Vaudeville Smash

The band room was heaving from the very start of Vaudeville Smash’s show, with no love lost between the five-piece and their ardent fans since their last run of gigs and this, to promote new single Best Night. The classic Roller Disco was punched out early on, at a slower pace than its recorded incarnation, which actually worked really well. Singer Marc Lucchesi is one of the most present frontmen you could see live – he’s pressing skin with the stage-hoppers, now he’s jogging on the spot with delight at brother Dan’s killer beats, now he’s playing a goddamn flute like a sexy Puck. The whole thing went the way you’d imagine a Vegas show to go, wherein the songs are faultlessly honed and almost always end on the one (as in: three, four, one), with a blast from a band so unified that you’d have to guess there was family involved even if you didn’t know it to be true. Session keyboardist Luke Saunders must have been cooking in that black shirt (same goes for drummer Dan, actually), but he was brilliant at making slow, pulsing chords throb straight through your neck and into your hypothalamus. At one point the vocal harmonising evoked some kind of pop-angel congregation: it was a mixture of love, pain, guilt, amazement and imagination. By the time Best Night came around, Vaudeville Smash had well and truly proven that they can do tight-as-fuck disco and do it properly, just in case there was anyone left at the Northcote who was in two minds. Best Night presented a most-faithful adherence to the recorded track, although sadly Lucchesi’s sax did not have live autotune applied. The true joy of the song’s message, however, definitely does itself justice as a live experience over the recording. For the encore, the three Lucchesi brothers (Marc, Dan and bassist Luca) performed an a cappella rendition of The Greatest American Hero theme Believe It Or Not. After this the rest of the dudes collected themselves and we were treated to perennial favourite The Old Man. Dan’s beautiful, building fills made the blood rush, and the positive energy absolutely roaring from the dais accompanied the crowd’s shouts of the repeated line, "You’re fucking beautiful, you blow my mind.” Vaudeville Smash are exactly what live music is all about, for God’s sake. If you don’t love them, you’re an idiot. BY ZOË RADAS LOVED: Dan Lucchesi regally surveying his domain. HATED: Very little. DRANK: All the alcohol in the venue. - Beat Magazine- Zoe Radas

It was a cold, cold Saturday night in Fixie-ville. Much of Melbourne was in mourning / drowning their sorrows / slicing up and not across after the Hawks failed to beat the Swans in a quite convincing manner. Their expertise in not beating the Swans was unrivalled on this particularly day, as they did their best Buzz Aldrin impersonation by tightly grasping onto that second spot and simply refusing to relinquish it. Despite this pervading climate of malaise, the Northcote Social Club somehow managed to be both packed and pumping. This was due in no small part to the presence of The Vaudeville Smash and their unmistakable sound. This is simply because The Vaudeville Smash are not your average band…

To try to pigeonhole The Vaudeville Smash into a specific genre is rather challenging, given that they span so many. Their sound is maybe best described as anachronistic; as though it has stepped fresh off the DeLorean and bought back with it every type of music that was created prior to 1985. Then again, maybe this isn’t the best description, but it definitely is the best that I can come up with at this juncture. Disco, funk, jazz and soul influences are found throughout to create a sound that would not be out of place on the soundtrack of Blacula, Blackenstein or The Blunchblack of Blotre Blame. Ooh funky…

Crowd favourite Hey was the first cab off the rank and served as a worthy precursor of what was to follow. The croquembouche of a set was coming together nicely, with the flute and saxophone being brought to the boil and the synths were also tempered to perfection. Next up, one and a half cups of falsettos were folded through and all the ingredients were there for a great night and a truly terrible analogy. All that was left to do was to plate up and garnish with a sprinkling of incredibly enthusiastic dancing by the masses assembled in front of the stage. Portion control went completely out the window in this department, as the crowd went somewhat mental. It was just that sort of night.


There really wasn’t any flat point throughout, Roller Disco was warmly received as was pretty much everything else. Strangest Dream continued the disco inferno in all of its synthesized glory, whilst Drunken Cowgirl also displayed a firm mastery of that all too rarely used literary device, the single entendre. As this was the Best Night single launch, it is somewhat appropriate that this single took pride of place in a night of so many highlights. With an earworm of a chorus, this is a track that is sure to feature heavily in the summer of a lot of people.

