AS with The Kinks and ACDC, The Angels is one of those bands formed by two brothers playing guitars.
With John Brewster on rhythm guitar and his brother Rick Brewster on lead guitar they joined Bernard “Doc” Neeson on lead vocals and bass guitar and Peter “Charlie” King on drums to form The Angels in Adelaide in 1974.
Almost 50 years later the band is still drawing packed audiences who know every word to their songs.
The band now features two sets of brothers with John’s sons Sam on bass and Tom on drums.
The Angels have just kicked off their 50 Years In The Making tour which comes to Ipswich on Saturday with new frontman Nick Norton, who played drums for the band over the past 12 years.
“Nick is first and foremost a guitarist and singer and songwriter. He’s a multi-instrumentalist. He played the drums brilliantly, now sings brilliantly and plays guitar. We’re fortunate to have a guy like him in the band,” Sam said.
While the previous frontman Dave Gleeson brought his own established vocal style to the band, as the frontman of The Screaming Jets, The Angels with Nick Norton is sounding closer to the original line-up with Doc Neeson.
“Dave is a career frontman, he does what he does, which is great, so he brought that to the band and people loved it,” Sam said.
“At the moment, we’re trying to basically follow the blueprint with those original recordings. That is what we base everything on. We’re basically trying to honour those songs as best we can, without deviating too much. So whilst Nick is not trying to emulate Doc, in the stage performance, we are trying to sing those songs the way that they went down on those original recordings.”
Despite his dad being a member of one of the biggest bands in the country, Sam described his childhood as nothing “too far out of the ordinary”.
“I wasn’t involved in it. Most of the shows are over 18s and I didn’t go to a lot of shows because of that. I think the first one I went to was when I was about eight years old, and they had to sneak me in the side door and I watched from the side of stage.
“It was a packed house, probably 1200, general standing, big stage, big production. I still remember it very clearly. It was pretty impressive.
“But growing up, it’s just I guess you don’t know any different, your dad goes out on the road for months at a time and comes back and he’s home for a bit.”
The big difference though was music was always around the Brewster household.
“He had a studio in the house. He was constantly working on things. We had Alan Lancaster from Status Quo lived next door. They worked together for quite a while. They were always writing, and playing backgammon, hanging out.
“I first started playing guitar at about 11. Before that I played piano. Tom probably played drums when he was a bit younger. I’ve also got another brother Harry, who is a musician, so we’re all musicians.”
Sam said it was a buzz to be playing alongside his father and the audience reaction was something that fed the energy of the band.
“I guess we’re fortunate that the radio stills plays these songs and I guess these kids are hearing their parents recordings at home.
“It’s not something we take for granted. It excites us every time we get out there and do it. The Angels is Dad’s whole life really. He lives for it. He is just so passionate about it still after all this time.”
The band is back in the studio working on new material, looking at releasing their first new album in seven years.
“We’re not just a band that is a heritage act. Writing new stuff is a big part of what the band is as well.”
The 50 Years In The Making tour will see the band traverse the country with dates scheduled across South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania.
§ The Angels play at the Racehorse Hotel on October 28.
