CherryRock014 @ ACDC Lane
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CherryRock014 @ ACDC Lane

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Hell’s bells and smokin’ shotgun shells! The end of a chapter in Melbourne rock history took place last Sunday when CherryRock made its final stand in ACDC Lane. The festival will no longer be able to run in its usual form because the Peruvian restaurant at the end of lane wants to have an al fresco dining area. It’s a damn crying shame and when Cherry co-owner James Young opened the day on the ACDC Lane stage you could hear the bitter sweetness in his voice.

“I’m going to have bruises on my shoulder blades from all the pats on the back I’m going to get for this lineup,” Young announced to the bleary-eyed audience before introducing the first act The Harlots.

Opening a festival is always a tough gig but The Harlots’ frenzied rockabilly tunes injected a bolt of energy with frontman Tom Pitts violently throwing himself around the stage.

Bitter Sweet Kicks brought their usual amount of devil-may-care attitude with bassist Johnny Kicks stripping down to his birthday suit. There are not many rock singers that can pull off the high notes on The Loved One’s Everlovin’ Man but singer Jack Davies did it with aplomb.

The addition of Nation Blue to the lineup was a big surprise on the day with High Tension apparently pulling out at the last minute. Lead man Tom Lyngcoln was a menacing figure as he tapped a massive Bowie knife against his guitar before stabbing it into the stage and ripping into a raucous set.

The day took a heavy turn when New Zealanders Beastwars hit the laneway stage with their guttural sludge metal stylings echoing up through the alleyway. Don Fernando’s hard-hitting stoner rock got heads banging inside Cherry and Drunk Mums gave the crowd a good dose of garage punk before switching into their more hardcore material at the end.

Chris Russell’s Chicken Walk was last to play the Cherry stage and his old school rockabilly stylings whipped the crowd into an arse-shaking mess. His music is reminiscent of everything that was happening in ‘50s Memphis with the man himself looking like he’s come out of a time capsule.

Every space in the alleyway had filled up and the drunkenness of the Sunday congregation had reached saturation point as the sun went down for the last time on the laneway stage. A bright red neon lightning bolt shone out at the top of the stage like those neon crucifixes you see in evangelist churches. However, in this chapel it’s the good word of rock being preached by high priests Brant Bjork and The Meat Puppets.

As one of the co-founders of Kyuss, Brant Bjork’s influence on music has been immense. As promised, he played through quite a bit of his older material but brought out a few tracks that will be on his upcoming record. One of those songs was We Don’t Serve That Kind, and if it’s anything to go by, Bjork isn’t stepping too far away from the heavy, slow-burning stoner rock he does best.

Twenty years have gone by since The Meat Puppets last reached the shores of Australia and bodies were packed into every nook to see the show. Another massive influence on music, their set consisted mostly of hard country instrumentals catapulting the crowd into a jigging mess. The set covered the majority of their vast career with Curt Kirkwood at his bittersweet best on slower number Waiting.  

It’s sad to see another chapter close on a Melbourne music icon but James Young seems adamant CherryRock will continue in some form next year. It’s also a fact Young is not one to sit idle while developers and Peruvian restaurateurs try to rip down Melbourne music, so when he says he’s going to do something you best believe it, son.

BY RHYS MCRAE

Photo by Richard Sharman

Loved: Fuckin’ everything.

Hated: Fuckin’ Peruvian restaurants.

Drank: Fuckin’ tinnies, mate.