A decent way of judging how well a set is travelling is by looking at how the numbers in the crowd vary throughout the night. If by the time the encore comes around, you have enough room that you can swing the proverbial cat, chances are that it is either a) a school night or b) a bit of a “meh” set. Quite why you would want to swing a cat is open to debate and is maybe something you should see a psychologist or another similarly trained mental health care professional about. Tonight however, all thoughts of unusual cruelty towards cats were put to one side as the number of people in the Northcote Social Club band room actually increased as the night progressed.

Unfortunately however, the gig experience for me was curtailed tonight as the late last train back to the city isn’t really all that late. It did smell however, so I suppose that is something at least. Oh and there was also a guy trying hard to pick up this girl by saying that he was a flamenco guitarist. He stated with an extraordinary level of confidence that was probably not shared by anyone who wasn’t him that he was a keen improviser who played the notes rather than chords. Another of the patrons of the train suggested that to be any good, you probably needed to understand how to do both and that Mr Flamenco was in fact, a bit of a twat. Significant backpedalling ensued and there were probably people thrown off the Titanic that would have flailed about less tragically than this poor chap…

These however were only minor inconveniences in a night where The Vaudeville Smash delivered a great performance that was wholeheartedly welcomed by the adoring crowd. The Vaudeville Smash are very much mavericks, as they have taken the road less travelled by not sounding like every other piece of disposable pop that is to be found littering so many street corners, much like Starbucks before they weren’t anymore. They will always be ridiculously talented, but they have also remained true to their ideals and have proven themselves to be one of the best live acts in Melbourne. - Your Music Radar-Aymeric de Rosbo

I’ve luckily heard The Vaudeville Smash’s latest record, Love…Yachts…Geronimo…and, as much as I enjoyed it tinging from my iTunes, it’s no match for the mighty of the band in reality. A miasma of wailing horns (furiously kinetic, verging on the hyperactive, singer Marc Lucchesi dons a sax for much of the set for some wailing solos), tambourine (and I was just decrying the absence of the tambourine from contemporary music!), flailing, wild keys and the odd flute divergence all make up a Vaudeville Smash show- and then some.

The band opened with Body Double, a profoundly Hall and Oates-ian number (a trait that will happily flow throughout the set, coming to a beautiful climax in the encore…more on that later, ooh-err); Drunken Cowgirl is a cheeky dance number and Best Night of my Life seems to act as a promo for the band itself: they aim to give you a one-off, off-tap experience with every gig they perform.

The VSO Orchestra added their stringed splendour to the slower numbers, especially on the Journey-esque power ballad Doris Winter. Funk-pop single Roller Disco caused my companion to finally give a summation: “They’re very….nineteen-eighty-two.” Such a time; when Hall and Oates, Joan Jett, Steve Miller Band and Lionel Ritchie could all live in harmony on the charts.

The Vaudeville Smash have done well to appropriate a style of music properly; rather than peddling out watery funk or over-produced Eurodance, they have done the right- and simplest- thing and made fun music. Fun disco/funk/pop that doesn’t try to be anything else except a big smile in your stereo. I mean, when you take advice from guns like this, you can’t go wrong, can you?

The band returned from the encore fake-out with a cover of- wait for it- Rich Girl. Oh, what a gem. As if the band hadn’t impressed me enough, they drop that stunner. If they’d covered You Make My Dreams, I might have died forever and ever amen. Hey There Danny was a more contemporary-sounding but nonetheless sunnily euphoric hands-up number and the set ended with the epic Dirty Old Man (Come Inside); a tale of an elder gent that “likes to get it on, get it on with his slippers on”. The audience screamed along with the final verse: “Come inside, everything’s gonna be fine/ Take off your coast, everything’s gonna be fine/ Lose the shoes, everything’s gonna be fine/ You’re fucking beautiful, you blow my mind” and the band went with a bang. All the stars. - T SQUAT-LISA DIB

I’ve luckily heard The Vaudeville Smash’s latest record, Love…Yachts…Geronimo…and, as much as I enjoyed it tinging from my iTunes, it’s no match for the mighty of the band in reality. A miasma of wailing horns (furiously kinetic, verging on the hyperactive, singer Marc Lucchesi dons a sax for much of the set for some wailing solos), tambourine (and I was just decrying the absence of the tambourine from contemporary music!), flailing, wild keys and the odd flute divergence all make up a Vaudeville Smash show- and then some.

