There’s a question that every old rocker must ask themselves before heading out tour to rehash some of their decades old material. You can imagine them on the morning of the big tour, muttering at their reflection in the bathroom mirror, “Are you ready for this, Slim? Yeah you’re ready.”
Yes, that’s quite an over dramatization of a situation that probably never happened but the thought must have crossed Slim Jim Phantom’s mind that, shit, maybe no one will turn out this time. Those fears would be easily allayed though considering Phantom’s part as drummer for the seminal band that brought rockabilly back from the dead in the 80s, Stray Cats.
Supporting on the night is another group of old rockers you don’t see very much of nowadays. Pioneers of Australian psychobilly, Fireballs have been gigging fairly sparsely since reuniting back in 2007 but the opportunity to support Phantom has brought them out of the coffin woodwork.
Drummer and singer Eddie Fury is zombielike with eyes glazed over and fixed on a spot at the back of the room as he barks the lyrics and talks motor mechanics between songs. “We’ve got to move this out of fourth gear,” Fury slurs before launching the band into ‘High On Speed’.
In the late 90s, Fireballs found their biggest audience but it seems there are people still around willing to throw their bodies on the line to the tune of their break neck rockabilly. Fury urges everyone to come forward as he introduces ‘Go, Go, Go’ and a minor scuffle breaks out between a couple of boot stomping quiff toting lads. Beers are spilt and punches are landed but by the end of the song everyone is patting each other on the back with big cheesy grins.
The last time Phantom came to Melbourne was in 2009 on Stray Cats’ farewell tour which was a heart melting and wild celebration of the band’s influential career. Tonight’s show seems more like a revue of the rockabilly era and subsequent revival and at times felt like Phantom was clinging onto something that should have been put to bed.
Standing to the left of the stage behind his sparse drum kit, Phantom took his iconic position that inspired many a drummer to get off the stool and out from the back. Opening with ‘Rumble In Brighton’, Phantom’s trio was quick to ensure the crowd they wouldn’t be shying away from the Stray Cats’ extensive back catalogue.
Other Stray Cats’ classics were given an airing including ‘C’mon Everybody’ and raucous closer ‘Rock This Town’ but it didn’t seem like Phantom was really feeling the songs. His head tilted to the side with a blank look of concentration on his face, it looked like he was listening out to see if they were being played accurately.
Phantom’s guitarist and singer did a half decent job recreating Brian Setzer’s singing and guitar work but seemed to miss a few of the more intricate guitar licks.
The rest of the set consisted of covers of old classics like Hank Mizell’s ‘Jungle Rock’ and newer tunes from Phantom’s other bands. Phantom only took vocals on one of the songs and cheekily noted after it that out of the three members of his old band he was the third best.
When you’re selling shows off your name then it’s probably a good idea to bring with you a shitload of your own material and not be living too much off past successes. True enough, it’s what the fans want to hear but if he tours again Phantom should be ready to champion his own work.
