Articles : ‘Mystery: Born To Rock’ Gala Event @ The Astor Theatre, Melbourne 24/04/2014

The other night was a pretty unique and interesting experience for me. While I’ve been to a ton of gigs now and experienced much of that culture and its many great supporting venues, one place I’ve never been to for a gig is The Astor Theatre. Though I am aware in the past it has hosted such prominent Australian rock bands as INXS, Men At Work, Midnight Oil, etc, as well as international acts such as Iggy Pop, I’ve never had the chance to see a band there myself. Tonight, that all changed.

I’ve been a big fan of The Astor Theatre for a while. It was even where I first saw the excellent and hugely influential film that is Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. When I was first invited along to this event, I was both intrigued and excited about it. Hosted by Mystery, tonight promised to be one to remember. And I wasn’t wrong in thinking that.

Creating their own unique gala event, the show at The Astor was both a way for Mystery to promote their recent film Born to Rock (which is in itself a unique take on a rock/metal film) in their home town, but also a means for the band to offer a special live gig both for the fans and to help promote – and serve as a listening party for – their upcoming second album From Dusk Till Dawn; which if I may say so myself am quite excited to listen to when I get the chance.

The Astor Theatre is a wonderful venue and cinema though. Built in the 1930s, being the last single screen cinema in operation in Australia, The Astor Theatre has such a warm and inviting feeling to it when you enter, and the overall atmosphere of the night was one of both comfort and fun.  With a large Mystery banner hanging overhead when you entered, what was immediately noteworthy was the fact having an event at a place such as this is that it allowed people to come with their families and children, since obviously there isn’t an 18+ restriction (which is a factor when it comes to the band, as well, who, if you’re already familiar with the band, would know are still in their teens). It was cool to not just spot your typical black-shirt wearing, long-haired metalheads, but also just regular parents and children too.

One thing I found interesting was the fact everyone seemed to know each other, and were friends or otherwise. It later was made clear to me that aside from fans of Mystery, many people here were friends, relatives, and family of the band in one way or another. That was pretty cool, especially when I found out Mystery are also quite close friends with the band members of Melbourne based heavy metal/rock act Crimsonfire and the melodic power metallers Knightmare, of whom members of each were present on the night. It was literally a big heavy metal family!

As the crowds flocked into the theatre to begin the night’s proceedings, the audience was treated to music videos from both Crimsonfire and Knightmare covering their tracks “Lies Within” and “Unity Through Chaos” respectively. Great cheer filled the venue. And deservedly so. Even if they were only music videos, I was really into it. And seeing them on a large screen only made it all the more awesome to watch.

As the lights dimmed and the intro to “2013: A New Dawn” kicked in, Tony Mlikota was the first to arrive onstage as the rest of the Mystery gang followed thereafter. Kicking things into high gear, the band gave a rollicking start as Rocky Ravic, lead vocalist and guitarist of the band, called out, ‘Melbourne, let me hear you!’

With huge smiles planted across their faces, you could tell right off the bat these guys love what they do. Their energy on the night was infectious, and they easily swayed the crowd over to their undeniable charm and exuberance.

An early highlight to the night was when during the song “Freedom”, guitarist Kris Iaccino went up behind bassist Josh Scarpaci and played his bass notes over his shoulder. It was an amusing display, and helped to further coax the crowd out of the seats to form a mini pit area at the foot of the stage and between the seating areas.

There was a strong turnout on the night and Mystery sounded great live, with Mlikota’s drum patterns and Rocky and Kris’ solos stands out. Innovative, metallic, and simply stated, a joy to watch, these guys killed it at what they clearly do best: providing an awesome slice of unadulterated heavy metal. Managing to get the whole venue clapping in time with them on a number of occasions, Rocky went on to say, ‘Alright Melbourne, we’re getting a little crazy. You ready!?’ to which was met by uproarious applause.

‘We’re seeing a lot of faces tonight,’ Rocky began. ‘Some old, some new. Friends and family. As they say, “it’s a long way to the top if you want to rock ‘n’ roll”. Here’s a heart to you all.’ The band then led into one of the great new tracks off their upcoming release From Dusk Till Dawn entitled “Die Another Day” (not anything to do with James Bond).

Rocky and the boys just fed off the crowd and their enthusiasm equally rubbed off on the audience. Rocky and Kris would both constantly go up to the edge of the stage and play right to the crowd in the pit area, shredding away and with Rocky performing his famous licks that he does so well.

One of the best bits followed as Rocky gave an anecdote on the moment he realised he wanted to be a rock star. ‘Thanks for coming out,’ he began. ‘You know, ever since I was a kid I wanted to be a rock star. In first grade, my teacher had asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. All the kids would pick policeman, fireman, doctor, and so on. I chose the high road. Now I’m living the dream. It’s been a lot of hard work, but you guys are all helping.’

Following up with a great note, Rocky announced ‘We’re excited to play this [next] one. It’s about not letting others get to you. We have long hair; we’re the outcasts apparently, but we don’t see it that way. We’re all brothers.’ This then led into the track “Raise Your Fist” which garnered a warm response.