The band opened with Body Double, a profoundly Hall and Oates-ian number (a trait that will happily flow throughout the set, coming to a beautiful climax in the encore…more on that later, ooh-err); Drunken Cowgirl is a cheeky dance number and Best Night of my Life seems to act as a promo for the band itself: they aim to give you a one-off, off-tap experience with every gig they perform.

The VSO Orchestra added their stringed splendour to the slower numbers, especially on the Journey-esque power ballad Doris Winter. Funk-pop single Roller Disco caused my companion to finally give a summation: “They’re very….nineteen-eighty-two.” Such a time; when Hall and Oates, Joan Jett, Steve Miller Band and Lionel Ritchie could all live in harmony on the charts.

The Vaudeville Smash have done well to appropriate a style of music properly; rather than peddling out watery funk or over-produced Eurodance, they have done the right- and simplest- thing and made fun music. Fun disco/funk/pop that doesn’t try to be anything else except a big smile in your stereo. I mean, when you take advice from guns like this, you can’t go wrong, can you?

The band returned from the encore fake-out with a cover of- wait for it- Rich Girl. Oh, what a gem. As if the band hadn’t impressed me enough, they drop that stunner. If they’d covered You Make My Dreams, I might have died forever and ever amen. Hey There Danny was a more contemporary-sounding but nonetheless sunnily euphoric hands-up number and the set ended with the epic Dirty Old Man (Come Inside); a tale of an elder gent that “likes to get it on, get it on with his slippers on”. The audience screamed along with the final verse: “Come inside, everything’s gonna be fine/ Take off your coast, everything’s gonna be fine/ Lose the shoes, everything’s gonna be fine/ You’re fucking beautiful, you blow my mind” and the band went with a bang. All the stars. - T SQUAT-LISA DIB

Let’s face it, guys. I was born 30 years too late. I am such a 60’s, 70’s and 80’s kind of girl; it’s not even funny. I may have been born in the 90’s, but, music for me was at it’s best during these three decades. It was ‘Psychedelic’, ‘Hip’, ‘Dy-no-mite!’

Every morning, like the complete 70’s nerd I am, I immediately get out of bed and groove over to the radio, turn it on to my fave station, Gold FM. Bowie comes on. I belt out ‘Ch-ch-ch-anges’. Bust out some of the dorkiest moves I know, and just like that, I’m ready to take on the day ahead of me. My morning ritual.

I miss that kind of music and it’s hard to find with all that ‘doof doof’ music people blast at full volume through their car speakers...and those raps with an auto-tuned chorus, that all start to sound exactly the same after listening to more than two in a row. It’s hard to find decent music these days...

...however, I found it!

At the Corner Hotel in Richmond, last Saturday night.

The Vaudeville Smash.

I’m not going to lie. I have found a new true love, and it is this band. They had me at, ‘Body Double’, the first song they rocked out that night. The Vaudeville’s high energy and brilliant stage presence had the crowd grooving along like there’s no tomorrow. Not once did I look behind me and see someone looking down texting on their phone, or sitting in the corner looking bored out of their wits. Every single song had the crowd singing along, even if some of us had never heard these upbeat, pop tunes before. Catchy lyrics. Funky rhythm. Unique Style. They have everything you’d want in a band.

The Vaudeville Smash were also lucky to have two fantastic bands join them that Saturday night- the stunning and stylish, Kate Vigo and her band, and the mellow, four-piece folk band, Rosie and George.

Rosie and George were a fantastic start to the night. Their charming sound and solid harmonies, along with George’s brilliant guitar playing and Rosie’s dream-like and mesmerizing voice, melted together, complimenting each other perfectly. Along with Rosie and George, were Will on bass and Andrew on Drums/Percussion.

