Over The Top - Again

They're pretty impossible shoes The Screaming Jets' Dave Gleeson unexpectedly found himself filling, quite by chance, after he joined The Angels at a gig in Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills he happened to be at early in 2011 to sing a couple of songs. Not that Gleeson, now 80-odd gigs into his alternative career, has ever tried to emulate the gigantic stage persona of original frontman Doc Neeson – Gleeson remains Gleeson, just singing those iconic songs and the new ones he's co-written with guitar-slinging Angels co-founders the Brewster brothers, released last year on the Take It To The Streets album. And the fans seem to be embracing him.

“I'm lucky in that I don't do social media. I'm sure there's been people raggin' on me on that but they might as well yell it at a brick wall as write it on there 'cause I couldn't give a shit!” Gleeson admits, laughing.

“At first, it's all about making sure you don't stuff up the lyrics because you know what Angels fans are like!” he laughs again. “They know every nuance, every breath Doc takes, every little thing he says. So I was kind of very focused on making sure I didn't forget lyrics, but the more you do something, the more the story relates to you in the singing and the telling, and the easier it becomes to kind of get it across… You know all that cool stuff Doc says – 'There's a full moon tonight', and all that stuff – I leave that to people's heads, 'cause they hear it their heads anyway so I leave that to people's memories. Things like Mr Damage, at the end of Mr Damage I'm usually looking at the crowd goin', 'Yeah, I did it!' Not like, 'I rock', more 'I made it to the end'. But Dawn Is Breaking [from No Exit], that's one I'm having a bit of trouble with at the moment, seeing as it's just so Doc, you know?”

The reason Gleeson is tackling the relatively obscure album track is that the band have decided to take over the Annandale and, over three consecutive nights, will be performing their first three albums in their entirety – 1978's breakthrough Face To Face, 1979's No Exit and 1980's Dark Room (actually their second, third and fourth albums, which were preceded by their largely forgotten 1977 eponymous debut).

“I remember when we saw about The Living End doing their full retrospective that we were saying what a great idea that was and how a true fan wants to see that stuff – not all the time but to be able to [play] an album in its entirety on a given night, I just think it's a great thing for fans – I want to go and see it!

“Obviously, over the three albums there are 16 songs that I already know 'cause they're ingrained in my DNA from listening to 'em as a young fella, but getting all the arrangements and stuff like that, so as not to confuse myself, I just put one album on at a time and I listen to it start to finish, even the songs that I do know, and just try and immerse myself in it. I was actually sitting in the car the other listening to Waiting For The World [No Exit] and just thought what a great way to open an album. I'm lovin' the fact that it's playing out like a screenplay in front of me. It's a whole new learning process for me – I've got to get to the essence of it.”

The Angels will be playing the following dates:

Thursday 21, Friday 22  & Saturday 23 March - Annandale Hotel, Sydney NSW
Thursday 4 April - Bunbury Entertainment Centre, Bunbury WA
Friday 5 April - Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, Mandurah WA
Saturday 6 April - Astor Theatre, Perth WA
Friday 12 April - Bankstown Sports Club, Bankstown NSW
Friday 19 April - Mittagong RSL, Mittagong NSW
Saturday 20 April - Dee Why RSL, Dee Why NSW
Friday 3 May - Capitol Theatre, Tamworth NSW
Saturday 4 May - Glasshouse Theatre, Port Macquarie NSW
Friday 10 May - Laycock St Theatre, Gosford NSW
Saturday 11 May - Cessnock Community Performing Arts Centre, Cessnock NSW
Friday 17 May - Ballina RSL, Ballina NSW
Saturday 18 May - Sawtell RSL, Sawtell NSW
Friday 24 May - Montreal Theatre, Tumut NSW
Saturday 25 May - Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Wollongong NSW
Friday 31 May - The Capital, Bendigo VIC
Saturday 1 June - The Regent Theatre, Ballarat VIC
Friday 7 June - Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre, Nowra NSW
Saturday 8 June - Civic Theatre, Wagga Wagga NSW
Friday 14 June - Lighthouse Theatre, Warrnambool VIC
Friday 21 June - Westside Performing Arts Centre, Echuca VIC
Saturday 22 June - Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre, Wangaratta VIC
Friday 28 June - West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warrgul VIC
Saturday 29 June - Frankston Performing Arts Centre, Frankston VIC
Thursday 4 July - Middleback Theatre, Whyalla SA
Friday 5 July - Keith Mitchell Theatre, Port Pirie SA
Saturday 6 July - Chaffey Theatre, Renmark SA