Bodyjar, Bloodduster @ MetroTheatre 07/10/05

Sun 9th Oct, 2005 in Gig Reviews

Bodyjar have recently released a corker of a new self-titled album and fans have been eager to see the guys back on the live circuit with their tightly-executed and gutsy sound. Touring with metal maniacs Bloodduster might seem an odd choice but their Aussie brand of punk-metal can’t miss.

Unfortunately the Metro was only at 50% capacity for tonight’s performance, and even less when Bloodduster wandered onto the stage. Most people seemed bemused and a little curious as they blasted out some really head-bangingly good tunes. By the end of their jackhammered set the crowd has increased a little and hopefully Bloodduster now have a few more fans. Either way, they’re a good choice for a support act, even if most of the crowd didn’t get into them.

Bodyjar launched into a 20+ song set, featuring a hefty chunk of tunes from the new cd including Outside In, Call To Arms and New Direction. The crowd were adequately interested in the new songs, but were clearly interested in hearing some classics. The opening song Another Minute, the first track off the new cd was followed up with a triple dose of hits – their biggest Not The Same, then a surprising Glossy Books from the Rimshot cd and Running Out Of Time from How It Works. This was a fine move by Bodyjar, they know what their fans want and serve it up sweetly.

The new single, Life Story isn’t out yet but was greeted like an old friend, along with the excellent current single Lights Out. The hits kept coming too, including 17 Years, Is It A Lie and One In A Million. Many of the older songs, including Remote Controller, Windsok and You Say sounded exactly like the album, with the addition of several rapturous fans screaming along.

As the show went on an old-school style mosh pit grew into a sweaty, shirtless man-pit with a couple of guys given plenty of room as they careered around the dance floor. Especially during Hazy Shade Of Winter and Too Drunk To Drive - what a bunch of nuts! Given that many in the crowd were pretty motionless, it was good to see some old-school punk style moshing.

Although Bodyjar appeared to be on auto-pilot for half the night, they still managed to pull it all off with almost no effort at all – they make it look so easy.

Hopefully on their next visit to Sydney they’ll play a smaller venue like the Annandale, instead of a half empty (or half full) Metro, which sucked a little of the energy of the show.The small but energetic crowd did its best to make up for the lack of other fans – where was everyone tonight?