By Natalee Kerr
A Geelong band with more than 100 years of combined experience are set to shake things up at the Potato Shed next month.
Between them they have worked with artists including Bo Diddley, Jeff St John, Wilber Wilde and Chuck Berry, but now local four-piece band Plan B are making a name for themselves.
Adopting the motto “all killers no fillers”, Plan B plays the best 60s blues, soul and rock n’ roll music with a “unique” take on the era, explains lead singer Jenn Apps.
“We include an audio-visual element to our show that shares what life was like in Australia during the 60s,” she said.
The Grovedale local said providing a snapshot of 60s life through visuals such as old houses, milk deliveries and gender roles allows for a “reflective” experience.
“We look at what was going on around Geelong at the time,” she said.
“It really allows people to step back in time.”
The band loved to entertain and looked forward to “having a good time” during their morning show on 6 August, Apps said.
“It’s a little bit different rock and rolling at 10 in the morning compared to eight at night,” she laughs.
The band have been rocking all across Geelong for the last three years, performing at some of the best local bars, venues and even on a ferry.
Apps said playing in a band “fits perfectly” into her life where she also works part-time as a relationship councillor.
“I’m sorting out marriages during the week and then singing my lungs out on the weekend!” she laughs.
Apps’ long history with music includes studying both classical and modern music styles alongside teachers such as high-profile American vocal coach Venetta Fields.
“I learnt so much from her. She knocked the classical training right out of me and got me singing from the heart,” she said.
Apps has sung in more than seven bands since her 20s, but she said working with Plan B has been a highlight.
“When you get a group of guys who are on the same page with a similar love for music, there’s nothing like it,” she said.
“Their professionalism, knowledge, skill and humour makes it so enjoyable.”
Playing up to ten gigs a month, Apps said the mature-aged group is “very much vibrant and alive” and has no plans of stopping.
“The only thing is by the end of a show I think what have I done to my hips?” she laughs.
“But once you’re on stage it becomes a timeless thing, there’s nothing like seeing a room full of people rock and rolling!”
