Divinyls' WA Gig Was An Invigorating Tribute To Chrissy Amphlett

Whilst Melanie Greensmith had put together a spectacular and rather stunning retrospective of her designs throughout the Wheels And Dollbaby 30 year celebration runway event, there was also a distinct anticipation for her husband, Mark McEntee, to take to the stage as one-third of the original Divinyls members, reuniting for the first time in almost ten years.

Joined on the stage by Richard Harvey and Rick Grossman, the trio recruited The Preatures guitarist Jack Moffitt and vocalist Isabella Manfredi to complete the cast for the night and set themselves for a half hour of the band's iconic tracks.

Donning a black PVC suit from the Wheels And Dollbaby collection, Manfredi pulled the crowd to their feet instantly before launching into I'll Make You Happy from their 1983 classic record Desperate.

The band beamed from the excitement of playing and the room certainly reciprocated, with images from the group's history scrolling on the screen behind. There was a surprising ignition of energy that rocketed from the stage.

Weaving through Only Lonely, Science Fiction, Back To The Wall and Pleasure And Pain, Manfredi did her utmost to pay homage without attempting to replicate as her vocals swept from the sultry and soft-spoken to soaring high notes, strutting throughout and stirring her bandmates for the night to give a striking stage dynamic.

The overhanging question of comparison to the amazing Chrissy Amphlett was unfortunately always there and it's difficult to not draw the assessment, as Isabella stated herself, "These songs are Australian cannon", and Amphlett remains a treasured musical icon to so many.

Though there was never going to be the ability to reach the peaks of the Divinyls in their own right, the reformation paid a fitting tribute and with The Preatures having already dropped Boys In Town into their sets for the last year or so, it was an invigorating close for the band and the night.