Pix by Sarah Gilpin Photography
Words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi
It’s been a huge week for blues rockers in the Queensland area. The Soundlounge hosted Sunshine Coast-based musician Minnie Marks and the divine Melbourne-based rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter Dallas Frasca. These two exceptional Australian women of blues and roots music delivered faithful and exceptional performances based on their Earth-shaking vocals, thundering guitar riffs, and some sonic surprises.
Minnie Marks opened the evening with her distinctive blues sound. She packs a musically blazing, percussive punch: like a pack of fruit tingles being thrown into a bottle of Coke. She played a short and sharp set, starting with Jack in the Box. Marks is not just some blazingly electrified guitar-playing freak of nature. She is also a rare and triple threat: singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
She was equipped with her Goldtop Gibson in her hands and a revolutionary Farmer Foot Drum with cymbal at her feet. Marks consistently pushes musical limits with her mind-blowing, dynamic guitar wizardry and her insanely powerful voice, which roars out her truth through song as if her own life depended on it. And, if that’s not enough, she simultaneously creates bone marrow-shaking grooves with spare limbs on her Foot Drum kit. Finally, all three beasts are married together to forge a mammoth-sized wall of sound, as heard in Bohemian Cocaine.
Marks was a one-woman blues hurricane as she delivered songs Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire, the fantastic traditional blues song Someone’s Cutting Onions Around Here that she wrote in response to an “old fella” who told her at a gig she was too young to sing blues music. She closed out her set with a song written when she 15 years old when she came home from her first ever party, a bit drunk: “Where I put myself to bed, but before that I did 5 hours of guitar practice…and from that event there was 3 to 4 minutes that was any good and I will play you that now”. And that blues song had a surf rock groove that was addictive.
After a short break and the intimate crowd waited, it was time for Dallas Frasca to take to the stage and deliver her re-imagining of those iconic Led Zeppelin songs. With her trademark red hair, raspy powerhouse blues voice and superb guitar playing skills, Frasca took to the stage and blew the crowd away with her homage to one of the greatest rock bands of all time. She delivered a one-woman, high-voltage celebration of Led Zeppelin’s legendary catalogue with her signature raw energy and golden voice.
Frasca, with her trusty and fabulous guitar tech Kit, commenced the set with Friends and then quickly moved into Ramble On and Over The Hills before she stopped to address the crowd. She used the songs to educate the crowd about Led Zeppelin and their songwriting finesse, but also to play Trivial Pursuit with the crowd as she questioned us about all matters Led Zeppelin and other songwriters such as Joni Mitchell with the link to “guess that song?” All while she changed guitar and then performed Going To California.
The middle of the set saw Frasca deliver her devastating love song Thank You which she delivered as an especially intimate tribute to a fan’s deceased wife, as it was a remembrance of their wedding anniversary. Then, it was back to the hard rock of Since I’ve Been before she changed over to the mandolin to play Battle of Evermore. Frasca joked about the difficulty of learning and playing the mandolin and its 8 strings. You would never have known that she had never played the instrument live before, as she was so skilled at it.
Before she started playing Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You, Dallas Frasca explained about the song’s folk music history and its original writer, folk singer Anne Leonard Bredon. She explained about the interest in the song by Joan Baez and others, and how Anne Bredon won the court case to get her intellectual property rights back. Then, she performed the huge rocker Nobody’s Fault before urging, “let’s take it up a notch”.
The crowd were then treated to the songs Kashmir, Black Dog and Immigrant Song, leaving them singing along and having a wonderful time. The interaction between the crowd and Frasca was genuinewith the crowd as one loving her performance. I think many wasted hours of youth were being relived.
Reiterating her point, Frasca exclaimed “okay. Let’s take it up again” as she got ready to deliver the classic Stairway To Heaven. The crowd were going off with a huge sing-along before Whole Lotta Love wrapped up the performance, where Frasca played her guitar with a bow, and it was so beautifully done. The song closed out the set to the delight of the crowd, as it was the perfect crescendo.
Dallas Frasca led the crowd through a wonderful full, yet stripped-back, sonic pilgrimage through the heart of rock ‘n’ roll. She really was one woman, with her guitar channelling the thunderous spirit of Led Zeppelin. This is a performance not to be missed – if you love blues, Led Zeppelin, Dallas Frasca or just want to hear quality live music – then this is the gig for you.
