WINNEBAGO DEAL

“I tell you what, the night before the show or something you should hi-jack an ice cream truck and drive around the Valley, yelling at everyone over the speakers to ‘head to the Step Inn to see a real rock ‘n’ roll show and stop being such fucking pussies’. If you do that, and lots of people come out to the show, I’ll buy you a beer.”

Despite the obvious logistical challenges (do we have ice cream trucks with public address systems? Where are these ice cream trucks that may or may not be equipped with an adequate PA kept?) Perrier’s suggestion has merit. Since first Plata O Plomo EP dropped at the height of the garage rock boom of the early 2000s, the British two-piece has been a band that evokes impassioned responses from the people who know of them, but is still unheard of by the vast majority.

Perhaps this is why Perrier uses our interview to, albeit jokingly, put a message out to fans of live music in Brisbane. With his promotional ranting not exclusively constrained to conspiracy to commit grand theft auto, the guitarist reminds punters of the Step Inn’s kitchen, known as Satan’s Grill. “Come out to a rock show, and have fucking Satan make you some garlic bread. The devil himself! Satan’s garlic bread and rock ‘n’ roll, what more could you Brisbanites want!”

Perrier’s good-humoured big upping of Winnebago Deal and their upcoming appearance at the Devil’s Kitchen shows is not without justification. Mid-last year, when the Deal played the Step Inn headlining over Fort the show was promisingly full until it was found out that Fort had broken up and as a result weren’t going to play. So, after being filled out for most of the local support acts’ sets, there were about 10 or 15 people in the main room of the Step Inn to see Winnebago Deal. After travelling across the world to be greeted by such an underwhelming crowd response, the question has to be posed to Ben, why return to Australia so soon, especially with no new album to promote? Are Winnebago Deal just gluttons for punishment?

“Our last Australian tour was a bit of a fizzer. There was a death in Ben the drummer’s family so he had to kind of leave mid-way through, so we thought we should come back to have a real go at an Australian tour. As for the number of people out at the shows it doesn’t really matter to us, 20 or 200, if there’s a stage and a crowd we’ll do our stuff. We can only hope that the people who came out last year will bring along a few of their friends.”

So it seems for all Ben’s willing to joke about the band’s hits and misses (especially funny were his anecdotes about touring Europe with Motörhead) there’s no joke when it comes to the band’s live show. A show that I’m sure the 14 other audience members who were in attendance at the May show would testify for.

WINNEBAGO DEAL are playing the Devil’s Kitchen festival at the Step Inn on Sunday Jan 25 alongside Sonofabitch, Midget and Little Vegas & The Fuzz Parade, for ticket information go to www.oztix.com.au. FLIGHT OF THE RAVEN out now through Fierce Panda/Impendance. More info www.winnebagodeal.com.

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