Last Sunday, a large group of concertgoers braved a Sunday night in Fortitude Valley for a little slice of nostalgia. Superjesus hit the stage of The Zoo for their first tour in ten years, and transported the crowds back to the late nineties with a unique mixture of face melting guitar riffs, sultry vocals, and thumping rhythms, to create the alternative, post-grunge sound that hasn’t been heard on Australian stages in ten years.
Supporting Superjesus on this momentous occasion was Brisbane locals, Bloodpoets. A band that is undeniably talented when it comes to skills instrumentally, Bloodpoets gave off too much of a ‘high school band’ vibe to be taken too seriously by the crowd. It seems as if these up and comers didn’t really hit the spot with the punters.
The frontman, Tom Murphy seemed to struggle keeping in key vocally, except when keyboardist Bec Plath joined in with her solid and surprising backing harmonies. A highlight was definitely Murphy’s primal, unyielding yelling chops and the overall skills instrumentally of the entire band.
Next to hit the stage was Mildura based duo, Jackson Firebird, and hit the stage they certainly did. Coming out on stage with megaphones, and what looked like a makeshift drum made out of an esky lid, and a roadcase, Jackson Firebird came out for one thing, and one thing only, to melt some faces.
One of the most excited and enthralling live shows I think The Zoo has seen in quite some time, these self-proclaimed dirty, sweat-fuelled Aussie rockers bought their entirely unique sound to the stage. Grungy guitar riffs, and hard-hitting, spine tingling rhythms, mixed with dirty vocals sung through both a regular microphone, and a miked up megaphone created a garage rock, rockabilly sound.
Creating more noise, energy and passion than a band more than twice their size, Jackson Firebird knew exactly how to work the crowd at The Zoo, and could simply not be faulted. They were a perfect opening for main course, the reason we were all packed into the venue on a Sunday night.
As Superjesus took the stage, you could feel the anticipation in the air. Looking even better than she did ten years ago, Sarah McLeod looked like an ethereal rock goddess as expected, and was friendly and captivating from the moment she opened she stepped out on stage.
Things looked promising, with the album cover of Sumo displayed behind the band. After a bit of chit chat, the band leapt straight into “Shudder” from their 2000 album Rock Music. The band were as talented as amazing as they were ten years ago, and had the ability to transport the entire crowd back to a simpler time. With suave vocals, solid rhythms and amazing guitar riffs, it felt like no time had passed whatsoever.
From “Now And Then”, to “Saturation”, to “Gravity”, Superjesus busted out hit, after hit, all with amazing precision and talent, in classic, post-grunge fashion. The crowd were more and more excited with every hit. McLeod was funny, enchanting, and obviously excited to be playing yet again with the rest of the guys in the band, expressing this sentiment constantly throughout the show.
Towards the end of the set, she passed her microphone down to a loud, well-wishing punter, who proclaimed that Superjesus “sound better than he’d ever heard before”.
With a rousing encore of “Second Sun”, and ending with the song everyone was waiting for, “Down Again”, it definitely felt as if this is not the last we’ll see or hear of Superjesus. And fingers crossed that is the case.
