Melbourne-based band, Eagle and the Worm, released their debut album just last week. Surprising, considering their name has been on the lips of music aficionados for quite some time. On Thursday night, the 8-piece band performed at what can arguably be called Melbourne’s own version of The Cavern Club, Cherry Bar in AC/DC Lane.
We arrived on the scene at approximately 9pm. With just a small handful of people in the bar, we grabbed a cold beer and took in the sweet sounds of the Soul music of yesteryear that was playing over the PA. As time rolled on, the crowd swelled to healthy proportions and the band was received to rapturous cheers at around 10:30pm.
It’s difficult to pigeonhole Eagle and the Worm to just one genre. Instrumentalists in the band include a saxophonist, a trombonist, a trumpeter, a slide guitarist, electric guitarist, tambourine player, bassist, hybrid bass-guitar player (more on that later), acoustic guitarist, keyboardist, drummer, vocalist and a guy who rattles a tin can filled with beans.
Remember, there are only 8 people in this band. 8 talented people. Vocalist, Jarrad Brown, plays an interesting guitar which seems to be a hybrid between a bass guitar and an electric guitar. We’ve never seen anything like it before but it makes for some interesting sounds. The music has elements of funk, soul, punk, alt.country and straight up rock.
“When you only have one album out, you pretty much have to play all the songs from it,” proclaimed Brown after the first few songs. And play they did. The band performed their hearts out for just over an hour including favourites such as “Summer Song” and “Good Times” in their set. The gig ended with the band instructing the entire crowd to get down (literally) while they performed the faux-last song. This erupted into a long jam session which ended in a broken guitar string for Brown. The band returned for an encore, performing a cover of a Rolling Stones song, a band they had been channelling all night. New album, entitled “Good Times”, is out now. Check it out!
– Brett Schewitz
