Gig Review: Rose Tattoo at Crowbar, Sydney

Live Review: Rose Tattoo + Ezra Lee + the Nomads at Crowbar, Sydney, March 4 2023

By BRIAN GIFFIN

IT’s a warm Saturday night in Sydney and the indefatigable rock and roll engine that is Rose Tattoo were in town with a couple of new faces and the return of an old hand, ready to deliver a hard and heavy sermon to the flock at the Crowbar.

Opening act Ezra Lee & the Nomads got some good times going nicely with some 50s rock and roll and rockabilly. Set up across the stage in front of the Tatts’ gear didn’t give them much room to move but they made the most of it with some big sassy sax notes and honky tonk piano. Toward the end of the set they invited some girls to join them on stage and sing, which led to an awkward scene where they just clustered around the singer’s piano for a minute or so before being hustled away. It didn’t seem as if they were chosen randomly so if it was something that had been planned, they didn’t appear to be prepared for it. The band intro at the end was weird too as the singer didn’t seem to know the name of the guy playing stand-up bass (so that was also odd) but the party vibe had well and truly been established.

Rose Tattoo wasted no time keeping that vibe going and they ripped straight into “Out of This Place” and sounding every bit like the legendary, mean rock and roll machine they are. New guys Mick Arnold and Ronnie Simmons slot straight into place, Arnold’s wailing slide cutting across Simmons’ slashing riffs as he and Mark Evans good-naturedly jostle for position at stage right. Angry’s voice is a razor, Paul Demarco holds it down tight as if he’s never been away, rolling it over into “Rock N Roll is King” without a pause. 

“Assault and Battery” follows. The room is grooving and Rose Tattoo is firing on every cylinder. Angry makes a self-deprecating joke and the bone-jarring riffs and searing slide guitar keep coming. “Chinese Dunkirk” slinks along in all its sleazy glory.

Then it happens – Angry suggests that a malfunctioning mic stand must have been “used in a Pride march”, a remark that noticeably splits the crowd and while he half-heartedly walks it back a bit and engages the crowd in a discussion about things to be proud of, the party vibe has been dispelled. Simmons steps forward and starts tearing into “Remedy” like a demon, but there’s a bad energy in the room now. The good times have now been replaced by an undercurrent of nasty tension that doesn’t go away.

At 45-years-old, Rose Tattoo is still up there with the greatest, playing hard driving songs of rebellion and empowerment, but off-colour remarks like those tonight are completely uncalled for and spoil what should have been just a night of good rocking.