The Australian Guitar Legends Show
I went to a simply awesome gig last night at The Basement in Sydney, featuring some living legends of Australian guitar playing. Organised by the keyboardist from The Bluezone, Parris Macleod, the show featured a wonderful array of Aussie guitar talent, all very ably backed by The Bluezone themselves.The lineup was Izzy Osmanovich, Peter Northcote, Phil Manning, Mal Eastick, Phil Emmanuel and Kevin Borich.I’ve had the pleasure of seeing all of these guys play before in there own things but had certainly never seen them all on one stage before.
The Basement is a great place to see a gig like this as it is quite small and everyone is close enough to the stage to see well. The place was packed and the atmosphere was fantastic.
While I’d love to give you a song by song review, I far too wrapped up in the gig to take any sort of notes so I’ll give you a bit of background on each of these guys instead. Follow some of the links and check these guys out. You won’t be disapointed.Izzy Osmanovich started the night filling in for Dave Leslie who couldn’t make it. Izzy plays for the Screaming Jets these days but I remember him from that classic rock band of the early 90’s, Judge Mercy. He is a hard rocking player who knows where the volume knob is located, although on this particular night his volume was a bit quieter than usual.
Next on stage was Sydney guitarist Peter Northcote. I first met Peter about 25 years ago when he was teaching guitar at the infamous Rock Music at Bankstown where I was learning drums. Peter has an awesome, full sound and played a couple of great original tunes.
After a short break Phil Manning was on. Phil was the guitarist in the legendary Aussie blues band Chain. I still remember being blown away by Phil on the steps of Sydney Opera House around about 1977 in the Phil Manning Band. Tonight it was a nice set of acoustic guitar and finger picking. Simply brilliant!
Mal Eastick was next on. Mal was originally in an Adelaide band called “Stars” that played awesome country rock. If you can still get hold of it, look for a video of The Andy Durant Memorial Concert featuring Mal and some of Australia’s finest singers and muso’s. I still have my copy! I’ve had the pleasure of mixing Mal on many occasions with his own band and with Chain on the Buddy Guy tour. He always cooks. Tonight Mal was no exception and really fed off the atmosphere. A hot, sweaty performance in a hot sweaty room.
One of my all time favourite guitarists was next. The Whiz, Phil Emmanuel. Like Mal Eastick, I’ve had the enormous pleasure of mixing Phil in various bands over the years and have always been blown away.
Last but not least was the legendary Kevin Borich. Kevin has been an icon of Aussie rock & blues since the 60’s and still swings the axe as well as he ever did. We even had the pleasure of a song from his son Lucius on the drums. Lucius Borich is a simply phenominal drummer who has “more chops than a butcher shop”. What a night!
The best was yet to come when all 6 took the stage for an awesome finale. Each of the guys took a final solo and all of them were grinning from ear to ear as was the crowd. It was a truly great gig. Do yourself a favour and follow some of the links above to check these guys out. You’ll hear some great music and learn a good deal of history as well. A special mention must go to the “host” band who played brilliantly all night, The Bluezone.
Leave a Reply