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“Run is dedicated to a dear friend and fan of the band, Luke “Woody” James Woodland who passed away in 2014” states vocalist Virginia Lillye. “He was conscious about environmental issues and the importance of significant numbers that ran in sequence. One of his attempts to make people aware of the environment would be to paint himself blue, spay his hair green and become “Captain Planet”. He would then begin running around Sydney, Australia starting from a suburb beginning with a letter of the alphabet then ending in another suburb beginning with the same letter. This was his favourite song, and whenever we played it live, he would be the first to break out into a wild dance. We were fortunate to have his younger brother Will, play the lead role in our video, and honoured that he portrayed his brother Woody who was such a colourful and passionate character.”

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The venue, Basement, is one of those rooms that reek of rock n’ roll history. Strung up guitars form the ceiling and old vinyl holds up the walls. This place has been hosting the heavy for as long as most Canberrans can remember. In the last few years bands like King Parrot, Cradle of Filth, Truckfighters, Jeff Martin and Gilby Clark, for whom Lillye opened, have all done sets at the newly refurbished main room. When its full, the atmosphere can be electric. Unfortunately, tonight, the crowd was  little on the slender side. Disappointing numbers certainly took away from some of what was otherwise a powerful performance, but on the other hand it is a tribute to the band’s commitment to their art that they played as if they were at a sold out Madison Square Gardens.

Opening for Lillye tonight were central coast act Screaming Eagle who established the old school power-rock theme the night. A bunch of young guys fronted by Matt Piper, they put together an energetic show. They cite their influences as Whitesnake, Led Zeppelin, Motley Crue and The Angels and they wear all of that pretty clearly on their sleeves. I’d expect to see quite a bit more of them on the local touring circuit in the next few years as they develop their stagecraft and come into their own.

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Wedged between Lillye and Screaming Eagle were local act Hence the Testbed. Ad, Sam and Kirky, as the three piece formally go by, are somewhere between pub rock and stoner on the heavy-to-heavier scale. They  are definitely not what you would call a flashy or theatrical act but the riffs are tight and the grooves are good. Somehow, even though it was zero fucking degrees in Canberra, vocal and guitarman Sam still managed to get shirtless and do his best impression of Chris Cornell.

As Lillye’s star rises, having been picked up by a US label and having already generated some noise on US college radio, those that weren’t in the audience for the performance tonight will regret having not seen this band for next to nothing when they could.

Long live rock n’ roll.

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All-in-all Lillye has created a freaking epic hard rock album and their lead Virginia Lillye is a Joan Jett rock vocalist in the making! Watch their space!

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‘Evolve’
track listing:

1. Run
2. In the End
3. Chained
4. Brittle Glass
5. Better Days
6. Fire
7. It Is What It Was
8. Take on Me
9. Grass Is Greener
10. Surrender
11. Through My Soul

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Follow LILLYE
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | BANDCAMP

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AMNPLIFY – DB