Jebediah, River of Snakes, Valentiine @ The Corner Hotel, Melbourne (05/05/2011)
Having reformed last year after a four year hiatus as Kevin Mitchell worked under the alias Bob Evans, and later with the Basement Birds, the Kosciuszko Album Tour was a fitting relaunch for the well loved Jebediah. The show was the opening show of the tour and we Melbournians were very lucky to have had such an honour of opening night.
The night got off to a slow and shaky start, Valentiine opened but did not mesh well with River of Snakes or Jebediah. Their grunge rock was undercooked, had unintelligible lyrics, thick textures and barely a trace of a melody above the bass and drums. This did not whet the appetite for what was to come, and saw punters either leaving the band room or milling around the back until their set was over.
River of Snakes, the second support act were a welcome improvement as the main support act. Violent Soho were supposed to be the number one support but sadly vocalist Luke Boerdam was struck down by the flu. Jumping in at the last minute, Raul Sanchez from Magic Dirt's new band River of Snakes were a great replacement. River of Snakes is his new side project who released their debut 7″ single ‘Hole In The Night / Wrecking Ball’ in November last year, and are busy recording a follow up. Their brand of alternative high power punk rock is definitely something you need to get along to see and was well received by the crowd. Highlights of the set were Sex Shark a rocking instrumental heavy with feedback and great interplay between Raul (guitar/ vocals) and Elissa Rose (Bass/ vocals), Bad Blood, with a The Doors-esque stripped back feel, Rebel Girl (a Bikini Kill cover) an onslaught of frantic drums and killer guitar riffs which ring distinctly of Raul’s Magic Dirt roots.
Jebediah gave a hearty one hour set with a half hour encore to a packed to bursting Corner Hotel, at least 90% of which seemed to be die hard fans who had (unlike me) not jumped on the post 2010-Jebediah-relaunch-bandwagon. Consequently the average age of punters would have been teetering around the early 30’s all of whom were happy to shed a decade to enjoy the long missed Jebediah. This was I am embarrassed to say, the first time I have seen Jebediah headline and I wish I’d started seeing them live years ago. There was an utter roar from the crowd as the band made their way onto the stage, and all four members genuinely looked like they were pleased to be back at the Corner after a ten year absence.
Jebediah opened with the ultra grungy fast paced Lost My Nerve, their first single-post relaunch, and the second track on Kosciuszko. Control came next and is even better live than it is on the album, it was plain to see that the chemistry between the band was as strong as ever with some great interplay between Kev, Vanessa (bass) and Chris (guitar). The set was a great mix of tracks from Kosciusko peppered with songs from their previous albums, or as Kev put “delving into [their] dubious back catalogue” with songs like Please Leave which pleased old and new fans alike and Fall Down another oldie but a goodie which was the crowd favourite from Jeb’s older albums. For me the favourites of the night from Kosciusko were the short but punchy Under Your Bed, the irresistibly feel good tune She’s Like a Comet, and the slightly quieter and more reflective Oxygen which finished the set.
As the band left the stage it was evident that the crowd wanted more, and weren’t going any where till they’d had their fill of Jebediah. After a few minutes of letting the crowd stew they returned to rapturous applause and hooting, to play a five song encore leaving some of the best till last from their earlier albums including possibly my favourite Jebediah song, the rompastic Leaving Home (the song that launched their career) and the classic and heartfelt Harpoon which saw lighters and iPhones being raised above heads and closed a deliriously good night.
Jillian McEwan
The night got off to a slow and shaky start, Valentiine opened but did not mesh well with River of Snakes or Jebediah. Their grunge rock was undercooked, had unintelligible lyrics, thick textures and barely a trace of a melody above the bass and drums. This did not whet the appetite for what was to come, and saw punters either leaving the band room or milling around the back until their set was over.
River of Snakes, the second support act were a welcome improvement as the main support act. Violent Soho were supposed to be the number one support but sadly vocalist Luke Boerdam was struck down by the flu. Jumping in at the last minute, Raul Sanchez from Magic Dirt's new band River of Snakes were a great replacement. River of Snakes is his new side project who released their debut 7″ single ‘Hole In The Night / Wrecking Ball’ in November last year, and are busy recording a follow up. Their brand of alternative high power punk rock is definitely something you need to get along to see and was well received by the crowd. Highlights of the set were Sex Shark a rocking instrumental heavy with feedback and great interplay between Raul (guitar/ vocals) and Elissa Rose (Bass/ vocals), Bad Blood, with a The Doors-esque stripped back feel, Rebel Girl (a Bikini Kill cover) an onslaught of frantic drums and killer guitar riffs which ring distinctly of Raul’s Magic Dirt roots.
Jebediah gave a hearty one hour set with a half hour encore to a packed to bursting Corner Hotel, at least 90% of which seemed to be die hard fans who had (unlike me) not jumped on the post 2010-Jebediah-relaunch-bandwagon. Consequently the average age of punters would have been teetering around the early 30’s all of whom were happy to shed a decade to enjoy the long missed Jebediah. This was I am embarrassed to say, the first time I have seen Jebediah headline and I wish I’d started seeing them live years ago. There was an utter roar from the crowd as the band made their way onto the stage, and all four members genuinely looked like they were pleased to be back at the Corner after a ten year absence.
Jebediah opened with the ultra grungy fast paced Lost My Nerve, their first single-post relaunch, and the second track on Kosciuszko. Control came next and is even better live than it is on the album, it was plain to see that the chemistry between the band was as strong as ever with some great interplay between Kev, Vanessa (bass) and Chris (guitar). The set was a great mix of tracks from Kosciusko peppered with songs from their previous albums, or as Kev put “delving into [their] dubious back catalogue” with songs like Please Leave which pleased old and new fans alike and Fall Down another oldie but a goodie which was the crowd favourite from Jeb’s older albums. For me the favourites of the night from Kosciusko were the short but punchy Under Your Bed, the irresistibly feel good tune She’s Like a Comet, and the slightly quieter and more reflective Oxygen which finished the set.
As the band left the stage it was evident that the crowd wanted more, and weren’t going any where till they’d had their fill of Jebediah. After a few minutes of letting the crowd stew they returned to rapturous applause and hooting, to play a five song encore leaving some of the best till last from their earlier albums including possibly my favourite Jebediah song, the rompastic Leaving Home (the song that launched their career) and the classic and heartfelt Harpoon which saw lighters and iPhones being raised above heads and closed a deliriously good night.
Jillian McEwan