Leading into a series of covers, Mystery ventured through the likes of Mötley Crüe’s “Kickstart my Heart”; Poison’s “Nothin’ But a Good Time”; Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out”; KISS’ “Rock and Roll All Nite”; and unexpectedly a cover of Roxette’s “The Look” which wasn’t too bad. They also went on to cover the likes of Men At Work’s “Down Under” at which Josh gave his best rendition of Steve Harris’ firing rifle bass move, and at which they mentioned how Men At Work had played this same stage in the past. They also performed live a cover of Dio’s “Stand Up and Shout” (both of which featured on their special edition copy of their debut album 2013), mentioning how he’s been a massive influence on them since the inception of the band, and not only was he the inspiration for the name ‘Mystery’, but has also been a key influence in their songwriting from the start. The first song the band ever wrote, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Forever Be”, is said by the band to have been inspired by and dedicated to Ronnie James Dio. In my opinion, it was the best cover Mystery did on the night. That being said, they were all quite enjoyable covers though, and for the most part, were played well; although Kris’ opener for the “School’s Out” riff felt a tad off.

This fault wasn’t all on Kris though. While for the most part, the sound and lighting quality on the night was high, there were moments in the set (especially early on) where the mix wasn’t always consistent. It’d occasionally fluctuate. Sometimes it was too low and Rocky would be drowned out by his own guitar and Kris’ or it’d be too high and would affect the song from the other side of things. Still it didn’t seem to bother the crowd too much. Everyone would still cheer wildly and a large majority seemed to be having a wonderful time.

And it must be said, the short solo Kris performed following Mystery’s cover of “School’s Out” was brilliant. His phrasing was a joy to watch and you could see him feeling every moment of his playing in his eyes and the way he moved about. It was a great moment.

The title track of their new album served as the second last song the night (their last was the KISS cover). And it was a good one! It served to get the crowd going in a good way before the boys thanked the Astor, the crowd, and ‘everyone involved in the making of the movie’. It closed on a great note with overwhelming applause and Rocky’s declaration of ‘thank you, Melbourne. It’s been a pleasure!’ The feeling was mutual, buddy.

While they didn’t always hit the mark (there a couple moments when the drumming or guitar playing was a little off or out of time, but thankfully, they usually recovered quickly), there’s no denying the sheer energy these guys bring to the stage and equally their expertise in rousing a crowd. There’s no band quite like Mystery. Not just in terms of age, but also in terms of style, energy, fun, and excitement. And the fact I can say that truthfully I think is pretty darn rocking.

Promising ‘something different that hasn’t been done before’, once the 20 minute intermission was over the night reconvened and the audience gathered once more in the theatre room for the final portion of the night; the screening of Mystery’s debut feature film Born to Rock. Directed and produced by Steve Ravic of Majestic Film, Steve is best known for his past work with Dungeon and Black Majesty, and is also Rocky’s father.

As the opening credits rolled in, we were greeted with childhood and baby photos of the band (and it seems many of which were slightly embarrassing to the guys who’d call out and was met with great laughter and sighs of ‘aww!’). Featuring the Mystery guys playing themselves, a whole legion of their friends and family featured in the film playing various characters, such as Knightmare vocalist Mick “Mickowar” Simpson who played the role of ‘Rock on TV’ presenter ‘Thunderman’, with his real-life girlfriend playing the role also of his co-presenter ‘Lady Foxx’.

Following the boys through a wild adventure, it starts off at a house party where Mystery have been invited along to play at before leading into a bizarre dream sequence in which Kris and the guys imagine a whole series of inexplicable events happening to them. All the while, mind you, the band found interesting and often hilarious ways of tying in music videos.

Not intending to take itself too overly serious, one of the first locations Mystery become stranded in is ‘Ruska, Planet of Women’ where the guys are enslaved and forced to work for what I could best describe as Amazonian farmers; their duty to harvest fields before abruptly calling for mating season after the guys randomly show up through a spatial rift accessed via a tunnel they found while visiting Croatia said to cause people to go missing. It’s a bizarre premise but works surprisingly well and with enjoyable campiness galore!

Once the guys eventually escaped, it led into a hilarious cameo featuring a shirtless James Munro (of Knightmare) as an eccentric hermit called ‘Jungle Man James’ who spoke in a bizarre language that required on-screen captions for both the audience – and amusingly the band – to translate.

Despite an odd and creepy Wolf Creek style moment that follows afterwards when the boys get stranded in the outback with a crazy, curved-knife wielding hillbilly, the song that played over the scene was cool. As the boys wake up they realise they’ve all strangely had the same dream before it then leads into the song “Promised Land”, as it explores their wild escapades in Las Vegas.

Though still with a soft touch of their trademark humour, there was a mildly sombre and unexpected moment that showed Mystery hiding away beneath a mattress from the tornadoes that hit California (when they’d had to cut their American tour short). Afterwards they dedicated the song that played during to those who’d lost their lives throughout this ordeal.

Born to Rock was an entertaining flick, and if you took it for what it is (a light-hearted bit of entertainment, and a unique, fun way to introduce Mystery to the world), it was an enjoyable film. It also gave the band a chance to include their friends and family in something Mystery related, as well as a bit of extra exposure for people like Filipe Madrado who featured in the music video for their track “Looking Back” and was the craftsman who built the modern-art styled chairs Mystery are sitting on in the From Dusk Till Dawn cover art.

Tonight was a lot of fun, and I’d like to thank Rocky who invited me along on the night, as well as Steve Ravic for his great work on the film, the rest of the awesome guys in Mystery, and to everyone else who was involved in helping make the film and tonight one to remember. You guys all did a fantastic job and should be proud.

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