1/4/2010 Airbourne @ Hammersmith Odeon

Subject	Airbourne @ Hammersmith Odeon
PostedDate	4/1/2010
	Only feeble quality phone pictures from this gig - I couldn't be bothered to take my camera as I knew if I wanted to get near enough to the front the conditions would be less than ideal for taking pictures. The Black Spiders were supporting Airbourne again and do an excellent job - their heavy stoner style grooves going down well with the capacity crowd. Airbourne have been going from strength to strength in this countly over the last couple of years - their first London gig being at the small Borderline club. Next time in London they sold out the Astoria, now they are heading a sold out Hammersmith Odeon - pretty impressive for only their third time in London. This band's live perfomances are fast becoming the stuff of legend - as anyone who has seen them will attest. They nearly took the roof off when they played at the Astoria - almost saving the demolition crews that raised the famous venue to the ground soon after from doing the job. That was possibly the highest energy performance I've ever seen from any band. Then there was the famous incident at Sonisphere last year when Joel O'Keefe scaled the PA scaffolding in the rain.  So the question is, can they maintain that level of energy and excitement in a much larger indoor venue? The simple answer is yes! It's almost like watching a whole band of Angus Young's.  Even pushing 60 Angus still can't be matched - but these guys aren't far off as far as excitement levels go. This is a band who really throw everything they have into every show. They just explode onto the stage, and for around an hour and a half there is no let up - no slow songs, no acoustic sections, no ballads - just non-stop high voltage rock 'n' roll.  With a freshly released second album in the shops they have plenty more material this time round - probably at least half the songs in tonight's set are new. Like the other Australian band they are frequently compared to - it's more of the same. If you liked the first album you'll like the new one too - the motto "If it ain't broke - don't fix it" has worked well for AC/DC all these years, and now Airbourne continue the same formula. They might not have the same money to spend on props and a big stage show, but that doesn't matter in the slightest - the music can do the talking. There are some strong songs on the new album 'No Guts. No Glory' and Airbourne had a knack for penning anthems with a simple catchy sing (or shout) along chorus like 'Raise The Flag' - another song to the glory of rock 'n' roll. As the saying goes - 'Write about what you know' - hence new songs like 'Back On The Bottle' and 'No Way But The Hard Way'. As far as I'm concerned, this is the gig of the year so far - the benchmark by which all other shows will be judged. Apart from AC/DC, I don't know any other band who can play high powered rock 'n' roll like this for ninety minutes or so without lowering the pace and throwing in a ballad or two. Dynamic frontman Joel doesn't ease off the gas for a minute to relax - instead he just cracks open yet another can of beer - with his head! I lose count of the cans he sends flying through the air into the crowd spraying beer through multiple punctures - mentioning how his country are good at throwing things a long way because of their prowess at cricket, he even manages to land one on the balcony! Not content with merely putting a lot of beer into the crowd, he then goes farther by putting himself into the crowd as well. Stage diving would be too easy - he ventures right out into the crowd with his guitar - still spitting out lead lines via his radio pack. He moves through the fans from one side of the room to the other, then disappears - only to re-appear a minute later on the balcony still playing his guitar. Needless to say, the crowd absolutely loved all this! I think a (surprisingly cheap) ticket to see this lot is about the best value for money you can possibly get at the moment. Airbourne have just set the bar very high indeed.