Jet Are Reborn!

Remember the other week I was going to tell you about the band that had sold a heap of records and were playing a small gig on the QT? I forgot to do it! Ha! We’ll laugh about it later, trust me.

Anyway, the band was Jet and they played a gig to die-hard fans on Wednesday night at The East Brunswick Club in Melbourne. I hosted trivia there on the Tuesday and the band were rehearsing.

THINGS OF NOTE

&middot They were happily drinking at the bar earlier on in the evening, according to certain trivia punters.
&middot They looked very fashionable, with lead singer Nic Cester sporting a fetching denim jacket and scarf combination.
&middot Numerous people assured me the new stuff sounded “really different” and also, “awesome”.

And now, to The Age for a proper review of something even better than sound check – the gig itself!

They are surely the biggest unsigned band in Australia right now. And after more than 15 months’ absence from the stage, on Wednesday night in front of a packed room of die-hard fans, family and friends, Melbourne’s biggest rock exports of the past decade made their return.

The gig at the East Brunswick Club was significant for an act now deemed to be at something of a musical crossroads.

On Wednesday, they roadtested five new songs in a set that also contained most of their biggest hits and reminded fans of what made them so popular in the first place. It was an emphatic start to the third phase in the band’s life.

The best of the new songs came in the encore. The unnamed track was a straight-ahead rock gem and had the band’s rhythm section lurching assuredly.

Another sanguine new song earlier in the set tellingly appeared to be something of a farewell to living in America, with a “goodbye to Hollywood” lyric.

There was some fist pumping during the night!

As the group returned to the stage for the first encore, bassist Mark Wilson appeared both relieved and enthused by the crowd’s reaction. He grinned widely and pumped his fists.

Defamer Australia fact! Your Editor once came second in a beer skolling competition to Mark. Dude can chug down a can of Melbourne Bitter like no one’s business. That’s all I can really recall from the experience.

In conclusion, reviewer Andrew Murfett says:

There are no further Melbourne dates scheduled in the next few months. The band are eager to build some anticipation around both the new album and their live show. In that regard, Wednesday night’s show served its purpose.

And there you have it. Sorry I forgot to, you know, tell you about the show well in advance. I had Ladyhawke on the brain.

MORE: Reborn Jet remind fans they’ve still got it