Bones, Damn Terran, Will Stoker and the Embers - The Tote

Bones are an archetypal Melbourne band, all skinny men, tight trousers, cool looking guitars and discordant noise. There’s dozens of them out there pounding the boards at Inner city venues night in and night out, but Bones posses a little extra ‘Je ne sais quoi’ to raise them above the rest of the throng. In amongst the messy noise and jagged edges are some amazing harmonies and crazy off beat guitar riffs that are so surprising they make you sit up, take notice and even start to smile.Damn Terrain are a man down, their bass player ‘sucks√Æ (according to the band’s singer and guitarist) and despite their best efforts it notices. Both remaining members are putting in 110% to fill in the gaps but it still doesn’t quite grab the crowd who begin drifting out to smoke and hang around the Tote’s (now saved!) jukebox.There’s something about bands from Western Australia, whether due to geographical frustrations or the lack of anything better to do, WA bands are typically extremely proficient, tight, professional and possess amazing stage presences, Will Stoker and the Embers do nothing to dispel this stereotype. The band have a strange dynamic, Will Stoker looking like a cross between Jeff Buckley and David Boreanaz but with crazier hair, eccentrically dressed he is the classic image of an Art school student. The rest of the band however are all out hard rockers through and through, long hair, amp stacks, black clothes and lumberjack shirts. You can imagine the band starting out, meeting this enigmatic front man and all saying, ‘he’s crazy but it might just work’. The gamble was a good one because Will Stoker & the Embers are an extremely unique act, the combination of hard rock and eccentricity creating an awesome and entrancing bravado as Will flings himself around the venue through a sequence of bizarre dance moves, leg wobbling and posing, backed by a band as solid and loud as they come. The crowd is mesmerised, they barely move, captivated by the spectacle before them, a show possessing quality that usually has come a long way.

Published in Inpress