The Spice Girls. Led Zeppelin. The Verve. It’s been the year of the comeback but in WA there’s only one comeback people really care about. Jebediah. And after more than two years out of action it’s testament to the band’s reputation that people will still show up despite not having a new album, single or obscure charity cause to promote.

But Fremantle on a Sunday is a tough nut to crack. Kicking off just after 6.30, rising stars Kill Teen Angst played to the early punters and anyone expecting an 8pm start would have missed out. KTA’s recent success in the WAM Song of the Year awards is indicative of their potential and at this gig they lived up to their newfound ‘award winning’ tag. Compared to the Kill Teen that gigged around the traps at the start of the year, the foursome came across as much more complete, with vocalist Scott Tomlinson managing to channel his aggression without losing touch with melody. There was time for two new songs during the set but they saved their winning hand for the end, delivering WA’s Rock Song of the Year in The World or Nothing before wrapping up with Death to Rio, which, based around a subtle guitar riff and one of the best bass hooks you’ll ever hear, might even be their best song yet.

But even by the end of KTA’s set, the venue was half-full at best. Fast-forward half an hour and the place was packed with 20-somethings who’d grown up with the Jebs as the band of their teens. To some, it might have been disappointing to see the band open with First Time, taken from 2004 independent LP Braxton Hicks but for others it was just the start of a ‘best of’ set that consisted mainly of singles from across their 13 years.

And on it went, with Military Strongmen, Please Leave and Animal, as well as new songs Comet (a relatively laid-back number based around bluesy guitar) and To Your Door (more reminiscent of the Jebs of old). Though they leant perhaps a little too much towards the Braxton Hicks material (five songs) and away from 1999 album Of Someday Shambles (a ‘golden age of rock’, according to guitarist Chris Daymond ) the band seemed at home no matter what they played.

Frontman Kevin Mitchell, fresh from his umpteenth tour as Bob Evans, seemed more confident behind the mic as ever but didn’t let his relatively recent foray into the world of adult contemporary (thanks, ARIA) take anything from his stance as Lead Singer of Jebediah. After giving the metaphorical finger to WA bands that don’t play their old stuff (we all know you were talking about Eskimo Joe, Kev) he ripped through the choruses of Leaving Home like he was playing a school social at Leeming Senior High in 1997 before raising his raucous game on NDC and Fall Down.

And with Kev, Chris, drummer Brett Mitchell and bassist Vanessa Thornton in winning form, the scene was set for the perfect nostalgia trip as they teased that 10pm curfew. After closing the set with the epic Jerks of Attention (for the record, something indecipherable has replaced the Stone Roses in the stereo) they had barely left the stage before they returned for a massive sing-along to Harpoon. And as if to let the crowd know what they’d be up to the following weekend, Daymond snuck a Daft Punk riff into the breakdown of eternal crowd favourite Teflon. The gig may have finished too soon for everyone present but, judging by the crowd’s response and the smiles on every band member’s face as they left the stage, they’ve got plenty left in them.