LIVE: THE ROSE CARLEO BAND, Perth – 18 Feb, 2018

LIVE: THE ROSE CARLEO BAND, Perth – 18 Feb, 2018
Bonfest Jailbreak Concert, Fremantle Prison; Saturday, 18 February, 2018
Review & photos by Shane Pinnegar

They may not be household names like many of the special guests at Bonfest 2018’s keynote event, The Jailbreak Concert, but The Rose Carleo Band proved to an enthusiastic crowd of well over a thousand people that they should be.

Consisting of Carleo herself, guitarist & husband Mick Adkins, and the powerhouse rhythm section of drummer Mick O’Shea and bassist Steve King, The Rose Carleo Band warmed early arrivals up with a rock solid set.

Opening with a triple thwack of Ten Years, Down & Dirty and Keep On Rollin’, all favourites from 2015’s Time Is Now album, got punters – already eager for action – paying attention from the start.

Determined to showcase all five tracks from their soon-to-be-released EP, Rose led the band through Into The Fray and the superb, instantly catchy, Faded Tattoo, before again delving into Time Is Now for the country fried rock groove of Between The Rock & The Roll. This song has always felt like a bridge between Rose’s earlier country-based rock, and her latter work, and brings to mind the same feel as the late, great Pete Wells’ solo albums.

Rose dons her acoustic guitar for the heartfelt ballad Last Day Alive. If this song doesn’t get people excited about the new EP, and open eyes to the fact that The Rose Carleo Band may just be the best damned unsigned rock band in Australia, surely nothing will. With hints of Baby Animals’ Suze DeMarchi, Carleo’s voice is simply stunning and unmatchable.

Throughout it all Mick Adkins proves himself an incredible player who never misses a note, and Mick O’Shea and Steve King are a juggernaut rhythm section, arguably the best in the business, in this country at least.

Knock Me Down is another great rocker from Rose’s last album, and Coat Tail Rider and the first single from the new EP, Battle Scars, are pure class, before their fantastic set finishes with the raucous, uplifting, fist-in-the-air singalong of Time Is Now.

Rose Carleo has long been a relatively unsung hero in the pages of Aussie rock and roll, but with this band behind her and these new songs, her new Rose Carleo Band incarnation deserves all your attention, right now.

Set List:
Ten Years
Down & Dirty
Keep On Rollin’
Into the Fray
Faded Tattoo
Between The Rock & The Roll
Last Day Alive (Rose acoustic)
Knock Me Down
Coat Tail Rider
Battle Scars
Time Is Now

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries