Dungeon's Last Gig The Gaelic Club Sydney, Australia |
It isn’t very often that I will see
a band for the first time & enjoy their entire set which is mainly
made up of songs that no one has ever heard before, until I seen 20
Grams who were on the bill for the last ever Dungeon gig last
weekend! 20 Grams is the new hard rock creation founded by Dungeon guitarist Stuart Marshall. The band which also features Dungeon drummer Tim better known as Biscuit, Marcus Crane (vocals) who is very well known in the Sydney music scene as front man for the Van Halen & Bon Jovi tribute shows & the relatively unknown bassist Juju rounds out the group. 20 Grams was the second band to take the stage on the day. As the crowd started to grow to over three hundred strong, the P.A. blasted out those eighties tunes we have all grown up with and love such as: Iron Maiden’s – ‘Run To The Hills’, W.A.S.P. – ‘Blind In Texas’ & Motley Crue’s – ‘Shout At The Devil’. 20 Grams took to the stage at around 4 pm, opening with an original number appropriately titled ‘Welcome to the Show’, a catchy hard rock tune that was written for the purpose of being a hard hitting opening track. ‘Welcome to the Show’ was a great song to open with & certainly had the crowd moving. 20 Grams followed up ‘Welcome to the Show’ with one of my favorites from the day “One Night-One Drink” this was by far a crowd favorite and is one of those tracks that stands out above the rest. The band was rockin' out on this track which reminded me a lot of the old-style Ac/dc & Rose Tattoo that we all love! The crowd had really started to become vocal, cheering on the band by banging their heads & pounding their fists in the air! The only cover that was played during the set was a true metal gem; Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Crazy Train’. As soon as Marcus announced to the crowd that the next song was ‘Crazy Train’ the crowd went nuts, that classic live intro gave me goose bumps, the crowd loved it, singing along with every word while those metal horns were raised to the roof. Stuart’s guitar playing was phenomenal and for a few minutes I was thinking to myself “he was the Australian Randy Rhoades”. He nailed the solo and did the song the justice it deserved. I wasn’t too keen on the way Biscuit had drummed the track changing it from the original pattern to a more modern feel, being a drummer and an Ozzy fan this was one song I was paying very close attention too. Next up the band jumped into another riff filled original called ‘Devil Preacher’. I can’t say I was a huge fan of this track but it certainly wasn’t bad either. The crowd were into it & that was the main thing. From start to finish the crowd were on their feet applauding & head banging! It was great to see so many hard rock & metal fans support an act that no one had ever heard up until that afternoon. Another favorite song for me was also the slowest song of the set “Blind Faith” another original that I expect to hear on the radio in coming months. This was a great song written by Stu, very catchy melodies & lyrics. Long after the band had finished, I was still singing this chorus to ‘blind faith’ in my head! “Why did I put my faith in you?” I won’t be surprised if 20 Grams have a national/international hit with “Blind Faith”, it’s defiantly one of those universal power ballads that we all love hearing. “Indian Sun” was the song that followed but I can’t say I was really listening to it. I was still singing the chorus to ‘Blind Faith’ in my head & really never gave this track the time it needed, from what I do remember it was a cool song but I would need to hear it again. 20 Grams closed the set with probably the best song of the day for me ‘Evilize’. This is a killer closing track, actually they could use it anywhere in the set and it will surely be a crowd pleaser. The crowd were right into it, the band were into it, it was a great song to leave the set list, leaving an ever lasting impression on many if not all the rock & metal fans that attended. Juju being relatively new to the live scene seemed a little out of his comfort zone at times but defiantly handled himself very well, as a bass player he fit the band well and with time we can see him running around that stage like he owns it! Biscuit’s drumming was great, for a guy who is in his early twenties and plays so well, I have no doubt that he will be bashing away for quite sometime yet! I will say I have never heard Marcus sound so good live, his vocals all day long were outstanding and his voice suited every single song 20 Grams played in the set! Stuarts playing was as great as it has been for the last 4 – 5 years that he has been doing the rounds with Dungeon, a truly great guitar player who knows how to put on a show! In all 20 Grams were by far one of the better bands I seen on the bill. There raw high energy hard rock style was defiantly music to my ears and the 300+ crowd that witnessed their first show. For a band no one had ever heard before they delivered good old fashion hard rock n roll with a metal edge. I have no doubt that we will see a lot more from them in the near future. Now that Dungeon has parted company it’s great to see that Stu has risen from the ashes and has put together a great bunch of musicians who will compliment the creatively written tunes he has compiled! If you get the chance make sure you go and check out this band! 20 Grams Set-List Was As Follows: Welcome to the Show One Night - One Drink Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne Cover) Devil Preacher Blind Faith Indian Sun Evilize Rating: 85 Reviewed By: Cameron Edmey |
