After playing massive festivals in Europe for most of June and July, Airbourne’s homecoming down under is more of a victory lap than a club tour.
With a string of national gigs leading up to their Splendour In The Grass-performance, the boys from Warrnambool quickly came home to say hi before they’re off touring overseas again for the rest of the year.
Thanks to the headliners for handpicking their impressive support act Palace Of The King. These guys combine the best of 70s and 80s hard rock and anyone who owns classics like Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin IV or Appetite For Destruction in their album collection should take notice.
Guitarists Leigh Maden and Matthew Harrison pulled up a wall of fat guitar-riffs that blended perfectly with the deep hypnotising grooves of bassist Andrew Gilpin and drummer Anthony Troiano, while on organs and keys man Sean Johnston added extra colours to the mesmerising mood.
All five musicians in this band are so good that they overshadow their lead singer. That luxurious problem aside, this band is bound for big things and should be coming to a Soundwave or Big Day Out near you within the next two years.
As soon as the boys from Airbourne kicked off with “Ready To Rock” one could tell these guys are now thoroughly experienced in playing big crowds, which made the Hi-Fi feel even more intimate than usual.
Frontman Joel O’Keeffe is a man possessed who jumps around kicking and screaming as if his life depends on it, and what the scrawny singer lacks in size he more than makes up for in sheer energy and conviction.
His brother Ryan is in tight control of the drums, while bass player Justin Street and rhythm guitarist David Roads make use of every square meter of the stage by marching from left to right, if they’re not busy barking out their background vocals.
For some people, rock ‘n’ roll is a way of life. For Joel O’Keeffe, it’s more than that; to this passionate performer, it’s a religion – and he is more fanatic about his beliefs than a Jehovah’s witness knocking on your door in the morning. O’Keeffe lives and breathes rock ‘n’ roll and his sheer genuine enthusiasm is infectious.
Not that anyone needed to be converted at The Hi-Fi tonight, these disciples of rock were preaching to the choir here and the crowd went absolutely apeshit, especially when O’Keeffe went soloing through the crowd ending up on top of the bar at the back of the hall.
Tracks from new album Black Dog Barking went down particularly well, especially the title track and hit single “Live It Up”.
At 75 minutes this might have been a short gig, but in that amount of time Airbourne kicked more ass than most bands do in two hours. Although it’s great to see them in a small club like the Hi-Fi, these rockers have worked hard enough to headline bigger stages. Perhaps the success of Black Dog Barking will take them to that well-earned next step in their careers.
If AC/DC will indeed be doing that long-rumoured tour next year, they just have to take Airbourne along as their special guests. It would be a symbolic passing of the torch; Angus Young & co will rest assured they can retire after their next tour since the heirs to the Australian rock ’n’ roll throne are waiting in line – and they are ‘Ready To Rock.’
