(Photo Credit: Rob Loud)
A Friday night in what was once the ‘Capital of Culture’ sounds rather pleasant, doesn’t it? Any other evening and I might agree, but this weekend marks the annual horse slaying event that is the Grand National, coined quite memorably by local heroes Alpha Male Tea Party as the “Annual bell-end Festival”.
The streets are swimming with bevvied up once-a-year horse-race aficionados. Blokes in suits waddle from take-away to pub, eyes glossed over. Gals are out walking the streets in their bare feet, evening dresses trailing behind them through all the fag butts and sludge. It’s very much the sort of scene one could imagine developed in the warped mind of Australian nostalgia-popper Alex Cameron, and it’s fitting that tonight’s the night that the great man is in town for a knees up at Liverpool’s Arts Club.
Support comes from fellow Australian pop heartthrob Jack Ladder, later described by Alex Cameron as a “good looking guy – not to be trusted”. Due to accidentally positioning ourselves right behind a pillar, vision is somewhat obscured, but our first sight of Jack sees him sporting giant black sunglasses on loan from a pensioner in Florida, aptly covering ‘Shades’ by Iggy Pop. A song or two later and he’s perched on a stool, shirt unbuttoned to his guitar, very much fitting the mould of an Alex Cameron support.
He’s armed with a few numbers from forthcoming LP ‘Blue Poles’, out this May, It’s all a bit Lynch-esque, Ladder looking like he may have just stepped right out of the new series of Twin Peaks.
Ladder is back out on stage not long after departing, picking the guitar up again for the arrival of Alex Cameron, who is head to toe in what looks like a leather suit, complete with fetching white tank top underneath. I suppose we are in Liverpool… It’s likely that this is the same tank top (or at least one of a number from his collection) that featured in the recent sordid affair that was his video for ‘Studmuffin96’. It’s this new single that opens up the show in sultry style.
There are huge cheers for each blast of brass throughout the synth-tastic ‘Happy Ending’ as Alex pops and gyrates like he’s coming up. The vision that is Holiday Sidewinder throws out some real robot moves from behind the keys, the whole outfit on stage seemingly coming up with Cameron.
“Right out of the gate” says Cameron with a laugh, following a request from an eloquent punter who asks him to get his knob out. He dedicates ‘Real Bad Lookin’ to said punter, the band launching into it enthusiastically, the stage awash in pinks and blues throughout its full pop pomp. The room are described as the “perfect mix of support and antagonism” as we’re given a brief history of Alex Cameron and Roy Molloy in Liverpool, from the tiny venues with zero attendance to now arriving at the big leagues, where people wear shirts and the booze selection is minimal and the prices are extortionate. ‘The Comeback’ is quite rightly up next.
For all his laid back demeanour, saxophonist Roy Molloy is a real force on stage. Any mention of the man is greeted with beyond enthusiastic applause. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by business associate Cameron and sure enough, Molloy is invited to provide a review of his stool for the audience. Someone behind us calls out “Knock ‘em dead, Roy” and he’s supported throughout his critique of is seat for the evening.
“I’ve never seen a stool quite like this one” announces Roy, commenting further on its “kinky” features, going further to call it a “nice piece of timber”.
Cameron is equally hilarious throughout the evening, introducing ‘The Chihuahua‘ from new record ‘Forced Witness’ with a harrowing thought about 15 small dogs being stuck in a small room together, in what would likely be “a bloodbath”. He later introduces the stuffy, dark 80’s synth-pop of ‘Taking Care Of Business’ with a nod of the head to all the strong women in the audience, commenting on his childhood and a story about his mother putting an end to the lives of small animals. It’s touching, that’s for sure.
It’s handclaps and chorus sing-alongs galore throughout mega-hits ‘Runnin’ Outta Luck’ and ‘Stranger’s Kiss’, Holiday joining on vocal duties and coming through strong on the latter, whilst the former is just a pop masterstroke. ‘Marlon Brando’ is the highlight of the evening and sounds mightily triumphant, as Cameron prowls around stage for the anthemic woke-pop howler. It feels like something big is happening throughout its closing section as the room bounces and the crowd roar back that, for one night only, they too “feel like Marlon Brando”.
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