As soon as you walk inside Red Bennies’ you’re whisked away off the ultra-modern, hipster-wannabe crowd of Chapel St and into an art deco den of iniquity, booze and most of all, speakeasy style fun. Bartenders are dressed to the nines in suspenders, vests and slick fedoras and the girls are dolled up with quiffs, feather boas and elegant jewelry. Its like being whisked back to when times were good in the 20s, 30s, 40s and even 50s.

By all accounts, there was no better place to launch a concert series organized by a bourbon. This place, drenched in red with the lights dimmed ultra low was all about whiskey, women and wild rock n’ roll. Oh, and the burlesque show – mustn’t forget about that.

Even the organization was laid back, with The Level Spirits starting at around 9:30 when they were expected half an hour earlier. Fronted by a curvaceous and sultry front-woman, Miss Molly Jean Morrison in a flowing gown, the 50s/60s style rockabilly combo belted out vivacious tunes, replete with surf grooves laid down by a slicked-back double bass player and his guitarist partner. A mock horror theme even emerged as fog swirled around them at times. They didn’t want to knock down the house, more like trap everyone inside with a slow burn. Their brand of Chicago blues was great, if not marred by sound problems. It seemed at least to me that the establishment was overwhelmed by a larger, more rock-based set up.

Another feature of the night were the burlesque beauties - Frankie Valentine, Lux St Sin, Liki Koi Kaos and Foxtrot India - performing stupefying, sexy acts between sets – an interesting novelty for the tone of the show – considering all the acts weren’t all of “like mind” either (as I’ll explain.) Out they came, getting the crowd’s pulse racing as they dressed in vampish corsets, thigh-high fishnets, sequined dresses and “sailor jerry” tattoos across their thighs and shoulders. There was an odd “jailbait” scene and a Spanish senorita with flowers in her hair. What was most enjoyable that they were real women – curves and all.

The crowd was swelling as time went on, the booths and seats all taken with standing room quickly filling. I was beginning to feel excited and when The Bitter Sweet Kicks burst on stage, the crowd was absolutely jumping. Diamond Jack Davies (as he’s called) really lives up to his name – like a man possessed, he commands the stage by flailing wildly as if their incendiary mix of proto-punk and pub rock burst through the room, only briefly coming up for air to play harmonica. It was a shame the speakers couldn’t handle their hard-driving live show. Guitarists Brendan Charlie and Christopher Walkin were like devils with the guitar and only cared about rocking, backed up by the larger than life Mojo Blackheart on the skins. It was a truly electrifying show of “raw power” that had bassist Johnny Kicks mix it up with the crowd for their trademark anthem “Team Rock n’ Roll," chaos and mayhem flowing through the new faces as Jack climbed across amps and even to the front of house. The fans for BSK definitely outnumbered the regulars dressed up in bowling shirts and blue jeans.

Curiously, for Midnight Woolf the crowd numbers dipped – and they were headlining. This wasn’t indicative of their quality, although were down tempo in comparison to their support act and couldn’t match their intensity. They were a plugged blues combo that added a bit more bite to the rockabilly with some country twang, denim jackets and cool shades on the band members. It seemed a bit more palatable for the usual Red Bennies crowd and had people moving and swing dancing about the place, guitarists shredding the night away.

It was a hot place for blues and Red Bennies sure had a new jive now that modern rock n’ roll had brought the house down. It wasn’t their usual crowd, but no one seemed to mind; it was all one jumpin’ joint for that balmy night anyhow.