The Carnival Comes To Town on paper seems like a great concept showcasing the best of Australia’s talent at the minute. Even better still the original concept was to stage this event under the big top making this event all the more unique adding the concert experience. So what did we get stuck with? The bloody Entertainment Centre!
Driving in to this dog of a venue I was shocked to see that only a quarter of the car park was utilised – not a good sign. I thought the idea of a Carnival was to pack out a venue full of eager punters up for a good night. For a venue that has a capacity of 10,000 and to only get 3,000 odd speaks volumes for the concept at the overpriced seventy bucks or has the bubble for Jet and Eskimo Joe has well and truly burst.
Take nothing away from these bands as I love just as much as anyone else but I would expected to see a sell out as they are both are at the height of their powers. Nevertheless, the night really did belong to Eskimo Joe followed closely followed by Little Birdy. No Through Road did a top job flying the flag for South Australia and this opportunity may see a new faces coming along to their next show in town.
Little Birdy were awesome! They played like they owned the stage and the sexy Katy Steele sung and danced like here life depended on it. The only sad part of the song was that this maybe their last show for 2007 but that didn’t stop bringing out the hits including new single After Dark to launch proceedings. A huge roar went up for Come On Come On and similarly for Relapse. The highlights reel also includes Beautiful To Me, Six Months In A Leaky Boat and Bodies.
Eskimo Joe was up next and this occasion marks not only the end of their tour but what has been an amazing twelve months for these lads. The stage set up and the additional lights were something to behold and something not really seen at their shows before. Beating Like A Drum set the tone for what was to come. Kav was up back beating a drum (how ironic) before racing down the stairs to launch in to this one.
The Joes played the majority of their set from the albums that have redefined their career in Black Fingernails, Red Wine and A Song Is A City. These days the Girl album seems like the poor relation but hardly surprising that only Liar got a guernsey on the night. So many hits and so many highlights made for a more than satisfying Eskimo Joe experience with London Bombs, Setting Sun, New York and Comfort You proving to be classics already. The big single Black Fingernails, Red Wine went down like a fine red wine and the perfect way to leave the stage before returning for an encore.
Originally the encore was only meant to be one song but ended being four including the stripped back Suicide Girl, Life Is Better With You with a nice Crowded House rendition Weather With You worked in as a clever improv before closing out with How Does It Feel? and From The Sea.
For me it was all down hill from this point on. Jet was and still could be a great band but they really lacked a lot of spark in their performance. Clearly it looks like these boys have been on the road for far to long, as it seemed like they were just going through the motions and that a half arsed performance will do. I was bitterly disappointed and was still hopeful that they would finish in a blaze of glory. This performance was only marginally better than their Big Day Out set in February and still to this day I’m waiting to be blown away by their live set. Maybe I’m living in the past and showing my age but their first at the Enigma Bar many moons ago was to hard to surpass.
Nic Cester really was having an off night leaving the vocal duties to brother Chris but the constant “How Ya Doin” and the yelling wore tiresome. I had to give my other half a gentle nudge to stop her from drifting off. Are You Gonna Be My Girl? was the only really highlight and even still that tune lacked the magic quality that made it so good in the first place. I think the fact that the crowd didn’t go in to rapturous applause and didn’t beg them back for an encore really says a lot about what they thought of them. A real shame for a band that has the talent but obviously believes their own hype about how good they think they are but one last point is that to go from playing to 12,000 people at Memorial Drive a few years ago to 3,000 at the Entertainment Centre suggests that they need to reach for the emergency brake.