Kate Vigo and her band were up next bringing to the stage a more upbeat sound. The band had that certain ‘cool factor’ which gathered a crowd quickly. Kate’s voice, cross between Dido and Blondie, is absolutely gorgeous the way she can hit high notes effortlessly and maintain a strong and soothing luminosity. The whole band work perfectly together and created some catchy melodies and foot-tapping beats.

Overall, the night was absolutely perfect with The Vaudeville Smash rocking the roof off, ending the night with a bang, and leaving everyone walking out of the Corner Hotel with the lyrics from their songs, ‘Dirty Old Man’ and ‘Body Double’ stuck in their heads

He likes to get it on, to get on, with the slippers on.

Body double, boy’s in trouble, such a funny notion, these two emotions.
Talia Katz - The 59th Sound-Talia Katz

Let’s face it, guys. I was born 30 years too late. I am such a 60’s, 70’s and 80’s kind of girl; it’s not even funny. I may have been born in the 90’s, but, music for me was at it’s best during these three decades. It was ‘Psychedelic’, ‘Hip’, ‘Dy-no-mite!’

Every morning, like the complete 70’s nerd I am, I immediately get out of bed and groove over to the radio, turn it on to my fave station, Gold FM. Bowie comes on. I belt out ‘Ch-ch-ch-anges’. Bust out some of the dorkiest moves I know, and just like that, I’m ready to take on the day ahead of me. My morning ritual.

I miss that kind of music and it’s hard to find with all that ‘doof doof’ music people blast at full volume through their car speakers...and those raps with an auto-tuned chorus, that all start to sound exactly the same after listening to more than two in a row. It’s hard to find decent music these days...

...however, I found it!

At the Corner Hotel in Richmond, last Saturday night.

The Vaudeville Smash.

I’m not going to lie. I have found a new true love, and it is this band. They had me at, ‘Body Double’, the first song they rocked out that night. The Vaudeville’s high energy and brilliant stage presence had the crowd grooving along like there’s no tomorrow. Not once did I look behind me and see someone looking down texting on their phone, or sitting in the corner looking bored out of their wits. Every single song had the crowd singing along, even if some of us had never heard these upbeat, pop tunes before. Catchy lyrics. Funky rhythm. Unique Style. They have everything you’d want in a band.

The Vaudeville Smash were also lucky to have two fantastic bands join them that Saturday night- the stunning and stylish, Kate Vigo and her band, and the mellow, four-piece folk band, Rosie and George.

Rosie and George were a fantastic start to the night. Their charming sound and solid harmonies, along with George’s brilliant guitar playing and Rosie’s dream-like and mesmerizing voice, melted together, complimenting each other perfectly. Along with Rosie and George, were Will on bass and Andrew on Drums/Percussion.

Kate Vigo and her band were up next bringing to the stage a more upbeat sound. The band had that certain ‘cool factor’ which gathered a crowd quickly. Kate’s voice, cross between Dido and Blondie, is absolutely gorgeous the way she can hit high notes effortlessly and maintain a strong and soothing luminosity. The whole band work perfectly together and created some catchy melodies and foot-tapping beats.

Overall, the night was absolutely perfect with The Vaudeville Smash rocking the roof off, ending the night with a bang, and leaving everyone walking out of the Corner Hotel with the lyrics from their songs, ‘Dirty Old Man’ and ‘Body Double’ stuck in their heads

He likes to get it on, to get on, with the slippers on.

Body double, boy’s in trouble, such a funny notion, these two emotions.
Talia Katz - The 59th Sound-Talia Katz

Hall & Oates are set to touch down on Australian shores throughout February next year. Someone should probably get John and Daz on the phone and tell them not to bother, as Melbourne's The Vaudeville Smash have just set the yacht-rock bar impossibly high - yes, even too high for the reigning progenitors themselves.
The curtains parted to reveal a sole keyboardist, crooning a cryptically foreshadowing, vocoder-strained rendition of the refrain from Dirty Old Man. Before we knew it, the band kicked straight into the impossibly infectious groove of Body Double, commanding the sold-out Corner bandr oom into an irresistible bop. Then all of a sudden, first song in, we're treated to a goddamn saxophone solo. Holy shit.

