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dave shaw

  •  stems mb
    Murray Bennett photo.

    The Stems
    + New Christs
    Manning Bar, Sydney
    Saturday, August 30, 2024
    Photos: Tony McNamara unless otherwisde credited.

    Shows by The Stems are reverential experiences, And for good reason. The band’s membership is scattered over two coasts of Australia and gigs don’t occur often. When they do, you know they're going to be something worth bottling.

    What’s the special sauce? It’s Dom Mariani’s timeless pop songs being delivered by top-shelf players who have a chemistry that can only come from most of them playing together for years.

    The foundation is Mariani on guitar and vocals, drummer Dave Shaw and bassist Julian Matthews, with a guitar foil of Ash Naylor(this tour) or Davey Lane, who are both ubiquitous and gifted in equal measures.

    As far as recordings go, The Stems have not been prolific, with just two full-length studio albums since 1987, so it’s all about the quality and not the length. Their first LP, “At First Sight Violets Are Blue”, was a fully formed pop classic, and the 2007 “follow-up”, “Heads Up”, was substantial in its own right, although is not as well-known.