Photo: Jade Lake

Rocking out on a Monday night is always going to feel a little weird, like you’re cheating on the weekend, but while waiting in line outside the Tivoli with a few pre-gig brews under my belt, I resolve myself to the moment. What Saturday doesn’t know can’t hurt her. Or him.

67 Special are tonight’s openers, the early crowd enjoying their thick, straight-up-and-down rock. The Melbourne outfit is well-suited to the support spot, their stop-start guitar drawls and raw vocal stylings inspire many a nodding head.

Kiwi five-piece The Checks are up next, their blues-rock beats drawing the crowd to the barrier. Fashionably emaciated vocalist Ed Knowles bounces around the stage with the enthusiasm of an over-hyped puppy, his energetic fist pumps geeing-up the audience. Despite occasionally sounding a little flat, The Checks deserve attention from howling opener Hunting Whales right through to closer Mercedes Children, and I’m happy to give it. Lengthy set changes bum me out, and the long interval turns my anticipation first to anxiety, and then to boredom.

When Jet do finally grace the stage, frontman Nic Cester thankfully wastes little time and tears into the short, sweet That’s All Lies from their sophomore release Shine On. Up next is Last Chance, during which Cester makes the first of many forays into the crowd, wandering up the stairs off stage-right - security guard obediently in tow. When the music slows down, the lighters come out, and while annoyingly predictable, at least no one is holding their phone aloft. Nic and Chris Cester perform a touching rendition of Move On, before moving into the similarly paced All the King’s Horses and Look What You’ve Done. The once-ubiquitous Are You Gonna Be My Girl still gets those feet stamping and Jet are more than happy to play their cash-cow. Cold Hard Bitch is another highlight, and everyone around me seems to enjoy yelling ‘bitch’ at both the appropriate and inappropriate moments. They cheekily close with Get Me Outta Here, before, of course, returning for an encore featuring an acoustic solo of Shine On as well as the ace (missing from their regular set) Rollover DJ.

SEBASTIAN HAYES

Be first to comment on this article

Write Comment
Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*