Initially it's difficult to digest the myriad of elements which make The Vaudeville Smash so damn good, with a brash, charismatic leading man fronting a crack band of horns, drums, keys and guitar - all culminating in one explosively dynamic package.

Around halfway through the set, the night's not-so-secret weapon was brought onstage in The Vaudeville Smash Orchestra. It was a sight to behold, providing a visually and aurally stunning showcase of strings, most notably during the breakdown of Fox On Fire. I've never seen Paul McCartney nor Guns N Roses do Live And Let Die live, but I can't imagine that they'd ever come close to the orchestral theatrics on show tonight.

Coerced onstage for a rapturous encore, the band trod through a hit-and-miss take on Hall & Oates' Rich Girl. While it was nice to see a homage to their yacht-rock forefathers, it lacked the energy of the original Smash compositions.

Turns out the night's opening strains of Dirty Old Man served as an ingenious means to a bookend, with the band bidding farewell with a fully-fledged disco boogie - capping of a satisfyingly exhausting night with "You're fucking beautiful, you blow my mind."

It was a sentiment reciprocated by the full house on the floor. I'll be damned if The Vaudeville Smash aren't the most mindblowingly refreshing live act to emerge from Melbourne since Darryl-knows when.

LOVED: The sheer bombast of an arena-sized spectacular, somehow contained within The Corner.


HATED: Having to actually consider recreating the climactic scene of Aronofsky's Pi in the week following as a means to get the incredibly catchy tracks out of my head.


DRANK: Yep, got Smashed. - Beat Magazine

Hall & Oates are set to touch down on Australian shores throughout February next year. Someone should probably get John and Daz on the phone and tell them not to bother, as Melbourne's The Vaudeville Smash have just set the yacht-rock bar impossibly high - yes, even too high for the reigning progenitors themselves.
The curtains parted to reveal a sole keyboardist, crooning a cryptically foreshadowing, vocoder-strained rendition of the refrain from Dirty Old Man. Before we knew it, the band kicked straight into the impossibly infectious groove of Body Double, commanding the sold-out Corner bandr oom into an irresistible bop. Then all of a sudden, first song in, we're treated to a goddamn saxophone solo. Holy shit.

Initially it's difficult to digest the myriad of elements which make The Vaudeville Smash so damn good, with a brash, charismatic leading man fronting a crack band of horns, drums, keys and guitar - all culminating in one explosively dynamic package.

Around halfway through the set, the night's not-so-secret weapon was brought onstage in The Vaudeville Smash Orchestra. It was a sight to behold, providing a visually and aurally stunning showcase of strings, most notably during the breakdown of Fox On Fire. I've never seen Paul McCartney nor Guns N Roses do Live And Let Die live, but I can't imagine that they'd ever come close to the orchestral theatrics on show tonight.

Coerced onstage for a rapturous encore, the band trod through a hit-and-miss take on Hall & Oates' Rich Girl. While it was nice to see a homage to their yacht-rock forefathers, it lacked the energy of the original Smash compositions.

Turns out the night's opening strains of Dirty Old Man served as an ingenious means to a bookend, with the band bidding farewell with a fully-fledged disco boogie - capping of a satisfyingly exhausting night with "You're fucking beautiful, you blow my mind."

It was a sentiment reciprocated by the full house on the floor. I'll be damned if The Vaudeville Smash aren't the most mindblowingly refreshing live act to emerge from Melbourne since Darryl-knows when.

LOVED: The sheer bombast of an arena-sized spectacular, somehow contained within The Corner.


HATED: Having to actually consider recreating the climactic scene of Aronofsky's Pi in the week following as a means to get the incredibly catchy tracks out of my head.


