Shine your shoes, slick your hair, and press your best; the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies are back in town.
For one glorious night, every fedora, pair of wingtips and bowling shirt in Melbourne is crowded into the Corner Hotel to reignite their love affair with the kings of power swing.
Punters seem to be divided into hardcore fans that have followed the band’s up and down career and people that bought the “Zoot Suit Riot” cass-single back in the late 90s
Bouncing onto the stage, singer Steve Perry shoots the first of many infectious grins at the whooping crowd. Ably backed by Dan Schmid on bass and an impressively moustachioed William Seiji Marsh on lead guitar, Perry zigs, zags, spins and sways his way through “Dr Bones” and “No Mercy For Swine”.
Storing his mic down the front of his pants, the singer swirls his pelvis so violently it appears his top half is nominally attached to his bottom half.
The Daddies horn section, led by long term member Dana Heitman, add a welcome layer of bawdiness as the pin up girls dotted around the room begin to bump and grind. The venue is an acrid cloud of cigar smoke and a dirty martini away from becoming a 50s speakeasy.
Between “Doug The Jitterbug” and “Diamond Light Boogie”, Perry hoarsely apologises for his voice which is feeling the effects of a mystery illness. Thankfully, it is Perry’s talking voice that appears to be suffering more than his singing voice and apart from a missed note here and there he is in fine form. Where many others would have thrown in the towel, the singer battles on and shows the tenacity required to maintain a lengthy career in music.
Despite being oft dismissed as a one hit wonder band, their strong fan base is a credit to Perry’s clever, biting and honest songwriting.
He dedicates “Master And Slave” to the upcoming U.S. election race and “Mongoose And The Snake” is a thoughtful take on the current mortgage crisis. “Drunk Daddy” is a dark exploration of domestic violence; and while the narrative is dark, the accompanying music is almost unsettlingly upbeat and the smiling fans singing along loudly is disconcerting.
A very small crowd of people skanking as well as they can forms during “Skaboy JFK” and it is a shame that there really isn’t any room for dancing. That being said, there are a lot worse things than having too many people at your show.
A particular highlight of the show is “Wingtips”; a tale of an old man in a hospice who, missing his glory days, decides to end it all. Though it may sound depressing, Perry’s trademark chipper delivery injects some much needed humour. Cherry Poppin’ tones slide happily from ska to swing and the sold out crowd rides along happily.
“Brown Derby Jump” has the audience doing just that and anyone left standing still either joins in or is bumped out of the way as “Zoot Suit Riot” begins.
The song that broke the band into the mainstream 15 years ago is still as boisterous and catchy now as it was then. A raised perch on the empty side stage is the prime vantage point to watch the entire room shimmy themselves into a pink fit.
All being said and done, the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies proved themselves to be so much more than a one trick pony. Holding the attention of fair weather fans as well as retaining long term followers is often a tricky exercise yet the band manage to cater to both crowds and personally pique a curiosity into their extensive back catalogue.
All that is left is to light a cigarette, order an Old Fashioned and await their promised 2013 return.
