The Tote is one of the last standing bastions of seminal music venues replete with the distinctive stench of decades of musos and punters’ blood, sweat and tears seeped into the carpet and walls.
Proponents of 60’s garage rock-pop, and Frankston locals, Gnome are first on in the Tote band room, entertaining the throng with their energetic stage antics and impressive sound. Frontman Jay Millar and his bandmates mature rock n roll sound belie their youth. Oldie “Don’t Ever” sees the bassist shake his head in unison with the music. Their energy is infectious, and primes the crowd for the mystery band, whose identity is revealed by the merch on the stand.
Japanese garage power rock trio; Guitar Wolf, enter the stage, clad in leather and sunglasses. As Toshiaki Tsushima’s “Jingi Naki Tatakai no Theme” plays in the background, singer Seiji Wolf, and bassist Gotz Wolf each skull a can of Melbourne Bitter in one short gulp, whilst drummer Takuro Wolf looks on.
Opening with “Jet Satisfaction”, the volume is ear- splitting, filled with distortion and a few notes off key throughout their set, but no one seems to mind. Seiji screams, “One Two Three Four” before launching into “Missile Me.” The crowd are dancing so much the wooden floor by the stage is bouncing.
At one point in the set Seiji exclaims “I like dinosaur fish!” and holds up a hand written note with the word Coelacanth scrawled on it. He pronounces the word, and then reveals a drawing of the said fish, to much amusement in the crowd.
The frenetic energy does not abate, causing sweat to drip onto Seiji’s guitar and not one leather jacket is shed. “What is the highest mountain in Australia?” asks Seiji.
A few people respond with Kosciuszko, and one punter screams “My pussy” to howls of laughter from the crowd. Seiji proceeds to throw the mike into the pit, twice, before the punter finds enough courage to scream “My pussy” into the mike once more.
“Gimme Some Lovin” (Spencer Davis Group Cover) is given the Guitar Wolf treatment and they close their explosive set with the fast paced “Kan-Nana” Fever.
The 5.6.7.8’s are casually tuning their instruments on stage, clad in mustard yellow outfits. Lead vocalist and guitarist Yoshiko “Ronnie” Fujiyama and her sister, drummer Sachiko (sporting an impressive beehive and amazing reading glasses), joined by Akiko Omo on bass, have a playful presence that endears them to many Aussie fans. Loyal fans that were listening to them and saw them play live long before their movie appearance in “Kill Bill.” Ronnie and her sister Sachiko started the band in 1986, and first toured Australia in 1992, where they played the Tote and POW.
Sachiko bangs her gong, signifying the start of the show. Opener and popular hit “Barracuda “(Alvin Cash and the Crawlers cover) is infused with their characteristic surf- punk garage rock sound. Next is The Ikette’s cover “I’m Blue” performed with aplomb.
Crowd favourite, “I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield,” is lapped up by the throng, with the Tote completely packed to the rafters, and members of the audience dancing and enjoying the show. “Woo Hoo” (Rock-a-teens cover) is always fun to listen to and a memorable song with its distinctive woo hoo refrain. The beautiful “Mothra no Uta” sung in Japanese (Peanuts cover) is the first song of the encore, followed in quick succession with “Hanky Panky” (The Raindrops cover) and ending with “Harlem Nocturne” by the Viscounts. The 5.6.7.8’s embody the spirit of rock n roll, surf -punk and psychobilly and are a joy to watch.
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