DRANK: Yep, got Smashed. - Beat Magazine

Swarms of people began to edge their way into the Northcote Social Club from an early hour on Saturday night, eagerly awaiting a performance from The Vaudeville Smash on the final leg of their national EP launch tour. Those who arrived early enough were treated to some fine support acts from local artists Rosie and George and the Box Rockets – although neither slightly resemble the sound of The Vaudeville Smash.
The aesthetically pleasing Rosie and George are on the back end of a very successful residency at the Evelyn Hotel in Fitzroy, where they impressed the crowds with their infectious folk-rock songs and charming harmonies. Stemmed from a collaboration between Rosie Hilder and George Loram back in high school, Rosie and George have since grown to include drummer Andrew ‘Staz’ Stasiac and bassist Will Newbould-Figg.
In their support set for Vaudeville Smash, the troupe performed several songs from first EP The Act and a selection from their forthcoming EP, which remains in the post-production stages. Despite a mildly sloppy start, Rosie and George pulled through with a tight performance, showing off Rosie’s sheer vocal talent and George’s unwavering guitar efficiency, as well as a voice to complement Rosie's perfectly. Evidently, the pair have been playing together for years as they seamlessly played their way through new and old material.
‘The Act’ was a standout, with the awesome drummer somehow managing to keep the beat while playing a glockenspiel simultaneously. During the final three songs, Rosie & George propelled themselves out of their shells to really show off their musical talents. Rosie’s beautiful, haunting voice lifted to new heights in ‘Daisy’ and ‘Carousel, while George’s rock-meets-folk guitar fuelled frenzied dancing amongst the crowd during ‘Voices’. Looking forward to hearing more from these guys in the future.
Onward in the night, the Box Rockets performed to an even fuller room, impressing those with a taste for indie-rock. And, this seemed to be a fair proportion of the attendees, with one young woman beginning to dance wildly from the very outset. Though they list their influences as everyone from the Beatles to Gorrilaz, I can’t help but compare the Box Rockets to a more minimalist version of Bodyjar – that’s not a negative! The set was tight, including songs such as ‘Good night’, ‘Stay’ and ‘Starry Eyes’. However, like with their forerunners, the standard of the music lifted significantly toward the end of the set. Catchy rhythm guitar prompted more dancing as a warm up to the main act, and the definite highlights of the sets were ‘Fishes’ and ‘So long’.
Finally, an ever-exuberant Vaudeville Smash hit up the stage, this time in a room full to capacity. Lack of elbow room, however, did not deter every single person in the crowd dancing wildly to this long-awaited set from the nouveau yacht-rock meets pop meets disco band. I felt like I’d plunged into a time warp, to what I think the eighties might have been like at its peak. Dance-offs were happening all over the room, and I can say with confidence that the entire audience was in a state of utmost happiness. And aside from the pure entertainment value of the Vaudeville Smash, it’s noteworthy that all band members are incredible musicians in their own right.
When Marc Lucchesi wasn’t beautifully bellowing the lyrics to each song, he would on occasion pick-up a saxophone and later a flute for a jammin’ solo. The other brothers who helped form the band, Dan and Luca Lucchesi, keep the pace impeccably as Drums and Bass, while Percy Landers on Synth, Nic Lam on Guitar and Ben Timmis on keys all play their part in making this flow of dance music seem effortless.
Though I was far too busy winning a dance-off to take note of the order of songs, I remember explicitly the infectious rhythm guitar from ‘Roller Disco’, reminding me of Steely Dan, happening early on. The fast-paced songs were clear winners of the practically flawless set, including ‘Body Double’. But, once again, the true highlights of the entire night were the final two songs of the set. ‘Dirty Old Man (Come inside)’ was amazing as it prompted a huge proportion of the crowd to singalong to the words: ‘He likes to get it on, get it on with his slippers on, he likes to get it on, the mother fucker likes to get it on’.
The 8-minute song is like a giant disco jam, with a long instrumental intermission before the chants began: ‘Come inside, everything’s gonna be fine, take off your coat, everything’s gonna be fine, lose the shoes, everything’s gonna be fine, you’re fucking beautiful, you blow my mind!!!’. By this point, everyone was sweaty and so involved in the music it was too hard to dance-off, one just had to dance. The Vaudeville Smash topped off the set with a rendition of ‘Hey’, which is indubitably one of their catchiest songs.
To sum it up, I have to quote the Vaudeville Smash’s facebook description which is so accurate I couldn’t even try to beat it: “They’re - The Au Review - Josie Smart

hey’re good looking.
They’re humble.
They recognise a good hook when a good hook comes a knocking.
Their live show is gonna fuck you up.

