With its all-crimson, all-Jäger, and all-rock atmosphere, there seems a no more appropriate place for Sydney-based band Strangers to relinquish their music on punk-rock hungry Melburnians than Cherry Bar, and doesn’t the venue know it.
A large banner for the band hangs over what is usually reserved for the rock ‘n’ roll wall art. Suitably, a large cardboard cutout of Mark Barnes, the band’s guitarist sits next to the bar and merchandise.
Opening for the band is Home To Kelly, distinct because of its lead singer, Leigh ‘No Rules’ Waldron. His charisma and engagement with the audience excuses his otherwise crass disposition and swearing. Their band is suitably grungy and zealous, their cover of Guns N Roses “Paradise City” spurring a call for an encore.
The Vagrants follow with what would be an intense rock soundtrack, channeling a slight country tone. Lead singer Renate Ludwig is appropriately dressed in boots and a cowboy hat, and with strong vocals and superior guitar skills they draw a dissipated audience to the front of the bar.
It is at approximately 10.30pm when Strangers’ drummer, Timmy Hansen, ascends the stage and starts bashing away. Hansen’s fellow band members soon follow his lead, and the band is superbly energetic, spurring almost immediate cheers and head-bops
Lead singer, Ben Britton, dressed in all black, absorbs the crowd with his presence. His magnetic vocals, very much unlike the preceding sets, stand far above the music.
Vocalist/guitarist Mark Barnes, whose tentatively been adopted as the band’s icon, is of course dressed in the same signature black shorts, ugg boots and a leather jacket as his cardboard counterpart. That’s legit.
It’s about a half-hour into the set when the gel in Britton and Hansen’s hair turns to sweat. Band members begin to remove layers as the show demands, with Barnes losing the leather jacket.
At this point, the only gap in the audience is from those cautiously orbiting the hazardously dancing drunk couple. Everyone else seems to be engulfed, bopping to the music, some singing the lyrics.
The amount of energy the band puts into its performance is admirable, but so too the sheer enthusiasm the band has managed to share and evoke from its audience.
