Brisbane's Doo-Bop Bar is a place where magic happens.
And the offerings are more than just ‘all that jazz’ (spirit hands) – it’s sometimes a genteel gunfight, like when The Hipshooters are in town (17 May).
“You can’t take it with you… that’s for sure,” growls frontman and Hendrix spirit-channel, Anton ‘Tipi’ Elkington.
Kiwi ex-pats Anton and Billi Williams (bass) moved to Brisbane in 1995 - two years after forming the band in Auckland. Grant Bedford completes this triple-hard-edged blues-rock army. Tipi’s voice is a like molten molasses beset with chunks of stalk and potentially cane beetle cadavers – gruellingly capable, sweet and harsh. His guitar playing smashes through time signatures and dives beneath them via the Squier-ship enterprise and rocking the silk paisley shirt.
The Hipshooters blues is gritty, the swing is thick like a slow-cooked Texas steak. You could be forgiven for feeling like you’re rockin’ all the way down Old Town Road on a diligently weary old nag.
“She’s my sweet little baby, I’m her little lover boy,” Tipi roars through the Stevie Ray Vaughan classic ‘Pride And Joy’.
It’s a great spot, Doo-Bop, for chilling, for dining or having your ears explode with a politeness befitting the décor. The Hipshooters are not out of place here, parading their current single ‘Broken Man’ and introducing the next one to come: ‘How Can I Give You My Love’. "Baby, how can I give you my love, if you just keep a-givin’ it back."
Three dudes, two hats and three glorious feathers hangin’ off the end of the bass; well I oughta tell ya this slick groove is contagious.
