The Jezabels @ HQ, Adelaide(03/11/2011)

Mon 7th Nov, 2011 in Gig Reviews

The Jezabels and Canadian tour buddies Hey Rosetta threw a fantastic shindig for their Adelaide fans on the former’s biggest headline gig here to date.

Hey Rosetta are an interesting band, and on the night were somewhat hard to pin down. They had some songs in the vein of a pop rock band, but then ended up sounding something like a contemporary baroque pop outfit. Rather than relying on clear cut hooks, they offered a variety of blended sounds, although the live cellist and violonist initially drowned out a little in the mix. Eventually, the sound guy made it work, but the timbre and the booming volume of the drummer’s kick drum was a little overbearing for much of the set, which was a pity. Regardless, the earnest, heartfelt and impassioned vocals and the softer moments with the strings and guitars really engaged the crowd and the up tempo mix later in the set really got the audience going. The cameo by opening act Alpine was fantastic, and the use of lighting to change transitions made a massive difference. It would be great to see them if they had a decent mix and a dedicated sound guy.

With a stadium-rock like show, The Jezabels have well and truly made their mark and definitively arrived as one of Australia’s premier acts, if last night’s performance was anything to go by. Frontwoman Hayley Mary has deliberately molded herself into a ‘rockstar’, swaying and swinging her way around the stage with natural ease. She even had the cliche jacket/hoody removal etc down pat. The band’s use of silhouetted lighting was also visually spectacular and the confident stage behaviour of guitarist Sam Lockwood shows that this is an act that has spent time honing their ‘game’ for the big arena. You could be forgiven for dismissing The Jezabels as a typical commercial rock band given their recent transformations. Yet Mary’s emotive vocals are loaded with a very real passion. Sonically, in a unique arrangement, the band frequently used low tom beats while Heather Shannon used the lower end of the piano in place of a convention bassist. The result is a thunderous, hollowed out, but strangely resonant sound which results in a huge, epic dark rock sound.

The act wisely dispersed their hits throughout the performance with Endless Summer coming in two songs in, while and Easy to Love and the driving hit Hurt Me coming later in the piece. The sheer number of songs with hooks is demonstrative of an act with plenty of talent and a real vision. With the number of indie and alternative rock acts around the traps, it’s good to see a band stand up without fear of shedding any indie or underground pretensions and make a bold statement for solid, credible rock music in Australia.