They are the The Vaudeville Smash and they will be making their Adelaide debut on Friday May 21 at the Edinburgh Castle. FasterLouder sat down with keyboardist/vocalist Ben Timmis to chew the fat.

While the band itself may be new to Adelaide punters two thirds of the band themselves have a rather debauched history within the Adelaide scene as Timmis explains. “Two of the band may have been key members in a rather infamously popular porn-soundtrack based funk spectacular which may have begun in Adelaide years ago. But stop, I’ve said too much…[fans of Pornland can probably connect the dots]. I also played in Crisp [that featured Sia on vocals] and The Fuglemen in Adelaide in the late 90s. They were great days.”

Many of those previous bands you mention were notorious for their performance – both on and off the stage? What can punters expect from the show this weekend?
“I don’t think that much has changed – the Vaudeville Smash live show is still pretty theatrical. As are the post-gig antics.”

The EP was released a while back with what was by all reports a cracking gig at the East Brunswick club in Melbourne, where was the EP recorded and looking back how did the sessions pan out?
“It was recorded at Wick Studios in Brunswick, Melbourne. They have a really great live room, with a sound which suited our style. We wanted to capture the live feel of the band, so over the course of about two days, we recorded a dozen or so songs live and chose the strongest performances. Apart from the odd overdub, those sessions are what you hear on the EP.”

How would you describe the bands sound?
“I think the basis of the band is a sound rooted in 70s funk, soul and disco, with a very strong song writing ethos. There are always strong harmonies and dynamics, and an unashamed love for sitcom themes of the early 80s come through in some tunes.”

Having spent significant time based in Melbourne and before that in Adelaide are there any noticable differences in the scenes of both from a muso’s perspective?
“I think of all the cities in Australia, Melbourne and Adelaide’s approach to live music are the most similar. The enthusiasm for live music I see in Adelaide when I return is always very heartening, and there are so many great players here.”

As a talented multi instrumentalist who plays in numerous acts outside The Vaudeville Smash what do you find satisfying about playing in this band that you may not get from other musical projects?
“I find that this band has a rare, intuitive way of playing together, which probably stems from the fact that there are three brothers in the band who’ve played music together for so long – it feels incredibly natural. The band has a greater ability to get a crowd dancing than any band I’ve seen in a long time too.”

Any pre gig rituals you or the band have?
“Aside from the prerequisite virgin sacrifice? No, none that I can think of…”.

What’s the next challenge for the band?
“I think we always aspire to continue to improve as songwriters and live players. We’ve found interstate touring has really lifted our standards as a live band.”

What are the bands plans for the duration of 2010?
“Along with continued regular touring, our plan is to complete our debut album for a release some time around September. It should be a hell of a year.”

The Vaudeville Smash play the Edinburgh Castle on Friday May 21 along with New White Sneakers and DJ Azz working the wheels of steel. Tickets at the door from 9pm. - FasterLouder

Wet weather wasn't enough to deter the crowds from packing into The East Brunswick Club for a Sunday night party as the very special guests of the The Vaudeville Smash.....

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It was an EP launch actually, the product of years spent playing at venues across the country and recording sessions over the past 6 months, but it felt like a party. Every one of The Smash’s shows does. A Vaudeville Smash show also feels a bit like stepping into a time machine, a time machine that does what it says by transporting you back in time, but puts a slight twist on reality. So while you may feel like you're once more at your high school formal in the late 1970s, replete with a band dropping funky bass lines, gorgeous harmonies, silky guitar, austere keyboard work and jutting, delicious punctuations of brass and flute. But if you listen closely, you'll find that all is not as it seems.....

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The upbeat, funkalicious sounds of the band are thrown into sharp relief by the intelligent, darkly humorous and at times outrageous lyrics, delivered eloquently by frontman Marc Lucchesi.....

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Even before the band begins, energy fills the room thanks to the hundreds of dedicated fans, a good, solid mix of guys and girls. When the band starts, electricity pours off the stage as the first notes sing out across the East Brunswick Club. The crowd throw themselves into an orgiastic state of dancing and drinking, spurred on by the understated dance moves of the band members and the spiraling, ebb and flow of the band's vitality.....

