CityBeat - Te Waha Nui Online

by Lydia Brewer

I’ve been a big fan of the Love Shakes for a long time.

Since their first few gigs playing at friend’s 21st, they’ve had a tight, quirky pop-rock sound which stays in your head for days.

They created instant classics with comical tracks like Lesbian Love and 325i, which quickly became requested by their small following at every gig.

As they played more gigs and refined their sound, they became less quirky and more experimental. With definite blues influences in tracks such as Something so Divine, the band was onto a sure thing. But it wasn’t until Saturday night at Forbes Bar on Anzac Ave that they really blew the crowd away.

After missing a few gigs, I was looking forward to some great stage performance from front-man Dominic Jones and the usual sleek pop-rock sound I had sorely missed. Their performances are always entertaining and get your feet tapping, but I was in for a treat.

Performing in front of an audience five times the size of their Kings Arms concert, the Love Shakes pulled out some incredible new tracks, far tighter and more sophisticated than their predecessors, while maintaining their comic undertones and satisfying the audience with well-known classics. Lesbian Love came out early with a full crowd sing-along and hand-clapping, and the intro to Against the Wall drove the crowd wild.

In fact during Against the Wall (or “By the Balls”, depending on the level of censorship), the large bald man in front of me got so excited by the atmosphere he started dancing, you guessed it, against the wall. Needless to say this display of enthusiasm was unwelcome, however gratifying for the band.

And while young girls screamed and jumped up and down behind me, and the large bald man had some kind of spontaneous seizure, I couldn’t help thinking that the Love Shakes were onto a good thing.

No longer were they the rookie garage band they were when they won the Battle of the Bands earlier on this year, they have developed into a mature, professional group not afraid to experiment with their sound.

The Love Shakes are playing at the Masonic Tavern in Devonport, Friday October 5th, 8pm.