Dancehall Racketeers - Bloody Brilliant

[RobE]

The Dancehall Racketeers exceded my expectations last night at the Monash.

I knew they were going to be brilliant, but fair dinkum, they were Bloody Brilliant!

Heaps of Western Swing flavoured with excursions into Hillbilly/Rockabilly, Cajun, Rock and good time music.

And all it cost me was a bunch of drinks. What luxury!

How could you live anywhere else. There is so much world-class talent concentrated in the bottom right-hand corner of Australia.

[Steve]

You are so right Rob.

I have been dancing to Andy Baylor and his various bands over the last couple of years. They are extraordinary musicians and venture into styles that you don't hear if you stick to mainstream rock and roll and rockabilly.

It is rare for me to sit and watch when I could be up dancing, but some of the tunes Andy and his mates play are so alive and intricate that it is sometimes entrancing to just watch. They do it with such ease and interact with one another so well.

Great to see Andy's brother Peter on stage with him on Saturday night. Take a look at Andy's website (google Andy Baylor) to read about the Baylor brothers and the bands they have had since the seventies. We are really fortunate to be able to get to see such people performing at our local pubs, usually for just the cost of a few drinks.

Andy is a regular on the first Sunday of the month at the St Kilda Bowls club in Fitzroy Street St Kilda, and I see he has now taken to calling the band the St Kilda Bowls Club Orchestra, which is a nice gesture because the Bowls Club has been a great supporter of local musicians over the years, even when there's been only a few people coming along to the club to enjoy the free entertainment. It is well worth a visit when Andy is playing because the band can play everything from rockabilly, hillbilly, cajun, zydeco and ballads, fast rock, swing.........everything. And they really know how to play.

[UTOPIA]

Oh Lordy what a treat they were. And next week Andy returns with The Stringbusters.
Got this off Andy's myspace site for you Robe enjoy

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=R3YQ-P-g-cs

The Baylor Brothers western swing band on Perth TV in 1992. The brothers (with Ed Colbourne on drums) were joined by Lucky Oceans (steel) and Richard Danker (bass) for a tour of the west.