Last Friday saw me heading from Newcastle to Sydney’s west to see The Baby Animals, Rooty Hill’s leg of their Feed the Birds tour II, ‘Feed the Birds’ being reference to Singer Suze DeMarchi’s habit of pouring red wine from her mouth into the mouths of fans in the front row at gigs.
The Baby Animals formed in Sydney 1989 and the current line-up includes two of the original four founding members, Suze DeMarchi – Vocals / Guitar and Dave Leslie – Lead Guitar. The rhythm section is made up of Mick Skelton – drums and Dario Bortolin – bass who joined the band in 2009 after the departure of the other two founding members Frank Celenza and Eddie Parise.
The Baby Animals hit the stage, kicking off with one of my favourite tracks from their new ‘This Is Not the End’ album, Under Your Skin. The night just kept getting better with a great mix of old and new tunes. They played 8 of the 11 tracks off their new album as well as all of the classics from the early nineties including Rush You, Painless, One Word and Early Warning, finishing the night with Ain’t Gonna Get, this old fan found himself in music heaven.
Suze DeMarchi and Dave Leslie still rock as hard as they ever have, with a shit hot rhythm section to back them up, just good honest classic Aussie rock. If you can get to a gig grab your tickets now and don’t miss out.

Ollie Brown opening for The Baby Animals
Ollie Brown opened the night, this young artist is talent plus, fantastic voice with amazing range. I grabbed a copy of his soon to be released EP Weatherboard House to listen to on the drive back to Newcastle last night, loved every track, brilliant
Upcoming Baby Animals gigs are as follow;
- Apr 04 Racehorse Hotel Brisbane
- Apr 05 Alexandra Hills Hotel Brisbane
- Apr 11 Dee Why RSL Dee Why
- Apr 12 Belmont 16s, Belmont NSW