Bluejuice, Deep Sea Arcade, The Preachers @ University of QLD Red Room (23/08/12)
I was surprised when I saw Bluejuice were still playing at the local university bar on this tour. But with one of this country’s fastest rising indie bands in Deep Sea Arcade as support, this had the potential to be a great night of music.
The Preachers opened up proceedings with their blend of alternative, indie and country rock. It was an interesting set t being with, involving vocal duties being traded by the male and female singers. However, the Sydney five piece failed to hold the crowd’s attention towards the latter part of their set with the band fighting to be heard over the loud chatter.
Another Sydney five piece were the next to take the stage, but this time Deep Sea Arcade immediately drew in the crowd from opener Seen No Right. Unfortunately they had a problem with their kick drum and left the stage for ten minutes whilst it was fixed. But they soon returned and immediately recaptured the audience’s imagination with a plethora of singles and sure-fire future hits including Steam, Girls and Granite City. Front man Nic McKenzie prowled the stage, captivating the audience in a swagger of a similar fashion to Liam Gallagher or Justin Young from The Vaccines. The rest of the band was tight and edgy but the real thing that stands out is that this is a band with attitude and a brilliant debut album to back it up with. Finishing with Keep on Walking, they left the stage having won over a lot of new fans.
The crowd and their excitement seemed to swell two-fold in the break between bands. Bluejuice took the stage bathed in vast amount of fluro, not only on themselves, but covering every instrument and almost every part of the stage. Having a talented backing band with members from Hungry Kids of Hungary and Sparkadia, dual vocalists Jake and Stav bounded on the stage, also seemingly full of excitement.
New songs such as the piano-laden Can’t Keep Up and upbeat catchy The Recession fit well into the first half of the set but didn’t get the crowd going nearly much as long time hits such as the massive sing-along that is Vitriol. Unfortunately towards the middle of the set the hits stopped and the vastly weaker album tracks took over. Whilst glow sticks were thrown to the crowd and some hilarious banter took place between songs, the crowd’s attention was starting to waver. Which begs the question, with only a few well-known hits and a mildly visually engaging stage set, perhaps to hide that fact, do Bluejuice have the dedicated following that is needed in this industry to ensure their longevity?
Songs such as Work and Act Yr Age re-gain the crowd’s attention momentarily for one last short-lived mosh pit, but unfortunately the show ends up being a set barely lasting an hour that fails to transfix the audience for the full length, bar a few hard core fans in the front row. Three albums in and still playing a university bar on a Thursday night to an audience of teenagers more interested in getting overly-drunk, I’m sure this was not where this band envisioned themselves after having the massive breakout hit of Broken Leg a few years ago, a song which still remains the set closer. Whilst they still put on a mildly enjoyable show, I think their next album will tell whether Bluejuice will ensure their place as Australian music scene mainstays, or continue to be relegated to festival side-stages and university tours.
Sebastian Betten
The Preachers opened up proceedings with their blend of alternative, indie and country rock. It was an interesting set t being with, involving vocal duties being traded by the male and female singers. However, the Sydney five piece failed to hold the crowd’s attention towards the latter part of their set with the band fighting to be heard over the loud chatter.
Another Sydney five piece were the next to take the stage, but this time Deep Sea Arcade immediately drew in the crowd from opener Seen No Right. Unfortunately they had a problem with their kick drum and left the stage for ten minutes whilst it was fixed. But they soon returned and immediately recaptured the audience’s imagination with a plethora of singles and sure-fire future hits including Steam, Girls and Granite City. Front man Nic McKenzie prowled the stage, captivating the audience in a swagger of a similar fashion to Liam Gallagher or Justin Young from The Vaccines. The rest of the band was tight and edgy but the real thing that stands out is that this is a band with attitude and a brilliant debut album to back it up with. Finishing with Keep on Walking, they left the stage having won over a lot of new fans.
The crowd and their excitement seemed to swell two-fold in the break between bands. Bluejuice took the stage bathed in vast amount of fluro, not only on themselves, but covering every instrument and almost every part of the stage. Having a talented backing band with members from Hungry Kids of Hungary and Sparkadia, dual vocalists Jake and Stav bounded on the stage, also seemingly full of excitement.
New songs such as the piano-laden Can’t Keep Up and upbeat catchy The Recession fit well into the first half of the set but didn’t get the crowd going nearly much as long time hits such as the massive sing-along that is Vitriol. Unfortunately towards the middle of the set the hits stopped and the vastly weaker album tracks took over. Whilst glow sticks were thrown to the crowd and some hilarious banter took place between songs, the crowd’s attention was starting to waver. Which begs the question, with only a few well-known hits and a mildly visually engaging stage set, perhaps to hide that fact, do Bluejuice have the dedicated following that is needed in this industry to ensure their longevity?
Songs such as Work and Act Yr Age re-gain the crowd’s attention momentarily for one last short-lived mosh pit, but unfortunately the show ends up being a set barely lasting an hour that fails to transfix the audience for the full length, bar a few hard core fans in the front row. Three albums in and still playing a university bar on a Thursday night to an audience of teenagers more interested in getting overly-drunk, I’m sure this was not where this band envisioned themselves after having the massive breakout hit of Broken Leg a few years ago, a song which still remains the set closer. Whilst they still put on a mildly enjoyable show, I think their next album will tell whether Bluejuice will ensure their place as Australian music scene mainstays, or continue to be relegated to festival side-stages and university tours.
Sebastian Betten