The Angels are one Australian band that needs no introduction.
After more than 40 years atop the Aussie rock tree, the band still shows no sign of slowing down.
Part of that is due to the appointment of one Dave Gleeson to frontman duties just over ten years ago, another part due to the injection of youth in the form of drummer Nick Norton and bass player Sam Brewster, but mostly due to the irresistible talents of the bands two original guitarists, brothers Rick and John Brewster.
Two years ago The Angels finished re-recording their trilogy of classic albums – Face To Face, No Exit and Darkroom – with the new lineup and were set to take the show to the road in celebration.
Then, something happened to alter those plans, but now the boys are back and ready to go on two tours this year, Darkroom Recharged and the Greatest Hits showcase.
While both concerts offer reasons of their own for attendance, the Darkroom Revisited run of dates promises to be something just that little bit extra.
John Brewster sat down with HEAVY to discuss the tours.
“It’s amazing,” he enthused. “It’s quite bizarre that we were celebrating the Darkroom 40 year thing and we re-recorded the album just as a thing to do with this lineup of the band. This was all supposed to happen in 2020 and here we are 2022 and we can finally do it. It’s gonna be great. What we do, is we do the whole album, we start off with that then have an intermission and we come back on and do other songs.”
The Angels recently performed for the first time at this year’s Byron Bay Bluesfest, with many, including the event organizer, labelling it one of the best sets ever played at the long running festival.
“Bluesfest is a big deal,” John smiled. “It’s something that we’ve never played before, believe it or not. We walked out on this massive stage to 30,000 people watching us and just to see that mass of people to start off with and the way that they responded to the band… I think we just rose to the occasion. We do anyway, but it was just something a bit extra special. Peter Noble who runs it rated our show as one of Bluesfests finest performances, and he is talking about of all time! We keep getting the same stuff from people, that we stood out from the crowd. There was a lot of great bands there. Maybe I’m bragging (laughs), I don’t know.”
In the full interview John talks about what the band has in store for the shows, playing the first night in the birthplace of The Angels in Adelaide, recent shows including the Red Hot Summer Tour and Fist Full Of Rock, the new re-recordings and why they are so special, recent milestones including the 45th anniversary of debut single Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again, how the song developed with the current unmistakable chorus chant, having Dave Gleeson as frontman and more.
Get tickets to the shows here: https://theangels.com.au/
