The Baby Animals - Review

The Baby Animals  
14 June, The Factory Theatre

These Baby Animals Still Have A Mighty Loud Roar

I turned up to The Factory Theatre in Marrickville, fittingly dressed in jeans, a Prince t-shirt and a leather jacket, ready to dance awkwardly but enthusiastically to some classic 90’s rock. And I tell you, I was not disappointed.

I had seen many comedy shows at The Factory Theatre, but it had been a long time since I had seen a music concert there. It truly lived up to it’s reputation as a great live music venue and it suited The Baby Animals, a much loved, ‘pub band’, to a tee.

Rockstars traditionally aren’t known for their punctuality and have a fondness for making fans wait for them to hit the stage, but The Baby Animals respected the clock (and probably a local noise curfew) and appeared bang on their due time of 10pm.

They opened with their well known mega-hit ‘Rush You’. It’s a great song and was performed well and with professional precision, but the wild rock ‘n’ roll energy wasn’t quite there...yet. Any concern quickly disappeared as The Baby Animals roared louder with every song and well and truly came into their own to dominate the venue, full of eager and loyal fans.

Lead singer Suzie DeMarchi, a misleadingly small and petite figure, truly held command of the stage, particularly in the songs where she also played guitar. Suzie rocked out with undeniable energy and overflowing charisma. At almost 50, she still very much owns the ‘sex-symbol‘ tag that accompanied her rise to iconic status, and she strutted her stuff for the enamored fans who grew up with her poster on the wall.

If anything, Suzie probably overshadowed her band as she was always the focus, but all of them had a strong connection with each other on stage and you could clearly see they they were having fun.

The energy and momentum of the show grew and grew throughout and reached a memorable peak just before encore with a high-energy, no-holds barred, passionate performance of my personal favourite, ‘Early Warning’. The excitement of the crowd was at fever pitch.

But The Baby Animals weren’t done yet. They came back to deliver an enthusiastic, wild and loose encore that ended on a tremendous high, not with a big, well known hit, but with an old school jam.

It was the perfect way to end a high-energy, good-old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll show.

By Dane Hiser
@DaneHiser
danehiser.wordpress.com