By Luke Voogt
After four decades touring the country with The Angels the only thing that has changed is the comfort, according to guitarist and co-founder John Brewster.
“We basically went on the road straightaway and we’ve been on the road ever since,” he said.
“But it’s a bit more civilised nowadays.”
The Angels will perform at The Gateway Hotel on 8 April as part of their ‘4×4 Across Australia’ tour, after shows in the previous two years at the hotel sold out, Brewster said.
“It was often regional cities like Geelong and Newcastle which were the places for us to break (out).”
Brewster was amazed to see so many young Angels fans on the tour.
“Radio stations still play a lot of our music – I think the band is pretty timeless,” he said.
Part of that timelessness was thanks to the band’s disdain for “teeny bopper” music, Brewster reckoned.
“We were a rock band from day one. I remember when we recorded the Face to Face album and some expert came into the studio and said radio wouldn’t play us.”
“Our attitude was radio can shove it, but radio played every track on the album.”
Brewster recalled when the band first hit the road in a 1964 EH Holden station wagon in the mid-70s.
“We piled into that and travelled all around Australia and played week after week,” he said.
The band would take on overnight trips from capital to capital in the trusty Holden to make a name for themselves.
“That car never missed a beat,” Brewster said.
Sometimes, they would even stop in towns for an afternoon show on their way to late-night pub gig.
“I guess ’cause you’re young you can handle some of that stuff,” Brewster said.
But The Angels took off “like a rocket ship” in the late 70s and abandoned the car in Brewster’s Adelaide driveway.
“All of a sudden, we were flying places or hiring cars,” he said.
“It sat outside my house for years, and bits kept getting taken off it.”
The band has played with AC/DC and David Bowie but for Brewster nothing beats playing with rock god Chuck Berry in 1978.
“That has to be one the greatest musical memories in our lifetimes.”
Fast-forward 40 years and the current line-up is like a big family, Brewster said.
“No one’s precious and there’s no pressure.”
The Angels tip their hats to their lost members every night on stage, Brewster said.
“But the band survives and life goes on.”
And as for that iconic chant, Brewster still had no idea where it originated.
But he does remember hearing for the first time – at a Mount Isa concert in 1983.
Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again was a “flop” and it was the first time the band had played it in years, Brewster said.
“That thing spread like wildfire around the country without our knowledge.”
Brewster’s theory was that it began on a cruise ship.
“That way they may have taken it back to their towns,” he said.
“It’s Australian larrikinism and I love it.”
