Following Frank Sultana’s 2012 inclusion in Australian Guitar Magazine’s ‘Guitarists To Look Out For’, and the release of three records, the wickedly lovable bluesman is finally giving his band’s rampant fans what they want: a piece of the live show to take home.
Recorded live at the iconic Sydney venue last October, 'Live At The Vanguard' captures Frank and his band The Sinister Kids at their blistering best and will be released independently on limited edition vinyl in August.
This weekend, Frank is taking a family holiday north with The Sinister Kids with a slew of Brisbane dates. Ahead of the shows, we asked Frank to look back at the most memorable support slot he has had. Here is his top 5.
1. Supporting Gary Clark, Jnr
We arrived at soundcheck early and Gary’s gear was already set up. Pretty soon he arrived and during his soundcheck, we just sat on the floor and watched in awe as he went through his repertoire. Other than the crew, we were the only other people in the room – he wrapped up over two hours later and we were blown away. After the show, we got to hang out with the man himself, talking music and guitars. Awesome experience all round!2. Little Day In
8am the morning after Gary Clark, Jnr we were flying to Brisbane to play Little Day In, at The Joynt, alongside Brothers Grim and the Blue Murders, Papa Pilko and the Binrats and The Good Ship among others. The line between the end of the night before and the beginning of the next was as blurry and by the time we were set to go on stage, we were well lubricated, ripping out a fully charged hour of rock & roll, which ended with all of the band in our underwear, dripping wet and well and truly spent. The place was boiling over, and probably to this day this was one of our most enjoyable and high-energy performances.3. Blurry Brisbane Friday
We love Brisbane and have been lucky to be able to get back there regularly, always playing as many shows as possible while we’re there. This night, we played two early sets at Sonny’s House of Blues before cabbing it across town to Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall to play another two sets at midnight. We saw the best and worst of Brisbane with some locals, consumed a vast amount of hard liquor, then cabbed it with a conspiracy theorist author/ cab driver who totally weirded us out back to our accommodation. We needed to save ourselves for the next day…4. Back It Up Brisbane Saturday
Following Friday’s epic night, we turned things up a notch playing an ‘unplugged’ acoustic set at Paper Moon Coffee House, before two early sets at Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall, and two late ones at Sonny’s House of Blues! The hard liquor quota wasn’t slowing, and despite the mammoth 24 hours preceding, we pushed on in rock & roll style, skipping sleep to play an impromptu DJ set till 5am, then catching a cab from venue to airport for the 6:30am flight home to Sydney. Brisbane really knows how to party! Enough said!5. Forth Valley Blues Festival
After flying from Sydney to Launceston, we’re met at the airport by John John, our Scottish stretch-limo driver, and all-round great guy, who drives us in style from Launceston to Ulverstone, north of Davenport, with obligatory bottle shop stop along the way. At the Forth Pub we were met by what appeared to be the entire population of the town, and went on stage at midnight dutifully tanked. If there had of been a roof we certainly would have torn it off! What an audience! What a show! Stuffed on beautiful homemade pies, curries and fantastic hospitality, we continued right through the weekend, playing the Forth Valley Blues Festival alongside blues royalty Tony Joe White and Aussie legend ‘The Real Thing’ Russell Morris. Spoilt beyond belief, what a fantastic weekend!Frank Sultana And The Sinister Kids Brisbane Tour Dates
Fri 3 Jul - Sonny's House Of Blues (7pm)Fri 3 Jul - Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall (11:30pm)
Sat 4 Jul - Paper Moon Coffee House (1pm)
Sat 4 Jul - Sonny's House Of Blues (9.30pm)
Sat 4 Jul - Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall (12.30am)
