Rose Tattoo brings Blood Brothers to Geelong

Rock N’ Roll outlaws, Rose Tattoo have been a classic rock institution for nearly forty years, often being described as one of the most revered bands of all time.
Late last year, the Tats’ announced their Blood Brothers 2018 Tour featuring some of the finest rock musicians this country has ever produced. Mark Evans of AC/DC on bass, Angels & Skyhooks axeman Bob Spencer, Aussie Crawl’s John ‘Watto’ Watson up the back and the Pete Well’s endorsed Dai Pritchard on slide guitar, and of course, Rose Tattoo wouldn’t exist without its quintessential front man, the one and only Angry Anderson.
This tour celebrates Blood Brothers, an album true to the times rock and roll album that mixes traditional and modern styles, that was originally released in early 2007 to pay tribute to the many members of the iconic band that are no longer here; founding members of Australian rock band, guitarist Mick Cocks, Peter Wells and Ian Rilen, who all unfortunately lost their lives.
“In 2007, we recorded the last album with Mick [Cocks] because we knew Mick wasn’t going to be around for much longer and I wanted to commemorate his life and his imminent passing with an album,” front man Anderson reveals. “Mick and I wrote the bulk of the material and always did for the Tat’s albums,” he continues. “We toured Blood Brothers through Europe in 2008 which was Mick’s last tour because he died a short time after.”
To celebrate the tour, Golden Robot Records re-issued the classic 2007 album featuring live versions of some of the albums finest tracks, including ‘Man About Town’, ‘Black Eyed Bruiser’, ‘Once In A Lifetime’, ‘Sweat Meat’, ‘Standover Man’ and ‘Nothing To Lose’ – tracks which Anderson is determined to make the most of with this upcoming tour.
“Because it’s a re-release, you’re giving the album a second chance at establishing itself as a body of work so half of the set [on tour] will be off the Blood Brothers album,” he explains. “There’s some wonderful material on that album and I can’t, and I won’t, put it to rest, particularly in respect of Mick. Pete had played on that album too, of course he died before we could actually get into the studio, but knowing that we were going to lose Mick in the foreseeable futures, it was a statement about both of those.
“There’s actually a track that I wrote particularly for Pete called ‘Once In A Lifetime’,” Anderson reveals. “I’ve never written a song about someone that was close, pointedly about that person, but I couldn’t miss the opportunity, knowing it was Mick’s last album too, to write something about Pete because we never got to do that last album that we always talked about doing.”
Mixing their trademark riffage with modern rock grooves and lyrical statements of intent, Blood Brothers is a tribute album that demands to be heard.
“It was a way of signing off I suppose, and Blood brothers is exactly that; we had that spiritual and blood bond in those days and that needed to be honoured and signed off on,” Anderson explains. “Even though this [current] band is an amazing band, I’ve never played with better musicians, I don’t think there are better musicians.”
Rose Tattoo’s iconic, street smart blues rock has captured the heart and soul of rock fans all around the world for over 40 years now and shows no signs of stopping.
“We lost Lobby [Loyde], Ian, Peter and Mick in the space of only a couple of years, and after that, there was a couple of years I never thought I’d walk on the stage as Rose Tattoo again, I just thought well that’s the end of an era for me. But I suppose, in keeping with the great wisdom of never say never, here I am back out working again as Rose Tattoo,” he explains.
“I think my attitude to new material is pretty much the same. Again, another great wisdom is life goes on, regardless,” he continues. “If you don’t go with it, it will leave you behind, so is there a possibility of another Rose Tattoo album? Of course.”
Get down to the show and prepare for a manifestation of Rock n Roll in the strongest form: powerful, unrelenting and wildly uncompromising.
When & Where: Gateway Hotel, Geelong – April 21.
Co-written by Glenn Lynch and Talia Rinaldo