Steve Banks and the fabulous Sidemen are returning to the Brunswick Picture House with a spotlight on Rick Fenn, who is just back from a recent tour with 10cc. Also featured are Chloe West, Jeff Burstin (ex-Jo Jo Zep and The Black Sorrows) and Sea Benz bassmaster Mike Mills (ex-Alex Lloyd band), Brendan St Ledger and Pete Wilkins – Steve will be out front with a rockin’ program of historic hits. Seven caught up with Steve and Rick poolside for a chat about the show …
What’s happening with this gig?
Steve Banks – last time we had a focus on Jeff Burstin, so this year it’s about Rick. The show is in two halves. The first part of the first half has a focus on Rick’s story, going back to the early days of The Gentlemen and talking about his dust up with Johnny Rotten.
Johnny Rotten! Did you throw a punch?
Rick Fenn – it was more like people behind me and me saying, ‘hold me back’ …
Steve – there’s going to be a lot of stories, and then there’s going to be a little cameo appearance with a very special guest.
Rick – we’re going to do a very quirky song.
Steve – it will be a little bit of magic …
There’s nothing like a bit of magic – and after that?
Steve – then we’ve got Jeff on stage with Rick and I. It’s very special having a great guitarist from the northern hemisphere and a great guitarist from the southern hemisphere finding themselves on stage in this regional area, in this beautiful venue.
It’s a great story to tell. And then we do a couple of songs that Rick has written, one of which he recorded with the guys from Pink Floyd. The second one was a song that was taken up by Hall and Oates. That’s a big set.
Is the second set as big?
Steve – then the second set is basically where we come back to what the Sidemen are all about, which is these great session musicians. We get together, have a little chat and we play songs that we either wrote, wish we’d written, were inspired by, or that helped make people famous.
It’s a rollicking second half. It’ll be different songs from the last time we played. Different songs and a different lineup too.
It is too much fun?
Steve – for me, the motivation from my perspective, is very much shining the light on these amazing careers. You know, you always think about the guy up front. You don’t think necessarily about who’s stoking the engine room and who’s the bass player. It’s just a great mob of people and a great set list.
So Steve, you kicked this off a couple of years ago – what’s the highlight for you?Steve – It’s a great lineup. I mean, all the sidemen are great, but having Rick back with us is special, and I have a special love of watching Rick and Jeff play together, because they’re both quite different. Jeff does a lot of that typical sort of ‘70s Melbourne stuff, a bit Daddy Cool-ish, but when we did ‘Dreadlock Holiday’ for the first time, we added a mandolin to it. And then there’s a song that Rick has written and Jeff plays this beautiful finger picking which is something you (Rick) never learned to do – it gives a really ethereal quality to the song, it’s a beautiful song – it’ll be a beautiful show.
Steve Banks and the Sidemen are on for one night only at the Brunswick Picture House in Brunswick Heads on Friday, February 28 at 7pm. Tickets from brunswickpicturehouse.com.
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