Lynch Mob + Faster Pussycat
Metro Theatre
Thurs 11th December 2008
Score: 4/5
Opening up proceedings, The Dead Things combined a penchant for The Cult, Warrant and LA Guns. With a barely witty front man, songs such as ‘Dead Girls Don’t Say No’ and despite their outdated ambitions of a scene long gone, they still put on a decent set. Faster Pussycat, who were part of that scene, are re-vamped today with unsubtle vocalist Taime Down reportedly accompanied by hired hands from his own band. He either reworked songs or simply sang half heartedly at times. So, the minimal stage banter and inaudible tales of debauched sleaze failed until he perched at edge of stage, surveying the crowd. The power ballad ‘House of Pain’ satiated the die-hards before more rocking songs about porn stars, numbers on bathroom walls and lyrical variations on the theme of ‘shut up’ were explored. At least we got Les Pauls hung low with wah drenched and tapped solos, twin guitar rhythms and some good swagger. But too much foot on fold back wedges and derivative cock rock made this part of the evening bolster bar sales.
Things improved soon enough and we saw George Lynch’s rig of Marshall and Soldano heads with cabinets reversed and shielded by perspex as the man himself prepared his sound. For the first time ever, guitarist George Lynch was playing live in Sydney and the guitar demon from Dokken was straight into the serious shred right from the off. Rejuvenated by a Lynch Mob reunion of sorts, with vocalist Oni Logan channeling the late 70’s David Coverdale, the three punch opener of ‘She’s Evil’, ‘Hell Child’ and ‘Street Fighting Man’ left the metal faithful in gob smacked awe. Using his Dokken era ‘skull and cross bones’ ESP model guitar, he flawlessly choked notes, let rip stinging harmonics and unleashed speed runs galore. It was with that signature wide vibrato and command of flurried notes that fans stood transfixed as ‘Into the Fire’ and the shred fest instrumental of ‘Mr Scary’ was performed. These were solos etched into minds of old school guitar heads, finally played note for note. The climactic set closer ‘Tooth and Nail’ solo had the crowd applauding appreciatively.
A Stratocaster style ESP with a sweet tone, was also used during the set, with George giving us some blues rock feel, plus eastern influenced jamming through phaser effects. The encore jam had a metal blues concoction that ended on the ripping ‘Wicked Sensation’. The playing there was flawless, smoothly executed and simply screaming with an extended breakdown mid song before a bombastic end. It was amazing to finally see one of the 80’s best hard rock guitarists up close given that Dokken never reached Australia in their heyday. Bring on the new album.