My first experience of THE VEEBEES was watching them play a dingy pub in the northern suburbs of Canberra in 1993 and I was hooked from the start. The band had a swag of top notch songs that they played with a conviction that only they have. But it wasn’t just the songs that made The VeeBees special. It was the whole experience. At that show in 1993 the band swaggered on stage with an esky, dressed in their now legendary gig thongs, and proceeded to hand out beers to whoever would have one before they had even plugged their guitars in. Obviously there’s a scale of priorities happening there. They then belted out the best collection of Aussie rock ‘n’ roll I’ve ever seen. That was the first time I saw them. The last time I saw them in 2010 they were cooking a BBQ on stage and handing out snags to whoever would have one between songs. Apparently it’s a band philosophy. “We’re a thinking man’s band,” says bass player Glenno. “There’s no better combination of anything at all than meat, beer, bread and loud rock ‘n’ roll. Anyone who thinks any differently is a complete dickhead.”
Veterans of the Canberra punk rock scene, Glenno and Tommo (drums) started the band in 2000 at a backyard BBQ, recruiting Simo as guitarist/vocalist. The intention was to play some classic Aussie pub rock with the emphasis on Aussie. Early songs like Aussie Beef Snags, Beer O’Clock and Whaddya Reckon About Me Ute are still crowd pleasers to this day and show that their simple catchy punk-flavoured rock ‘n’ roll still appeals to many. “I suppose that we are a pretty blokey band but some of our biggest fans are women. We’ve had all sorts down the front at our shows; middle-aged mums, teenage tattooists, headbangers and hardened country music fans, all letting their hair down, singing along, muckin’ up and having a great time. Heckling too, we love a good bit of heckling; if they don’t start on us then we start on them. You gotta love crowd and band interaction.”
The VeeBees are about to release their fifth and latest album Roots‘n’Blues. According to Glenno, “this one isn’t about John Butler I tell ya, it’s about rootin’ and bluein’. It’s completely different to the last album. Crack Us Anotha had nine songs on it, Roots‘n’Blues has 12. In showbiz they call that progression. Check it out for our new hit single I’d Rather Be On A Brewery Tour and our ode to fashionistas, Three Thongs. It’s about wearing three thongs; two on the hoof and one up the crack. That one’s in G. I love plucking a G-string, it’s good to hear it ring out.”
And on that note, we’ll leave it there.
The VeeBees play The Basement, Belconnen on Saturday May 22. The Casino Rumblers and Manic Pisteleros join them for a night of shenanigans. Tickets are $10 on the door.
