w/ Stone Gods
London Astoria
27/11/08
Talk about ‘overnight‘! Earlier this year Australian pub-rockers, Airbourne played and intimate gig at the Borderline Club to only a handful to lucky bastards. After touring with Motorhead and slots at the Wacken Open Air and Hellfest festivals, Airbounre have sky rocketed into the world of main stream rock. Tonight they take London and claim it as their own.
But before Airbourne rocked the Astoria it was time for Blighty’s own, Stone Gods. Personally, I thought they were large bag of toss. Boasting previous members of the Darkness I didn’t expect much. However, the packed Astoria crowd loved these guys. The Stone Gods did show some promise but not enough to put a smile on my face. But what do I know?
Playing their biggest London gig to date, Airbourne finally land at the Astoria for the first show of their two night stint. Kicking off with ‘Stand Up For Rock & Roll‘ the hair begins to whirlwind, bodies begin to fly and beer begins to spill. The band are on fine form tonight delving into their endless supplies of adrenaline to bound around on stage like mad men yet still having enough composure to pull off tracks ‘Hellfire‘ and ‘Diamond In The Rough‘ without a hitch.
The smut stained ‘Girls In Black‘ is fantastic to see live. It had every single red blooded male in the venue singing along and every girl, wearing black, crowd surfing. There is no time to take a breather at an Airbourne show unless it’s to swig a gob full of warm flat lager or grab the nearest chick and get off with her. Known for his onstage set climbing, soloing and copious drinking, front man Joel O’Keeffe doesn’t disappoint tonight. Mid song, he leaps off the stage and runs through the crowd getting pats on the back and doused in beer all the way the back bar at the Astoria. Whilst STILL soloing, Mr.O’Keefe then proceeds to jump over the bar and start throwing beers out at the audience before leaping over the bar again and finally making his way through the heaving crowd in attendance back to the stage before kicking back into the astonishing ‘Runnin’ Wild‘.
Airbourne have an effect on you. They remind you of that time you listened to your first AC/DC record or that feeling you got the first time you heard Judas Priest. They embody that true rock n roll spirit. Finishing tonight with ‘Black Jack’, the band leaves a huge grin on the face of every sweat drenched rocker in attendance.
In the past year or so Airbourne have gone from being just four blokes from Australia who sound a little like AC/DC to a band that is now a well oiled machine, churning out furious rock ‘n’ roll tracks about booze, girls and good times. I will guarantee you; you won’t see a band as energized, charismatic or who rock as hard as Airbourne. You will not get more ‘bang for your buck’ anywhere else. This, ladies and gentleman, is a fact.
Tom Lindsey