Next year marks The Screaming Jets’ 25th anniversary, but judging by their recent show at The Metro, celebrations have already started. The group were there to film the performance for a live DVD, and their near two-hour set had enough fire and energy to blow most young bands out of the water.
The Snowdroppers supported the headliners and played hard blues-rock numbers. The quartet pulled out all the stops, trying their damn hardest to win over the crowd with songs like ‘Excavating’ and ‘White Dress’. But the 45-minute set by the locals failed to really cut through, and this may have been due to the rhythm section being too low in the mix and the vocals too high. Their set wasn’t lacking in dirty, scuzzy riffs and powerful beats – but the evening was all about the masters, The Screaming Jets.
The Screaming Jets’ show started off strongly and practically reached 11 on the scales with ‘Dream On’. The energy remained high as the band played a solid set, drawing on both old and new albums, hit singles, and some more obscure tracks.
The band’s fans are a loyal bunch and could be seen belting out a lyric or ten. Musically, the group seem to sit comfortably alongside great Australian rock bands like AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, and The Angels.
‘Tunnel’ was the first of many tunes to have an excellent, gnarly guitar solo. Both guitarists, Jimi “The Human” Hocking and Scott Kingman, looked so cool while they were playing – it looked like they could almost do it backwards. Hocking was a little flashier, so he probably would’ve done it if you’d asked him nicely.
Another great showman in the group was Dave Gleeson, who entertained us all with his quips and asides about everything from responsible drinking and the government to vans and drugs.
Clive Palmer was also a man that Gleeson described and he doubled as the subject of ‘FRC’, a song not played anywhere near enough by the group. Words cannot explain how fun it was to be in the crowd yelling, “Fat, rich, c**t” over and over again (although, another close moment came when a punter in a horse mask was moshing away during ‘Silence Lost’).
There was the incendiary ‘Come On’, while ‘Shine On’ had the kind of hungriness that only comes when you have little more than a pocketful of hopes and dreams, as Gleeson described it.
The start of ‘Eve Of Destruction’ teased the audience in much the same way as Jimi Hendrix did at Woodstock when he played the ‘Star Spangled Banner’. This Screaming Jets song proved a concert highlight and one that also turned into a giant, smoky singalong – a real contrast to the shiny groove of the Paul Woseen-penned, ‘Helping Hand’.
The band played a lot of their own material, including their big hit ‘Better’, but they also found room for a couple of special covers. Renditions of Rowland S. Howard’s ‘Shivers’, Slim Dusty’s ‘Cunnamulla Fella’, and AC/DC’s ‘Ain’t No Fun (Waiting Round To Be A Millionaire)’ were all well-received.
But the best cover of the evening was their affectionate take on Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’, a song so good that it made your eyes glisten with hope.
While The Screaming Jets put on one feisty rock show, they managed some quieter moments thanks to the mandolin-lead ‘Disappear’ and the very sweet ‘Friend Of Mine’.
The Metro seemed like one loud and sweaty party hosted by The Screaming Jets. The group may be approaching their quarter century anniversary, but they sound as fresh as they did back in their heyday. The tight group proved they still rock and have the live and writing chops to continue on for some time yet.
Setlist
Dream On
Tunnel
Come On
Shine On
Do Ya
Eve Of Destruction
Helping Hand
Holding On
Shivers (original by Rowland S. Howard)
Cunnamulla Fella (original by Slim Dusty)
Disappear
Silence Lost
October Grey
Sad Song
Living In England
Needle To The Red
Better
