Jebediah, Violent Soho, YoungRevelry @ ANU Bar, Canberra(26/5/11)

Sat 28th May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

If you like your indie rock loud, then The ANU Bar on Thursday night was the place to be. Perth band Young Revelry got the ball rolling, with a riot of squalling guitars, crashing drums and strong vocals from both Sebastian Astone and Peter Leveson.

Following on from Young Revelry, Brisbane boys Violent Soho stepped the noise levels up a notch as the crowd continued to swell. Violent Soho were energetic on stage, long hair flailing as they moshed along en masse. When a shout out to all of the art and law students in the audience failed to elicit much response, the band’s current hit, Jesus Stole My Girlfriend, was instead dedicated to all of the ‘cynics’. Bassist Luke Henery couldn’t contain his energy to the stage in the last song of the band’s set, leaping onto and quickly over the safety barrier and into the crowd, bass in hand. Henery thrashed and swung his bass wildly throughout, still playing, before hurling the bass back on stage. Leaping after it, the bass got a good pounding on the stage floor before the band exited triumphantly to great applause.

The crowd waited patiently for the stage to be reset and soon enough the house lights went down, the stage lights flashed in anticipation and the smoke machine went into overdrive. The members of Jebediah filed onto the stage quietly as the opening pre-recorded strains of eerie clunking and the disembodied voice of lead singer, Kevin Mitchell, intoning Kosciuszko filled the air.

The band opened the set with Lost My Nerve, with Mitchell greeting the crowd at its conclusion, thanking them for coming along to see them play. This was quickly followed up by Control which got the crowd up and going. In the first of a few political references during the night, Mitchell dedicated It’s Over, with a resounding “F**k you!” to Tony Abbott. Old favourite Puck Defender whipped the crowd into a frenzy, with Mitchell climbing onto the stage side of the safety fence to wow the crowd with his playing, guitar held high. Keeping the momentum going with a few more new songs, the band powered through the catchy Under Your Bed and the equally satisfying High (Horse).

Switching it up, Mitchell introduced a few of the more ‘ye olde’ songs from the band’s repertoire, telling the crowd that they felt very lucky as a band to have had so much support over the last 16 years. The band played Please Leave, with Mitchell encouraging the crowd to sing along, before launching into perennial favourite Harpoon, Mitchell emphasising the chorus by miming being shot through the heart.

Mixing old and new, the band swung into To Your Door, with bassist Vanessa Thornton swinging her bass low in characteristic style. The band rocked their way through Fall Down, She’s Like a Comet and the older Benedict before throwing themselves into Animal. The band easily kept the crowd rocking all night and guitarist Chris Daymond did the same, beads of perspiration dripping freely as the night wore on. Finishing the set on a slightly quieter note, Oxygen saw the band leave the stage before the constant cheering from the crowd enticed them all back for an encore.

Mitchell was clearly delighted with the crowd’s response, grinning happily when he resumed his place at the mic, assuring the crowd that “Youse c**ts are alright!” The uncompromising pace of Battle Song highlighted Brett Mitchell’s worth on drums in addition to his duties on backing vocals. For long time fans, the final two songs of the night, Leaving Home and Jerks of Attention, offered a satisfyingly nostalgic nod to the band’s phenomenal emergence onto the scene in the 1990s, with neither song having lost any impact since that time.

Before leaving the Canberra crowd happy but still wanting more, Mitchell offered a nod of thanks to the band’s support acts, proclaiming in Jerks of Attention that he had Violent Soho and Young Revelry on his stereo. After their performances warming up for Jebediah, no doubt a few more Canberrans will too.