Coolboys and the Frontman

Coolboys and the Frontman are an Australian rock music band formed in 2015.

Coolboys and the Frontman
Origin	Melbourne, Australia
Genres	Rock, pub rock, Insult
Years active	2015 (2015)–present
Labels	Southern Cross Austereo
Associated acts	Hamish and Andy
Website	hamishandandy.com
Members	Hamish Blake Andy Lee Jack Post Guest Frontman
Past members	Rob Thomas Conrad Sewell The Veronicas Shannon Noll The Wiggles Guy Sebastian Ricki Lee Bret McKenzie Jessica Mauboy Vance Joy

The band wearing their traditional outfits. (Jack Post, Hamish Blake, Andy Lee)

The band was formed by the members of the Hamish & Andy radio show in late 2015, after a request for Rob Thomas to play live on the show during an interview was knocked back, due to his backing band not travelling with him. After Thomas promised that the members of the radio show could perform instead, the band was created.

2015: Rob Thomas Performance

In late 2015, the members of the Hamish & Andy radio show had Rob Thomas on the show for an interview. After a request for a live performance was knocked back due to his backing band not travelling with him, the hosts of the radio show jokingly offered to be his backing band, to which Thomas accepted not knowing it was in fact a joke. A few months later in early November, Thomas contacted the radio show, notifying them that he would be coming out to Australia in less than a week. The band was then hastily formed. At the time, the band had no name and was not meant to be continue past the one performance. Hamish Blake, who has "natural percussive talent" and had previously bought and sold 2 electronic drum kits became the drummer, Andy Lee, who learnt the trumpet at high school, became the trumpeter and while the show is on air, sound producer Jack Post, who played in a punk-rock group called "Last Chance" while in high school, became the band's guitarist. The song chosen was Smooth due to the use of trumpet, drums and guitar while also being a famous Rob Thomas song. Due to such short notice from Thomas and it being their first time playing together, the band initially had trouble performing the song at a competent standard and getting through any practice without severe "in-fighting". After much difficulty, the song was eventually performed live on air to much success on 16 November 2015.[1] After this performance, there was little talk of further performances.

2016: Conrad Sewell Performance

In 2016, the band was recalled, as a promise was made to perform with Conrad Sewell in the same manner as the Rob Thomas performance. This time, the band would learn and perform the INXS song, Never Tear Us Apart. The song title was seen as fairly humorous, due to the large number of fights and insults that are traded between the members of the band. After learning the song, it was eventually performed at Cruise Bar in Darling Harbour, Sydney NSW, to a live audience.[2] After the performance, the band still did not have a name and again fell dormant. The Veronicas later asked Hamish Blake to perform as their drummer for a live performance on the radio show in July 2016.[3]

2016: Half Way to the Top Tour

In October 2016, Blake and Lee announced that they were reforming the band and would be performing a tour in late November.[4] After receiving news that they would be able to hire a tour bus that had been used by One Direction owned by friend of the show, Shane Jacobson, Lee received his bus license, to be the bus driver for the tour. He later grew a moustache that was dyed grey and crowned the ''bustache", as it was said by the members of the radio show that bus drivers usually had grey moustaches. Because of the bus' capabilities to have beer on tap, Post was crowned "keg monkey" and was made to wear a monkey costume and ensure there was always a keg hooked up to the bar. After deciding to tour, Blake and Lee named the band ''Coolboys and the Frontman'', where they were "Coolboys" and there would be a guest frontman for each show. The show decided on learning and performing Uptown Funk, a Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars song. After realising that they would require a bassist, an anonymous bassist was recruited to perform under a black tarp and be known as the ''hidden agenda". Eventually the song proved too difficult for the trumpeter Lee and incredibly unpopular with the shows listeners, so the song was changed to Long Way to the Top, by AC/DC which required Lee to learn to play the bagpipes. In late November, the band travelled from Melbourne to Byron Bay, performing, in Wodonga, Rankins Springs and Newcastle, before finishing at the Beach Hotel in Byron Bay.

Half Way to the Top Tour Dates

Date	City	Venue	Front Person	Attendance
28 November 2016	Wodonga	Catholic College Wodonga	The Veronicas	300
29 November 2016	Rankins Springs	Rankins Springs Pub	Shannon Noll	1200
30 November 2016	Newcastle, New South Wales	University of Newcastle (Australia)	The Wiggles	250
1 December 2016	Rest Day	Rest Day	Rest Day	Rest Day
2 December 2016	Byron Bay, New South Wales	Byron Bay Beach Hotel	Guy Sebastian	900

Band Outfits

For the Half Way to the Top Tour, all three members were given the chance to choose one item for themself, and one for each other member of the band.

The final choices are listed below:

Performer	Outfit
Hamish Blake	Viking Helmet, Giant Pacifier & Fake Tan
Andy Lee	Scottish Kilt, "No Smoking" Sombrero & Monocle
Jack Post	Eyepatch & Roller skates

The Tour

Day 1 – Catholic College Wodonga

Gig	Front Person	Comments	Worst Performer
Catholic College Wodonga	The Veronicas		Andy Lee

Day 2 – Rankins Springs Pub

Gig	Front Person	Comments	Worst Performer
Rankins Springs Pub	Shannon Noll		Hamish Blake

Day 3 – Harbourview Function Centre Newcastle

Gig	Front Person	Comments	Worst Performer
Harbourview Function Centre Newcastle	The Wiggles		Jack Post

Day 4 – Rest Day

Day 5 – Byron Bay Beach Hotel

Gig	Front Person	Comments	Worst Performer
Byron Bay Beach Hotel	Guy Sebastian		Nil

2017: We Are The Champions Private Jet Tour

We Are The Champions Private Jet Tour

Date	City	Venue	Front Person	Attendance
27 November 2017	Newcastle, New South Wales	RAAF Base Williamtown	Ricki-Lee	TBC
28 November 2017	Hamilton, New Zealand	Young Farmers – Five Stags, Pirongia, New Zealand	Bret McKenzie	TBC
29 November 2017	Brisbane, Queensland	Battle of the Bands: Round 5 – The Brightside Brisbane	Jessica Mauboy	TBC
30 November 2017	Uluru, Northern Territory	Rest Day	Rest Day	Rest Day
1 December 2017	Melbourne	Margaret Court Arena	Vance Joy	TBC

Band Outfits

For the 2017 private jet tour, all three members were given the chance to select their outfit out of a hat from three predetermined options.[5]

The final choices are listed below:

Performer	Outfit
Hamish Blake	Baggage handler
Andy Lee	Top Gun Outfit
Jack Post	1920's Aviator Outfit

Personnel

Listed in order of instrument prowess

Current members

• Hamish Blake – Electronic drums, insults, team player, natural percussionist, vibe-ing it out, soft jacket lapels (2015–present)
• Jack Post – Electronic guitar, insults, low stage presence, cackling, sponsored, slow guitar (2015–present)
• Andy Lee – Trumpet, bagpipes, insults, keyboards, backing vocals, piano, keyboard, keytar, other novelty instruments, birthdays (2015–present)
• Front Person – Vocals (2016–present)
• Hidden Agenda – Bass, guitar (2016–present)

References

1. "Our bands first gig".
2. "Never tear us apart with Conrad Sewell".
3. "The Veronicas on Hamish and Andy".
4. "Tour Dates".
5. "Picking Our Band Outfits".

External links

• www.hamishandandy.com