The Angels played their first Melbourne show in two years on Friday night, kicking off a reactivated live year for one of Australia’s greatest rock bands.
The Angels legacy stands alongside AC/DC and so it should. The two bands started around the same time, were label-mates at Albert Productions and we often in the studio recording at next to each other.
The year was 1977 when the first album for The Angels titled ‘The Angels’ surfaced. I would argue that more Australian’s know the chant from ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again’ from that debut album than the words to the National Anthem.
When The Angels founders John and Rick Brewster start up those guitars, the sound is obvious and ageless. The Brewster brothers have such a unique sound that you know its them before any other sound is heard. In 2022, The Angels most definitely sound like The Angels, with Dave Gleeson (The Screaming Jets) on vocals since 2011, Nick Norton on drums since 2011 and John’s son Sam Brewster on bass since the passing of co-founder Chris Bailey in 2013.
There are so many songs chiseled into Australia’s psyche that putting a setlist together that covers the legacy is damn near impossible. Their last best-off was three CDs thick, for Christ’s sake.
The first show of 2022 covered a lot of ground. That first 1977 album was represented with the sing-along ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again’ not even as an encore song but in the first set. ‘Shelter From The Rain’ from the same album was there too. Bookend that with ‘Escape’ from the more recent ‘Under The Stone’ EP (2020) and we were literally treated to 45 years of The Angels from the beginning to now.
Fans of The Angels were not pop fans. They are serious rock fans. They got right into every album. That included the nine consecutive Top 20 albums from 1978 to 1991. For fans of The Angels songs like ‘Ivory Stairs’, ‘Shoot It Up’, ‘After Dark’ and ‘Can’t Shake It’ have as much relevance as ‘No Secrets’. ‘Shadow Boxer’, ‘Take A Long Line’ and ‘After The Rain’. Here we are 45 years on from that first album and The Angels do a great job of balancing a setlist.
The Angels, Melbourne setlist 18 February, 2022
Ivory Stairs (from No Exit, 1979)
After The Rain (from Face To Face, 1978)
Shoot It Up (from Watch The Red, 1983)
No Secrets (from Dark Room, 1980)
Shelter From The Rain (from The Angels, 1977)
Escape (from Under The Stone EP, 2020)
No Exit (from No Exit, 1979)
My Damage (from No Exit, 1979)
My Light Will Shine (from Skin and Bone, 1998)
Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again (from The Angels, 1977)
Face The Day (from Dark Room, 1980)
Let The Night Roll On (from Beyond Salvation, 1989)
After Dark (from No Exit, 1979)
Outcast (from Face To Face, 1978)
Fashion and Fame (from Night Attack, 1981)
I Ain’t The One (from Face To Face, 1978)
Coming Down (from Face To Face, 1978)
Be With You (from Face To Face, 1978)
Take A Long Line (from Face To Face, 1978)
Shadow Boxer (from No Exit, 1979)
Marseilles (from Face To Face, 1978)
Love Takes Care (from Face To Face, 1978)
Can’t Shake It (from No Exit, 1979)
Now the band is back on the road for 2022 and after one more Melbourne show tonight (February 19) it is off to Sydney on Sunday for the start of their Red Hot Summer shows with Hunters & Collectors.
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