Rockstar Supernova drew a small but committed crowd to the Riverstage on Saturday night.

For those that don’t have pay tv or don’t follow reality tv, Rockstar Supernova was an idol-type show for metal fans. Big names of metal got together and formed a kind of super band. They then opened the position of lead singer up to the general public. By the final episode, the band was comprised of Tommy Lee on drums, Gilby Clarke on lead guitar, Jason Newstead on bass guitar and Lukas Rossi as lead singer. Newstead was unable to make the tour and was replaced by Black Crowes bass man Johnny Colt.

The evening kicked off with Juke Kartel. The frontman of Juke, Toby Rand, was originally in the Rockstar Supernova. After placing third on the reality show, he was asked to join the tour as a support act for the Australian gigs.

Juke played a seamless support set with a handful of original songs mixed with a handful of covers. They finished the set with their well known hit Throw it Away.

Rockstar Supernova made a huge impression on the audience with a mix of both covers and originals. One of the original song highlights was definitely Headspin, which is a song that could end up with quite a bit of radio play.

The boys covered The Verve’s smash hit Bitter Sweet Symphony, complete with their own string section. They also covered Manson’s Personal Jesus and Don Henley’s Boys of Summer.

The highlight of the gig wasn’t the music, which was pretty damn good in it’s own right. The light display that went along was stunning. Towards the end, confetti and streamers were blasted from the roof, turning the stage into one big party.

There is something surreal about seeing someone like Tommy Lee in the flesh. As freaky as he may be, the man certainly has talent. He made even the most complicated solos look effortless and frequently jumped up and played the keyboards before running back to the drums. Dressed only in a pair of denim cut offs, he climbed out from behind the drums to have a chat with the audience, introducing the band and even sharing his beer.

The music was amazing and exactly the standard you would expect from rockers of such experience. It was a shame that the line up didn’t draw a larger crowd, and overall, it was an effin good show.