hoy-hoy!
Reviewed by Phil Catley
Published: 14 April 2010
dvd: live – the 18th birthday show
This DVD captures some of the legends of the Adelaide Blues scene live on stage at The Gov, celebrating Hoy-Hoy!’s 18th Birthday. Some may be surprised that this is only the 18th birthday for Hoy-Hoy!, as they seem to have been around for ever. However, when Frank introduces some of the guests in final song it becomes apparent that show is also a 34th birthday celebration for a group of Adelaide Blues stalwarts who kicked off way back in 1976 at The Windmill Hotel in Prospect.
Although these guys are all seriously good musicians they don’t seem to take themselves too seriously; there’s a healthy dose of self-deprecation evident. That’s the blues though. The greats like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon mostly held down day jobs, and the Hoy-Hoy! clan are Adelaide’s equivalent. Willie Dixon,...meet Frank Lang.
Hoy-Hoy! is a Texas Blues band, so Stratocasters are mostly in order, with exception being the first guest artist – the legendary Don Morrison. Don appears with his trusty old hollow body Guild tuned to open G to play a couple of DonMo original tunes – “Why do You Pick on Me” and “Happy Birthday to Me”. He’s ditched his trademark flannel / country shirts and dressed up for the occasion, wearing a suit and string tie. Someone forgot to tell him it was “neat casual” (maybe that’s Don’s invitation you can see stuck in Frank’s shirt pocket). Don and Frank don’t quite channel the energy of The Sensational Bodgies at The Angus, but it’s nice to see them grooving together on stage.
The show moves on from Don’s raw slide to the melodic strato-blues of young Michael Brown playing “Rivera Paradise”. Cleary a virtuoso guitarist heavily influenced by Steve Ray Vaughan, Michael is visually closer to John Mayer than SRV. He doesn’t put a note out place in his two songs, which includes a behind-the-back-of-the-head solo during “Superstitious”. If you were wondering who is going to keep the blues alive when the legends retire, here's a clue, keep an eye on Michael Brown.
Chris Finnen joins Frank and Trapper for “African Marketplace” which adds a change of pace and colour. Dressed in traditional African garb, Chris hops and dances about the stage plucking his 12 string. It’s an interesting variation on the blues theme. Finnen joins Trapper for a drum solo before attacking Frank’s bass with a pair of brushes. His second performance “Hat Coat Shoes” is a more traditional Chicago blues.
Mauri Berg is the most recent addition to the Hoy-Hoy! line up and he joins Frank for “Never Get Me Up”. They move on to the Robert Johnson classic “Crossroads”, and Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” with Mauri emulating Clapton and Hendrix. Mauri shows he’s an accomplished professional by returning a near faultless performance.
Dave Blight joins the trio to complete the 4-piece line up. They finish out the set with Frank singing “She Takes Me Up”, “Stagger Street”, “Largs Pier Jive” and “Night Time”. The show ends with all of the guests back on stage to jam along to the Fabulous Thunderbirds “Wait on Time”.
As a vocalist Frank Lang is an enigma. You wouldn’t say he was born to sing, but what he does suits the band, and he is solid and warm presence on stage. The weaving of Mauri and Dave’s guitar work is impressive and you can see why Hoy-Hoy! has been together for this long. In this era of DJs and pokies we may not see a group of local bluesmen like this again; it’s worth adding this DVD to your collection for that reason alone.
