Jive on Friday night was host to the Soundsytes Charity Concert with funds being donated to The Royal Society for the Blind. The live showcase included The Trafalgars, Kytes of Omar and was headlined by Mildura’s Jackson Firebird who, for sure and certain, cut up the stage with an electric show.

The night began with The Trafalgars and their sensible, melodic, sixties-esque pop. They were followed by The Kytes of Omar playing in the vein of pretentious, art-house rock influenced heavily by bands like The Pixies with tinges The Dead Kennedys; strong, interesting vocal lines with heavy, if over effected, guitar.

The supports fell quickly into dim memory once the headline act took the stage: The tub-thumping, mega-phone screaming, dirty blues playing Jackson Firebird are a duo whose sound and presence will burn a solid memory onto your frontal lobe. As soon as they hit the stage the energy of their music fills the room and the crowd are drawn and start to listen and listen hard; the room starts to feel the beat and move with the music; they hit the right frequency that will make your toes curl and hair stand on end.

Jackson Firebird are Brendan Harvey and *Dale Huda*k. Drummer, Hudak, kicks off the show beating a “Bottle Bin & Electric Washboard” with a rage and frenetic intensity rarely seen on stage. Once at his drum kit, Hudak launches himself into attacking the skins as though he is beating down The Beast. Hudak alone would be a sight not to be missed but, with Harvey, the pair build a massive sound. Harvey plays hard, fast and has a great sound; he throws himself into the vocals and keeps is sounding dirty. Jackson Firebird are not a band you can take your eyes off once they’ve hit their stride.

By the end of the show, Hudak was clearly exhausted, which is not surprising considering the amount of effort he expends, and stumbled off stage. Harvey then started into a cover of Tom Wait’s Goin’ Out West to draw Hudak back onto stage. Hudak re-appeared with another bottle bin held aloft, much to the pleasure of the crowd who roared with approval. The duo kept this little act going with Hudak disappearing off stage clearly exhausted only to have Harvey bring him back out with another song.

Next time Jackson Firebird make it down to Adelaide, make sure you check them out, you will be impressed.