From kids who were up past their bed times to forty-year-old men still in their work suits, fans pack into the almost sold out Thebarton Theatre on Wednesday night for the much anticipated Tenacious D Old School Acoustic Style Tour.
Opening up the stage for the night, comedian Barry Morgan held the crowd captive and delivered plenty of hilarity based on the comedian’s standards like masturbation, relationships, and Adelaide’s northern suburbs.
With the audience revved up and the stage ready to go, you could be forgiven for thinking that the main act was about to arrive. However, second support, American comedy rocker, Sasquatch walked out on stage, clad in a full body faux-fur Yeti outfit. Pacing about the stage, the rock god/wilderbeast delivered powerful old school rock tunes about the life of a sasquatch, and a thumping one-man-band rendition of Ram Jam’s ‘Black Betty’.
Following a refreshing much-shorter-than-typical wait for the band, the lights in the Thebby dimmed once again, and Kyle Gass and Jack Black took the stage with acoustic guitars in tow, ready to rock. The pair launched into the title track from their latest album Rize Of The Fenix, which delighted the audience.
Together since 1994, the pair were visibly very comfortable performing alone together, never appearing small on such a big, empty stage. Both casual and balls out confident they treated the crowd to a night of quality acoustic riffing and duelling guitars by the self-proclaimed greatest band on the face of the earth. Gass demonstrated the practical side of having a beer belly by resting his guitar upon it between songs.
The D have always been know for not only their tight, live musical performances but also their scripted theatrics on stage. Three songs in the boys launched into an on stage fight. After a solo performance from Black of ‘Dude (I Totally Miss You)’, Kyle sheepishly returned, and the pair launched into crowd favourite ‘Kyle Quit The Band’. Cheesy yes but also amusing.
Highlights of the set included 2006’s powerhouse ‘Kickapoo’. The duo’s improvised rendition of Led Zeppelin classic also satisfied many of the classic rock fans in the audience which constituted most of the crowd.
Near the end of the set proper, the band performed crowd pleaser, ‘Tribute’. The only let down was the Kyle didn’t pull the expected devil voice in the second verse.
With the Adelaide curfew of 11pm fast approaching, some concert-goers were visibly (and audibly) concerned about the absence of The D’s hit ‘Wonderboy’. After a brief departure, the duo returned to perform an encore of three more songs: the short but sweet ‘Baby’, the much awaited ‘Wonderboy’ and the comical ‘Fuck Her Gently’, all of which were met by rapturous applause.
While the crowd were clearly with the band for the whole gig, there was a constant feeling that perhaps the experience could have been bolstered with some drums, electric guitar and bass to beef up the sound. However, the pair delivered what they promised, and for an acoustic duo, Jack Black and Kyle Gass certainly gave the audience what they had come to see – a tribute to the greatest rock concert in the world.
