A new documentary about hell-raising rock band The Angels has some unflattering character assessments of guitarist John Brewster, but he loves the film nonetheless.
In The Angels: Kickin’ Down the Door, the older Brewster brother is described as a control freak and a “very needy man”, among other things.
“You reach an age where you accept that’s part of who you are … I was very much the leader of the band, I ran the band,” he said.
In 1974, that meant driving younger brother Rick and the other members of The Keystone Angels, as they were then known, to gigs up and down the east coast of Australia in a 1964 Holden EH station wagon with retread tyres.
According to Brewster, he was always behind the wheel because he was “the least out of it”.
“If you were in a rock ‘n roll band in the 70s and you said you never smoked a joint, I think you’d be lying,” he said.
Australian rock band The Angels circa 1985. Photo: Getty
The band were on the road around Australia for four years, sometimes making a total of $100 for five hours of playing.
“We’d just sleep on people’s floorboards wherever we could, it was tough times – but looking back on it, I think those were fantastic days,” he said.
It wasn’t until 1978 and the release of the band’s hit song Take a Long Line that The Angels really did kick down the door, scoring gigs with Meatloaf and David Bowie.
The feature documentary charts the band’s rise to the top of the Australian pub rock scene in a series of home videos and photos, some of which have never been seen before.
The incredible archival footage shows the chaos of the band’s live gigs as well as frontman Doc Neeson’s charisma and showmanship as he performs famous tracks like Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again and No Secrets.
The old videos also reveal how much The Angels’ gigs were fuelled by alcohol – both for the audience and Neeson.
During one gig, a beer bottle flies from the crowd and smashes into Neeson’s head, knocking him over. In another scene he is visible lying face down onstage, passed out.
Lead singer Doc Neeson was a charismatic frontman who enjoyed alcohol. Photo: AAP
As is generally the way with rock docos, the band starts falling apart as ambition, exhaustion and the pressures of fame take their toll.
The Brewster brothers were estranged for years after Rick asked John to leave the band, while Doc Neeson, who died in 2014, left following a car accident in the 1990s.
The various alternative lineups over the years would need another feature-length film to explain. At one stage, there were two competing versions of the band touring Australia.
It seems appropriate that the film started as a handshake agreement over a couple of bottles of pinot, which led to Brewster granting creative control to producer Peter Hanlon and director Madeleine Parry.
He’s pleased with the result, which he saw for the first time at the Adelaide Film Festival in October.
In part that’s because of the film’s young up-and-coming crew. Brewster made sure they attended an Angels gig and “blew them away”.
He’s proud the band can still attract a young audience, pulling massive crowds at outdoor gigs like the Deni Ute Muster with a lineup including both Brewster brothers and John’s son Sam on bass.
Even at 73, Brewster has no plans to stop rocking, but said there are some things The Angels have left firmly in the past.
“You can’t recapture that absolute rush of a band that’s been sleeping on people’s floorboards and suddenly makes it big time,” he said.
“When you drive around the city and you see the graffiti is all about you, stuff like that. I mean, that’ll never happen again.”
-AAP
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