Jackson Jackson, Elana Stone @The Zoo, Brisbane (04/06/09)

Mon 8th Jun, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Support act Elana Stone is very petite. So very tiny I had to stand on tiptoes and do a little jump to see her over the crowd that seemed to completely block her, even though she was raised a metre above everyone else. Her stature certainly doesn’t prepare you for the loud voice that comes out. I can describe Stone’s sound in one phrase: a country, boppy, more arrogant version of Sarah Blasko. She has a wonderful voice and you can tell she enjoys what she does, but her talking between songs stops you from really getting into the tunes. At the end of it all her crass, “I would really fucking love it if you would buy my CD” tops off the overconfidence of Stone. She hasn’t made it yet. And I know it is rock and roll, but when you’ve been listening to music bordering on country, such blatant self promotion takes away and destroys any elegance in the set that she has managed to establish through her pretty songs. Overall, the songs were nice, but there was no spark coming from the stage to captivate the audience.

At the end of the day, we were all here for Jackson Jackson, and boy did the crowd enjoy it. The highlight of the night was certainly keyboardist Ollie McGill ’s keytar solos. At one point, he is so immersed in his solo that I get the impression the rest of the band is surprised at how long he is playing for- certainly it’s not what they rehearsed! I could be wrong, but judging from their faces and sniggers in the background, they were either laughing at the length of jam, or at some other personal joke pertaining to McGill’s mastery; or perhaps the look on the audience’s faces which can only be described as gobsmacked.

The Jackson Jackson family consists of the core- singer, composer Harry Angus and partner, song composer and keyboardist/guitarist, Jan Skubiszewski- as well as the Jackson Jackson 5 choir, drums and, obviously, keys. The set starts with an instrumental, only a few on the stage, and immediately the Eliza riff is recognised. A few minutes after, the choir walks on in a neat procession in their sexy black dresses (not to mention a token male with an eye-patch) and then the JJ duo last of all. The crowd cheers and erupts into the first few lines of the song, together with Harry: “I remember that Thursday in February, when I first laid my wondering eyes on Eli-e-i-e-iza! Ooh!” And the blinding lights flash and the beat comes in, and then everyone’s dancing. Ooh!

Next is hip-hip tune, International Society of Bad Dancers, which goes down well. However, even in this boppy song, the signature spooky wail of Harry’s manages to creep in towards the end. He can’t resist. But when you are as good at singing perfectly high-pitched notes in vibrato as he is, who can blame the guy?

A few songs later, and All Alone breaks out. I love the juxtaposition this song creates. Such a techno-y, dancing number as this has everyone jumping, while Harry sings on the stage with eyes closed, looking very close to crying while belting out, “All alone, all alone, all alone, then I’ll be all alone.” The crowd is so happy- it seems wrong, but it is impossible not to dance. In a way, the tune seems more poignant executed in this contradictory way. Similar to how comedy makes light of tragedy, this song says to me – œeverything will be okay if you can dance about it.’

Other highlights include Devil In Me, which gets a good reception, and the country blues tune Down to The River which, personally psyched me up the most (and not just because of the Super Mario Subterranean level tune that was thrown in at the end of the song). Grab A Gun is another highlight. All songs seem to be the highlight in this review. If it seems like it, it is because they were: every moment was different, and every song was greeted with anticipation. Like a kid in a candy store, it’s impossible to choose- or picking your songs for Triple J’s Hottest 100 of All Time, it’s impossible to choose.

This was made even more evident when the house lights came on and the PA started playing its music after Jackson Jackson had said their goodbyes. It seems we wouldn’t have a pre-prepared encore this evening. But the venue’s music- alike to the orchestra playing to coax the actor off the stage at the Oscars- was unsuccessful in dispersing the crowd. Feet stomped, people yelled, and generally made any sort of noise they could muster. A few minutes later, the band got the message, and the pushy crowd was awarded for their bolshie-ness with an impromptu song. Jackson Jackson were not prepared for this but, nonetheless, they were certainly thankful that their performance deserved a real, un-planned encore. It’s very rare nowadays for the crowd to be bothered enough to stubbornly demand an encore. But tonight’s performance was the exception. Undoubtedly it was deserving of its praise.