me away.

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