Matthew Delahunty/Tracksuit/The Coalminers Sect/Community Chest
Jimmy’s Den
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Those who arrived at the opening of the doors were treated to a rare outing from accomplished songwriter Matthew Delahunty who shared tales of love and tolerance, before Tracksuit peddled a set of their meat and potatoes rock.
The Coalminers Sect were initially a five piece, but are shedding members at a rapid rate so as their personnel no longer outnumber the amount of chords in their tunes. Towards the front end of their set, the trio played their simpler pop numbers to good effect. Jason Cleary has spent some time with Joe Algeri and come away with a stripped shirt and a touch of jangle, before the Coalminers Sect moved into their more familiar garage territory. It was a compact set that could have benefited from another guitar.
Community Chest have been slowing going from strength to strength since starting as a solo project for Adem K. Having filled stages for the past couple of years, they are a tightly run unit. Community Chest put in a confident performance that was aurally and visually appealing. De Kerimofski is more involved with each outing, adding guitar to her repertoire and leading a few tunes with her sweet, cherub-like vocals. Cyclops Extreme chugged nicely and some moments sounded like Turnstyle slowed down, with a newer tune even verging on the good side of pub rock. The Community Chest were a fuzzed-out tonic.
Tenderhooks are the band that Dan Durack and Stu Loasby have been planning on forming for more years than can be remembered. Durack’s return from the UK has meant that the outfit, born out of a love of classic rock, have finally got a full length to present to the patient punters. Always chaps with a fine turn of phrase, Tenderhooks opened with I Weakened On The Weekend, a tune full of pop sensibility and warm guitars.
Jimmy’s Den is a bit more flash than a hall in downtown Bunbury, but that didn’t stop Durack from commenting that he felt like he was playing at a ‘70s wedding. Whether in leather pants and a t-shirt or tonight’s outfit of a velvet jacket and highwayman’s hat, Durack is a commanding figure. A rougher edge appeared in the second half on the set, to warm the cockles of any Three Orange Whips fans. A cracking set of tunes, played in a way that oozes character and an encore of Pictures Of Matchstick Men with The Foxettes joining the stage to dance up a storm – what more could you ask for?
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
