“It’s so hot in this tiny room” sang Jeff the Brotherhood’s Jake Orrall during ‘Six Pack’. An incredibly apt line as the crowd bounced and sweltered in the packed Corner Hotel on Thursday.
Opening the night for the Nashville duo were Melbourne bands Bored Nothing and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, the latter making sense, as their garage surf-rock tunes got the venue abuzz, the former however, an odd choice.
Five-piece Bored Nothing opened the night with a set that included songs about “getting stoned”, “salty snack foods” and a track called “I Wish You Were All Dead”.
The band seemed incredibly uncomfortable on stage and the awkward vibes seemed to transcend into the audience who didn’t really know how to react.
Playing for just over half an hour, lead singer Fergus Miller told the growing crowd “The other [bands] are really nice guys and are much better and say interesting things” – something everyone hoped for after realising that this kind of music really should have stayed in the 1990s.
Thankfully, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard took the pace up a notch and the gathered fully embraced the organised chaos of the seven members who were crammed onto the tiny stage.
Their 40 minute set, which opened with ‘Fuzz Battle’ and included their hits ‘Muckraker’, ‘Black Tooth’ and ‘Bloody Ripper’ went down really well with the audience and the seven-piece seem to improve every time they play live.
As King Gizzard left the stage, the punters were more than ready for the headliners.
The lights dimmed and instead of the curtains exposing the band ready to rock out, instead it was just drummer Jamin Orrall, awkwardly surveying the room with his shirt over his head.
There is something strangely adorable and childlike about the drummer, who stood there looking like a stoner nun, as his brother Jake slowly appeared whilst strumming his guitar.
When watching JEFF the Brotherhood, it’s hard to believe that all that noise -which was equally as loud as the seven-piece before them – comes from a three-stringed guitar and a drum kit, which sadly no longer says ‘Jeffro Tull’ on it.
Many newcomers to the JEFF bandwagon may not realise that they have a seven-album discography, so the hits of the nights were generally all from their latest album Hypnotic Nights, such as the previously mentioned ‘Six Pack’, as well as ‘Country Life’ and ‘Staring At The Wall’.
However, die-hard fans sang along to their older material, such as their tunes ‘Bone Jam’ and ‘Heavy Days’ as well as their cover of ‘I’m A Freak’ (originally by relatively unknown metal band Wicked Lady).
Returning to Australia for the Big Day Out, the brothers work without a setlist, which is a true display of how well they work together as a band. Jamin’s tight drumming was hypnotic and the fans were just as excited to see Jake’s guitar as they were to see him.
The custom made axe, which was hooked up to several distortion pedals and amps simultaneously, has a transparent Gibson SG body, and the head of a Firebird, which only has the three necessary tuning pegs.
The guitar itself was passed into the audience to ‘have a touch’ – a great way to end the night, which saw little real audience interaction. The one exception being when Jake parted the gathered like Moses, and his many attempts at crowd surfing (the last which saw him fall on the stage).
With the set ending just before midnight, the brothers remained on stage rather than leaving for an encore – an idea seemingly preferred by the, frankly insane audience.
One fan head banged so hard that he eventually passed out and if I had a dollar for every time someone crowd surfed during the set… Well, I still wouldn’t have had enough for a pint of Bulmer’s, but you get the point.
JEFF the Brotherhood are intriguing performers who are truly in a trance whilst they play their basic garage-punk tunes.
The Orrall brothers arrive on stage, rock out with their fans and then leave – the simplicity of their performances is what makes them so great live. Their songs can blend into one another occasionally, but their high-energy sound means there is never a dull moment.
