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Madonna
Royal Derby
August 27, 2010
Once upon a time there was a little rock band called Madonna. They were lucky enough to gain a Friday residency spot at the magical Royal Derby castle. To the villagers’ surprise, Madonna was not the usual evil indie band – out to steal our souls with pretentious bland drivel.
Instead they were knights in shining armour – armed with guitars, synths and giant dick-and-ball posters. But that’s where the fairytale ends, Madonna closer to resembling some grotty, bloodthirsty trolls than the sleek, over-worked stylings of the modern alternative band fairytales.
Madonna clearly put a lot of work into their performance, unlike many of the bands playing round Fitzroy who leave a crowd cold and unengaged with their it’s-so-indie-to-stand-still-and-look-depressed routine. Madonna respond to Melbourne’s inner city hipster vibe with an angry middle finger salute; seamlessly engaging in an overly ecstatic, fun loving and drunken way. It’s obvious that the boys love every minute of performing to a crowd who love them right back. With a large fan base of their own, along with eager walk-ins, songs were received with adoring cheers as many a body danced/threw themselves around the room every night.
For the month of August, Madonna played alongside Wil Wagner and the Smith St band, Chaos Kids and The Resignators. Madonna stole the show each night with their chaotic psychedelic punk ska style. Tracks such as ‘Too Gacked 2 Fuck’, ‘Mingin’ on ya Minge’ and ‘Suicide Tuesday’ are performed in an inspiring, creative and energetic fashion that oozes raw excitement as Madonna throw themselves around the stage.
Front man Anty Horgan’s random screams are magnified by a vocal delay while Craig Selak and Stephen Lavery, on bass and guitar respectively, switch between enthusiastic structured thrashing to getting half naked and causing absolute mayhem. David Beaumont on the kit unleashes a rhythmic fury, holding the mangled pieces of the puzzle together. Yet the most impressive part of the show is the subtle removing of all of their tops amidst the sprawling guitar and random stage dives. Riding on patrons’ shoulders through the crowd, running to the bar and fighting the good fight, Anty holds the room in check whilst Steve, Craig and David lay a foundation for his performance to stand on.
Polite and cheeky, they are the perfect guys to take home to your parents – if they can see past the tatts, piercings and general rowdiness. Violent, sexy, endorphin fuelled and unabashed, like every urge we’re taught to ignore, the buzz about Madonna is definitely getting louder for a reason.