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The crowd sings along enthusiastically to the band's recently released track 'Hey', the first off their EP. And that's the thing about Vaudeville Smash songs, their balance of quiet, slow passages and energised choruses make for an awe inspiring sing-a-long experience, with plenty of opportunities for call and response with the crowd, drawing them into the maelstrom of energy on stage and spitting the energy back out threefold.....

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'Hey There Danny', perhaps written about the band's drummer, Dan Lucchesi, is the epitome of The Vaudeville Smash ethos. Beginning quietly, the song builds and builds to a tremendous chorus, resulting in a cacophony of voices from the crowd, detailing every word and every note with stunning accuracy. Midway through the song, the crowd is moved to silence as guitarist Nic Lam pulls out a guitar solo that spills out across the room, smooth like melted chocolate, as his fingers dance decisively across the fret board. Following this, the crowd's energy builds with the momentum of the song's structure, resulting a room of hundreds screaming "Hey there Danny, you're the luckiest in the world!".....

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And if that's not enough to pick up your spirits Danny, I don't know what is.....

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The journey funk express continues on with crowd favourites 'Party Love', 'Drunken Cowgirl', 'Roller Disco' and the perennial 'Look At Me'.....

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At one point the spotlight shifts to Dan Lucchesi, sitting up behind the drum kit, surveying the landscape of funked up fans, king of all he surveys. He starts with a simple, methodic drum beat and moves his mouth to the mic to talk about friends and power, like some sort of new aged Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, enigmatically captivating his disciples on the dance floor. True to the words he speaks, Dan wields his power, commanding the room to crouch down on the floor. The drumbeat continues, as a deep sea of people becomes a carpet of bodies, no more than 3 feet high. The drumbeat quickens and, on his command, the room explodes in time with the band. Keys and brass and bass and guitar and arms and legs and heads all moving enthusiastically in unison.....

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It's at this point that it occurs to me that The Vaudeville Smash is an apt name. Capturing the theatrical and comical elements of vaudeville, positively smashed together with the good vibes and dance inducing wonder of a well balanced band, magnified a hundred times through the magic of a live show. The name captures everything that's great about this band and speaks volumes of the energy and fun they deliver night after night. ....

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My last memory of the show is a performance of 'The Old Man'. Momentarily Marc disappears, replaced by a grotesque looking man, with deep wells for eyes and hair that grows above his ears, but nowhere else. He walks with a cane and hobbles about the stage, as the music plays around him. The song bounds along in signature 'Smash style, before quieting down for a slow building chorus backed by an drum beat that quickens like a freight train.......

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Come inside, everything's gonna be fine....

Take off your coat, everything's gonna be fine....

Lose the shoes, everything's gonna be fine....

You're fucking beautiful…....

And then all hell breaks loose. And then your view of the band is obscured by arms that flail above heads and people that jump and dance. And t - Journalist

Ridiculously talented and hilarious. I caught Melbourne’s The Vaudeville Smash at Melt last Thursday after interviewing Ben Timmis from the band the night before on Unknown Pleasures. These cats have been playing forever and can more or less do anything, not quite Hall and Oastes but not as far back as say…. 60's Sly. The drummer Dan Lucchesi, can hit some ridculous notes as the main vocalist Marc Lucchesi picks up a flute at exactly the right moment. The live show is one we wont be missing from now on, and thankfully they have another show at The Oxford Arts Factory in a few weeks. - Neon Hearts – Sydney

Ridiculously talented and hilarious. I caught Melbourne’s The Vaudeville Smash at Melt last Thursday after interviewing Ben Timmis from the band the night before on Unknown Pleasures. These cats have been playing forever and can more or less do anything, not quite Hall and Oastes but not as far back as say…. 60's Sly. The drummer Dan Lucchesi, can hit some ridculous notes as the main vocalist Marc Lucchesi picks up a flute at exactly the right moment. The live show is one we wont be missing from now on, and thankfully they have another show at The Oxford Arts Factory in a few weeks. - Neon Hearts – Sydney