:: Dan Kelly & the Alpha Males / The Drones / The Vandas at the Tote Hotel - October 2004

By: Adrian Ringin

This night at the Tote was an interesting compare and contrast exercise. The Vandas, who have had little coverage in the music press so far, opened the night decently with their version of country/rock while the crowd grew, and the lead vocals became more and more like those of Mick Jagger.

The Vandas are nowhere near as delicate as their namesake, and the Drones hardly live up to their name either - the hard drinking, hard playing, amp destroying set they knocked out obviously required far more effort than your average swarm of dilettante bees puts into a day. They took the night up to another level, smashing out some of their own punk/rock along with a spot of Iggy Pop here and there, taking time out to crow at Rove’s fiery misfortune, and to take a few shots at the young Mr Kelly, who was soon to be heading off to attend the ARIAs just like a good Next Big Thing should.

By the time Dan Kelly & co took the stage from their housemates, the Tote was about as full as it was going to get. Dan and the boys worked through a number of the tracks from ‘Tabloid Blues’, as well as some new stuff, with a bit of a segue into drum and keyboard only dance music towards the end. The stand out track was the ballad of love in the northern cane fields.

Overall, the Vandas feel like a band still being formed, the Drones definitely know what they are about – and Dan Kelly’s calm self-assurance definitely has a touch of being an heir to uncle Paul. Time will tell.

Pictures:
The Vandas