Newcastle Panthers
Friday October 10, 2014 :
Even though they had a few attempts at getting back together, 2014 marked the first comprehensive national tour of the Sunnyboys since their breakup in 1984. The band comprising of originals Bill Bilson (drums), Richard Burgman (guitar), Peter Oxley (bass) and Jeremy Oxley (vocals and guitar) took the stage around 10pm playing to a sell-out crowd of generally 40 pluses at Newcastle last night.
Prior to the band taking the stage last night there was a short introduction on the screen, it was more like a trip through time of photos of the band going back as far as 1980. History has not always been kind to the band with Jeremy’s public battle with schizophrenia. On a week where the nation promotes mental health and its impact on society, Oxley is a true survivor.
Taking the stage, Burgman took no time in introducing the band. Having watched this band at the height of their career including on stage at Narara in 1984, I was interested in what they had to deliver. The Sunnyboys have always been tight not only placing a heavy reliance on Oxley’s voice but also well supported by the engine room of the band namely Peter Oxley on bass and his on stage relationship with Bill Bilson on drums. Opening with ‘I Know’, the band quickly ramped up the tempo with ‘Love To Rule’ and ‘Tunnel Of My Love’. The hit ‘Happy Man’ followed before the band settled into a cool set of songs from their back catalogue. The twenty song set took the audience on a journey that began in the sweaty pubs of Sydney almost thirty five years ago. The band was tight, with each musician contributing to make a sound the music industry has debated ever since the band first took the stage. At one point the band was even called punk which I question. There is a distinct link between the music and the beach, good times and even better memories.
For an audience aged well into their forties, it was a trip back in time. Group participation was evident from the onset with loud singing, jumping and dancing in the realms of the mature dance floor “mosh pit”. I felt the audience reached a culmination when ‘Alone With You’ was introduced in the first encore. The band returned to the stage for Oxley to sing ‘No Love Around’ featuring only himself on vocals without guitar.
I left feeling grateful to have a chance to see this great band yet again. To Jeremy Oxley, a personal appreciation for having the guts to tell the world about an illness, a place in the mind that thankfully few of us are ever forced to go to. Through your honesty and determination, you have not only survived but also allowed the world to talk about mental health and what it does to a person at a ground roots level. It is only through talking and supporting, we as a society can begin to know and help those who really need it and for that I thank you.
SET LIST
I Know
Love To Rule
Tunnel Of My Love
Happy Man
My Only Friend
Let You Go
Show Some Discipline
Love In A Box
Stooge
Tomorrow Will Be Fine
What You Need
It’s Not Me
Liar
You Need A Friend
I’m Shakin’
Trouble In My Brain
Encore One
Alone With You
Tell Say
The Seeker
Encore Two
No Love Around
Reviewer and Photographer: David Jackson
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