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The Vasco Era.
Pretty much every music festival worth its salt in the last
six months has hosted The Vasco Era. From Queenscliff to The
Falls and most recently St Kilda, the trio has been all around
the country. When asked about how busy the band seems to be
for next few months, frontman Sid O'Neil replies under the mistakenly
impression that the string of festival dates has ended. "Festivals
are kind of winding down. St Kilda Festival was just this weekend,"
says O'Neil, before I remind him that The Vasco Era are set
to play the Blues And Roots Festival in Byron Bay. "Oh yeah,
we are too."
I then remind him also of the Port Fairy Folk Festival. "Oh shit. What am I talking about? We're doing Blues And Roots, Port Fairy - oh, and also the WA Blues And Roots in Fremantle. And then there's the Violent Femmes tour. Oh, and we just recorded as well," he suddenly says. "Have you got the new EP yet? You've got to get it. It's good."
I ask if the new recording is better than their year old first EP, 'Let It Burn', knowing full well Sid's dissatisfaction with it. "Oh, 'Let It Burn' is crap," he cries. "We always hated 'Let It Burn'!"
The new recordings, still to be released, better reflects the band's present sound. "It's just heavier," explains O'Neil. "It's just a rock album instead of an acoustic-whatever-the-fuck that last album was. I want to get it out because we're starting to get a bit of publicity and people are hearing that other album and thinking that's what we sound like, and it's not. We're so different now. It'll be on Triple J soon anyway, so you'll hear it."
When I last spoke to O'Neil, he was hoping for a chance to meet The Black Keys at The Falls, but it never eventuated.
O'Neil will have another chance though, with The Vasco Era supporting The Black Keys in their upcoming shows in Adelaide and in Melbourne. It's a logical choice, what with the Vasco Era's heady mix of blues and rock being a great match for well, the blues and rock mix of The Black Keys. After that, the boys are set to support the Violent Femmes on their national tour.
Despite their constant running around the country, the band are only just making their first trip to Adelaide. "I'm looking forward to it, definitely," says O'Neil. "I haven't been to Adelaide since I was little!"
Eddie Chan
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The Vasco Era play with Regurgitator at Flinders Uni on Fri 4 March, play Jive with Carus & The True Believers on Sat 5 and Sun 6 March, and the Black Keys at the Gov on Tues 8 March.
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