As the book The 100 Best Australian Albums highlighted, “The Angels can lay claim to being Australia’s longest-lasting band.” And when you’ve been around since 1974 and had 13 classic albums, the hardest part of any gig is compiling a set list. It’s a problem that’s now been solved. Welcome to … Brewster Brothers Electric – Playing The Angels rarities.
BREWSTER BROTHERS ELECTRIC – PLAYING THE ANGELS RARITIES
Fri April 14: The Bridge Hotel, Rozelle NSW
Sat April 15: Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle NSW
Fri April 21: The Gov, Hindmarsh SA
Sat April 22: Memo Music Hall, St Kilda VIC
“We’re not badging these shows as ‘The Angels’,” John Brewster explains. “But we are doing Angels songs … the ones that we don’t normally play.”
So, what’s the story? Well, the Brewster Brothers just love to play – it’s what they’ve been doing for the past five decades. So, while Dave Gleeson is off touring with the Jets, John and Rick have decided to take the opportunity to perform some of the songs they’ve been itching to play. It’s a gift for Angels fans – songs they’ve been hoping to see live for years.
Now, we might be calling them “rarities”, but these are songs that other bands would base their entire set around. We’re talking tracks such as ‘Save Me’, ‘Invisible Man’, ‘When The Time Comes’, ‘Talk The Talk’, ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’, ‘Small Price To Pay’, ‘Don’t Waste My Time’, ‘Moving On’, ‘Night Attack’, ‘Nations Are Falling’, ‘City Out Of Control’, ‘Broken Windows’ …
No wonder the legendary American critic David Fricke called The Angels “a guaranteed great time anywhere”.
The tour follows the release of the acclaimed documentary The Angels: Kickin’ Down The Door, which had its world premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival. Directed by Madeleine Parry, who made the Emmy-winning Hannah Gadsby: Nanette, the film tells the tale of the band That “revolutionised Aussie music”.
And to celebrate this ground-breaking tour, the guys are launching a brand-new 4-track EP called Lives Of Grace, featuring the tracks – ‘Night Attack’, a 2023 new recording of the title track from The Angels’ 1981 album, along with ‘Lives Of Grace,’ ‘Moving On’ and ‘Small Price To Pay’.
As Ian McFarlane, the author of The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop noted, “The Angels helped re-define the Australian pub rock tradition.” And now John Brewster, Rick Brewster, Sam Brewster and Nick Norton are giving it another twist.