The Basics are back in Australia after an extensive tour of London, Dublin and Oslo and returned to Jive to blow the roof off in a welcome home party of sorts. The trio have relished the chance to showcase their new album Keep Your Friends Close back home in Australia after the September release.

Summer Edmunds, a 21 year old singer/songwriter from Launceston in Tasmania warmed the crowd up perfectly as they slowly trickled in. Clearly honoured to be supporting The Basics on their national tour, Summer’s sweet vocals, complimented by her acoustic guitar were perfectly suited to the setting. Summer has a very comfortable honest performance manner that intrigues the audience to quietly listen to her, and impressive vocals in a similar style to the likes of Kate Miller-Heidke. The short set included tracks Kites and Rocket Fuel and Apology Letter introducing Adelaide audiences to her beautiful storybook of songs linked together by short stories of life in Launceston. This is just the beginning for this talented artist wearing her favourite cat ears.

The Basics created something special for the fans during this National tour-extra sound! For those of you who are yet to see The Basics live, you will be pleasantly surprised at how loud and hard they rock, much harder than their albums would suggest. The trio added two extra members for the tour to grow their sound even more, adding keys, extra percussion and guitar. The three part harmonies were as sweet as ever shifting lead vocal duties between Kris Schroeder and Wally De Backer. The trio each showcased their talents through many impressive extended solos from Kris on bass and Tim Heath on guitar, however Wally on the drums was amazing, producing passionate, energetic solos rocking the floor of Jive. Kris commented on the rocking solos, you’ve caught us on a night when we feel like rocking out a bit.

Having returned from a successful overseas tour, where I was pleasantly surprised to discover the trio busking on Grafton Street, the main shopping street in Dublin, the boys are relishing the chance to play around Australia again. The Basics have a unique sound that feels like they dabble in many genres and other eras, and their sound continues to evolve through new album Keep Your Friends Close. Witty banter between the band and with the audience is common at The Basics live shows, and tonight was no different. A group of girls screaming Jerusalem between songs were invited from Jerusalem Sheshkabab on Hindley Street prior to the show and then the trio performed a surf-rock version of Happy Birthday for an audience member. Highlights of the night included current single The No. 1 Cause of Death Amongst Youth Today, crowd favourite With This Ship, The Executioner brought a new cool scratchy, screechy and mysterious sound, and Fear of Failure showcased the softer more serious songs on the album. Once again The Basics leave Adelaide wanting more, and hopefully next tour, people in Adelaide will realise that they should be playing to full houses.