Making liberal use of words like academic, cerebral, socio-cultural, and modernity, one might assume that Barker’s performance was one of petty technicalities and fanatical pedantry, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.

I Gave My Soul to Rock ‘n’ Roll begins with a tale of a younger Max Barker spending his hard earned pay at Sanity in the Belconnen mall. Should he buy a new release for $30? Or should he “delve further into the canon” and search through the classics? Almost immediately Barker’s passion was obvious, and strangely infectious.

Central to his performance was the idea that popular music has a cyclical and self-referential nature. 1970s punk harkened back to 50s rock ‘n’ roll, grunge in turn harkened back to 1970s punk. The Jam were mod revival, referencing the mods of the late 50s and early 60s, and Blur had an album in the 90s called Modern Life is Rubbish; a “mod revival revival?” Barker asks.

Perhaps the weakest moment in I Gave My Soul to Rock ‘n’ Roll came with a somewhat trite description of music as a soundtrack to our lives. A song for our first kiss, the first time we fall in love, and yes, a song for when our hearts are broken. Barker’s sincerity and delivery went a long way to compensating for the clichéd concept, but there was a sense that it had all been said before.

The highlight of the evening came in the form of Barker’s depiction, in almost rambling poetry, of being at a pub, packed on a Sunday afternoon or dead on a Tuesday night, right before the band starts to play. “It was four clicks of the drum sticks,” he said before repeating the phrase, its inherent rhythm and rhyme made more musical by the repetition.

I Gave My Soul to Rock ‘n’ Roll and Didn’t Charge Anything may not have been the most ground-breaking thing at You Are Here, but it was entertaining and it certainly stuck a chord, with many laughs, approving nods, and sympathetic smiles emanating from all present at Smith’s Alternative.

Rock ‘n’ roll is “an experiential thing, it’s a visceral thing,” mused Barker, nearing his conclusion. “Do you dance?” he asked with a smile, “I always dance.”

Details: I Gave My Soul to Rock ‘n’ Roll and Didn’t Charge Anything was performed at The Money Bin on Sunday March 16, and at Smith’s Alternative on Tuesday March 18.

Bio: Born and raised in Canberra, Dylan Slater always had two passions; writing and music. He pursued both throughout his schooling and was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for Outstanding Achievement in the Performance Arts for his grades in music, and became a published author in the 2009 Lit Links creative writing anthology. Dylan recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Canberra, majoring in Journalism, Creative Writing, and Sociology. Dylan still pursues his passions, regularly contributing to Canberra based music review websiteDirtygal.co and playing music whenever and wherever he can. His favourite book is Catch-22 and his favourite album is Disintegration.

Image by Adam Thomas

Such was the chant in Glitoris‘ final number at this year’s You Are Here, and such was the order of the night last Monday when the all-girl punk rockers gave their sweaty, naked, glittery show to a very full Money Bin.

The relatively small venue was overflowing with punters from all walks of life in the lead up to Glitoris’ first public outing, so much so that the event staff were forced to request that everyone leave while the band set up and sound checked. Punks, goths, hipsters, miscellaneous types, and one guy in a suit stood together in universal anticipation outside the Money Bin’s closed doors, all hopeful they would be allowed back in for the gig.

Unfortunately for some the venue just wasn’t big enough for the crowd that had gathered outside and many were turned away and redirected to the festivities happening at Smith’s Alternative.

Inside, all the furniture had been pushed against the walls to allow for the capacity audience to stand and dance the night away. All in attendance itched in visible excitement and took very little convincing when the announcement came that the band wouldn’t take the stage until everyone was standing.

Many of the more vertically challenged in attendance (myself a prime example) were forced to employ all their ingenuity in finding anything to stand on for a better view. Chairs, milk crates, benches, and the arms of couches all became precarious step ladders while the band played.

The trio took to the stage stark naked, covered in gold body-paint and glitter, to a fanfare of enthusiastic applause. Wwing credit to the late 80s and early 90s, the band sounded larger than the three-piece band should have, all things considered. With pounding drums, raucous guitar, and steady bass, topped off with all three contributing vocals (with some impressive three-part harmonies to boot), it was clear that Glitoris weren’t just there to be looked at, they were there to be listened to.

“Boys, pay close attention,” joked the guitarist joked before launching into a complex stuttering, distorted riff.

Although obviously drawing on sexual imagery, Glitoris weren’t cashing in on their sexual appeal, they were there as musicians with a message of female sexual liberation.

Their all too short and sweet set, stretching to a generous half hour or so, left the audience shouting for more. The girls mercifully acquiesced.

Perhaps the message was that sexuality and sexy don’t have to come at the cost of credibility. Perhaps it was an evening celebrating uninhibited feminine sexuality. Whatever it was, it was fun and all present were more than a little bit entertained.

“I don’t wanna know where I’m gonna find glitter in the morning,” quipped the guitarist, but I got the feeling they didn’t really care. Glitoris wasn’t about the morning after.

Details: Glitoris played in The Money Bin on Monday March 17th, 2014.

Bio: Born and raised in Canberra, Dylan Slater always had two passions; writing and music. He pursued both throughout his schooling and was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for Outstanding Achievement in the Performance Arts for his grades in music, and became a published author in the 2009 Lit Links creative writing anthology. Dylan recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Canberra, majoring in Journalism, Creative Writing, and Sociology. Dylan still pursues his passions, regularly contributing to Canberra based music review website Dirtygal.co and playing music whenever and wherever he can. His favourite book is Catch-22 and his favourite album is Disintegration.

