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Performing at the Red Room - University of QLD was a strange choice of venue for a Cabaret style band........ it looked like a scene from Animal House, as the last strains of "Guild Idol" were being executed on stage, featuring testosterone pumping and screaming obscenities from the male dominated crowd, still chugging down cheap jugs of beer, to the tune of Ozzie, Ozzie Ozzie, skull, skull, skull! Eventually giving way to the alternate crowd who came to see Lord Byron.
After some minor sound adjustments Lord Byron took to the stage with all the style and charm their name suggests, launching into Marionette. This epic space saga sounds like it was written by Arthur C. Clarke back in his Hawkwind days.. .Lord Byron are dynamic live performers and a highly charismatic band, drawing their influences from seventies glam, its like watching Queen before they became famous, only with Brian May replaced by a female lead guitarist, Elspeth , who is quite astounding.
Lead singer Kevin is as flamboyant as Freddie Mercury, as he struts & moves like a cat with amazing vocals to match. Its rare to find such a deep, booming voice in modern music, aside from Nick Cave. ... Jake Skellington on bass has one of the most bizarre haircuts this side of the eighties an asymmetrical fro turned Goth, its long, its short, it's almost worthy of a gag in The Wedding Singer. Yet somehow he makes it appear stylish and unique. The keyboard player looks like Heath Ledger in a dramatic and theatrical re-incarnation and the drummer hides behind a top hat while bashing out some mighty rhythms.
Playing all the songs off their EP, including Telling Tales (of Rock & Roll ) and Bones, which sounds like something from the Groovy Ghoulies cartoon. They also perform some surreal poetry, at one stage launching into a musical version of The Albatross and encouraging the audience to clap along. This was their last gig on Australia as they are moving to the UK to further their musical career. It was a pleasure to see a band of this calibre performing in such a an intimate venue, perhaps next time they return to our shores they will be performing in stadiums, they certainly have the talent & stage presence to take on the world!
by Lisa Lamb - www.fasterlouder.com.au
My turn of mind is so given to taking things in the absurd point of view that it breaks out in spite of me every now and then.
Lord Byron (1788-1824)
If that’s all you ever want then that’s all you’ll ever be.
Lord Byron (2008)
Marionette is the long awaited debut EP of nascent but legendary Lord Byron, the glam rock pirates of Brisbane’s music scene. No other band captures tales of romance and rock in quite the same way. These five tracks will take you to love and back with some high tidal body swaggers on the way. The songs are a get-to-know-Lord-Byron speed dating experience in its entire splendor. It’s all about ‘the glory and the glamour and the espionage’ (Bones) in the Captain’s storytelling and well-crafted lyrics, and the licks of keys and guitar, played expertly and nostalgically nodding to Queen, Bowie, T. Rex and all that have come before them.
The marvelous charm of Lord Byron is their genuine emotion and innocence which is draped in pure dandy glamour and raw abandon. A thorougly impressive debut!
- Pascalle Burton
Discography
"Marionette" EP (2007)
- Played on 4zzzFM, Brisbane
"Dancing on the Moon" LP (2008)
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Bio
“Lord Byron is the band you’ve always wanted to fall in love with. They pull the strings and move you whichever way they want… they never fail to inspire a crowd that will do anything (and I mean ANYTHING) to woo their beloved Lord Byron! Tremendous!”
-www.triplejunearthed.com
Lord Byron channel the franticly emotional and stylish spirit of their namesake completely and without shame. Their dramatic and diverse musical style points them just as easily towards highly energetic rock’n’roll as to emotionally intimate ballads, and the two often combine in a single song. From classic and progressive rock to glam, new-romantic and baroque and back again via the cast entrance to The Phantom of the Opera, they pull their unique sound together from Kevin’s rich, penetrating voice and Robert’s tireless and expressive keyboards, embellished perfectly by the resonant wailing of Elspeth’s guitar, all under laid by deep driving tone and rhythm from Jake and Ben.
“The marvellous charm of Lord Byron is their genuine emotion and innocence which is draped in pure dandy glamour and raw abandon.”
-Pascalle Burton, Maiden Speech
Lord Byron formed in Brisbane, Australia, in late 2005 originally as an art project. As a song writing collaboration, Lord Byron is singer Kevin Zwierzchaczewski and keyboardist Robert Russell. Originally inspired by the poetry and decadent lifestyle of Lord Byron himself, as well as the music of Queen, Bowie and J.S. Bach, the pair decided their songs had to be heard. The line-up was completed with the inclusion of Elspeth Johnson on lead guitar, Ben Hutton on drums and Jacob Meyjes-Brown on bass. From the beginning, the importance of the visual element in musical performance was recognised and embraced. The willowy silhouette of the front man, outrageous opera styled keyboardist and glamorous society chic of the guitarist combine to create a compelling on-stage spectacle.
“Devilishly handsome.. extravagant.. camp cabaret.”
-London Tourdates
The band wasted no time getting their works recorded. 2007 saw the release of Lord Byron’s “Marionette” EP, a showcase of the band’s musical diversity, recorded, mixed and mastered at Brisbane’s FireFish Studios. A music video for the title song shortly followed, which was nominated for 2 awards in the Australian Independent Film Makers’ Awards.
Early 2008 saw Lord Byron return to the studio to record their first full length album “Dancing on the Moon”. Shortly after finishing recording, the band decamped to the UK in search of a wider niche, and the final master was completed in London. “Dancing on the Moon” was independently released in the UK in late 2008 and is currently available on iTunes.
“Lord Almighty! They will baroque you!”
-MX Magazine
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