Martin Rocka & The Sick Shop @ The Olive Lounge

We really need to start getting to the Olive Lounge earlier – sometime before 9pm. We went to review Knave (again), and ended up missing their set (again), so we were pretty bummed. It was a charity event, which again, we had no idea it was supporting. The venue was packed out which really proves that Steve has single-handedly created more awareness and popularity to a once dwindling industry. Okay, we really wish it went that way, but are always glad to see more people supporting local talent.
We saw Wonderboom’s Martin on stage and quickly scanned the room for Cito and the rest of the crew. They couldn’t be spotted which meant only one thing – we had stumbled across a potentially great gig without even knowing it…Martin Rocka and the Sick Shop. Yeah! I had heard so many great things so found it odd that I hadn’t seen any ads out for this performance.

They were really a great act and really funny for most the set. They ragged women a lot, but then ragged men even more. Martin Rocka was dressed as if someone had let Hugh Heffner pimp out Spiderman and Martin has kept this as his signature look. There were other comments that, he covers his face out of shame for playing in Wonderboom, but that’s up to each persons interpretation.

There were occasional songs that had a distinct Wonderboom sound but most songs had a raw, loud, new feel. This band really do know what they are doing and have fun without messing around too much. Their set up reminded me of a Violent Femmes gig in the way that they use less instruments with a bigger sound. This band can only pull off an act like this on very few stages – they know this and they don’t seem to mind, but with the right crowd they can make a big impact. Just don’t invite them to play at your wedding.