Image by Julia Johnson

Matt Ralph plays the elusive title character and, despite looking quite unlike Bob Dylan even while donning his iconic wayfarers, waistcoat, and “boots of Spanish leather”, he manages to embody the musician’s charismatic presence well. Although his accent was a little shaky to begin with, Ralph warmed into the singer’s nasal drawl and emulated the singer’s rhythm and register almost seamlessly.

While Ralph was fantastic as the enigmatic Dylan, parts of the show were stolen by the very talented Andrew Henry who played a large cast of supporting characters including Johnny Cash, a “Hipster Yiddish” Abraham Lincoln as a talk show host (possibly a reference to Dylan’s father, named Abram), a comically Canadian Robbie Robertson, and an hilarious John Lennon, complete with trademark sunglasses.

Lenore Munro also provided a number of well-performed cameos and supporting characters, including Dylan’s wives Sarah and Carolyn, Bono as a leprechaun, and an impressive stint as Joan Baez complete with operatic vibrato.

Interestingly, the show does not feature much of Dylan’s original work and most references to his songs come in the form of quoted titles and lyrics in dialogue. Although this may disappoint the few who come expecting to sing along to Blowin’ in the Wind or Like a Rolling Stone, it allows the performance to be clever in its tribute and saves it from becoming a trite Dylan cover act. Musical director and multi-instrumentalist Simon Rippingale does well to follow Dylan’s career from 60s folk, folk-rock, country, and evangelical, through to his latest incarnations with relative ease despite never playing a true Dylan ‘hit’.

While fantastically written, strongly directed, and well-performed, The Chronic-Ills of Robert Zimmerman is, on the whole, a show for fans. For those without a deep knowledge of Dylan canon (and apocrypha) many of the subtler jokes and references will be little more than strange turns of phrase and nonsense, and the show seems to rely heavily on the expectation that those in attendance are Bob Dylan aficionados.

However, despite perhaps being partially lost on the uninitiated, The Chronic-Ills of Robert Zimmerman is a quirky, clever, and irreverent homage that holds nothing as sacred or untouchable, and one can’t help but feel that the man himself would approve. Or not.

Details: The Chronic-Ills of Robert Zimmerman, AKA Bob Dylan (A Lie): A Theatrical Talking Blues & Glissendorf was on at The Money Bin on Sunday the 16th of March, 2014.

Bio: Born and raised in Canberra, Dylan Slater always had two passions; writing and music. He pursued both throughout his schooling and was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for Outstanding Achievement in the Performance Arts for his grades in music, and became a published author in the 2009 Lit Links creative writing anthology. Dylan recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Canberra, majoring in Journalism, Creative Writing, and Sociology. Dylan still pursues his passions, regularly contributing to Canberra based music review website Dirtygal.co and playing music whenever and wherever he can. His favourite book is Catch-22 and his favourite album is Disintegration.

Image by Adam Thomas

It’s almost 8pm on the first night of this year’s You Are Here festival and Hissy Fit, an all girl art collective comprised of Jade Muratore, Emily O’Connor, and Nat Randall, are about to take to the stage with their lecture performance She’s Lost Control.

The Money Bin’s bare cement floors are, for the next ten days, furnished with couches, cushions, and crates, occupied tonight by 25 twentysomethings dressed in an even mix of Doc Martens and Chuck Taylors.

Described as an exploration of  “head-banging through its dual somatic relationship to the performance of hysteria and the contemporary rock, punk and heavy metal music culture of the MTV generation”, She’s Lost Control seeks to draw parallels between what was once medically diagnosed as ‘hysteria’ and the modern action of head-banging.

The performance begins with a projected video of the artist’s faces against a black background, each of them performing different styles of head-banging. It is here, with only the video, that the trio manage to get their first laugh with a sequence of head-banging done to the solitary sound of drumsticks being hit together.

Following the intro the three young women introduce themselves and talk about their childhood, education, and motivations. Nat shines here, having the audience in laughter despite making well aimed and serious feminist critiques. Jade also makes a lasting impression with tales of her time working in a sex shop photographing “literally hundreds” of dildos. Emily perhaps lacks some of the charisma of the other two, but this hardly detracted from the overall performance.

The serious part of the evening comes with the lecture. The lecture, centred around the history of ‘hysteria’ as an ailment apparently unique to women, asserts that it is in fact a social construct intended to inhibit freedom of expression in women, and to dismiss legitimate emotional response as feminine peculiarity. Hissy Fit conclude that an act of ‘hysteria’ is an act of subversion, that the “visual language of the body out of control” is powerful feminist expression.

Although a weighty subject, the lecture maintains a healthy momentum throughout and the passion and conviction of the performers ensures that it never feels preachy or patronising.

As the night nears its end we are treated to a demonstration of various headbanging techniques, each performed by one of the artists while another describes its correct execution. Of the many styles ‘AC/D She’, ‘Box Jellyfish’, and ‘Cunt Punch’, are all definite highlights.

Despite the obvious difficulties in combining a serious academic lecture with entertainment and performance (in the form of head-banging), the three artists managed a workable balance that made for a fun, informative, and thought provoking evening.

Details: She’s Lost Control was shown at The Money Bin on the 13th and 14th of March, 2014.

Bio: Born and raised in Canberra, Dylan Slater always had two passions; writing and music. He pursued both throughout his schooling and was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for Outstanding Achievement in the Performance Arts for his grades in music, and became a published author in the 2009 Lit Links creative writing anthology. Dylan recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Canberra, majoring in Journalism, Creative Writing, and Sociology. Dylan still pursues his passions, regularly contributing to Canberra based music review website Dirtygal.co and playing music whenever and wherever he can. His favourite book is Catch-22 and his favourite album is Disintegration.

Image by Adam Thomas