Asomvel missing out tonight (get well soon to them) means Avalanche get a longer set. The Sydney mob haven’t come all this way not to grab Birmingham by the throat, and from the minute they arrive it’s obvious they’re here for nothing but a good time… as the song goes.
“Bottle of Sin” seems to be some sort of anthem for them, and with the extra time they’re happy to flesh it all out properly — including a cover of Men At Work’s “Down Under”. Look, my views on pop songs getting rock covers are well known and don’t need to be discussed again.
Before “Armed to the Teeth”, they play “Back to Fuckwit City” — the first song they ever wrote together — which they claim is “juvenile but fun,” and really… that’s sort of the raison d’être of the band. Their recently released album “Armed to the Teeth” is exactly that: good-time, up-the-pub rock’n’roll. It’s a grin, a riff, and a pint raised to the ceiling. Even the title track is built like a mission statement, and when they sing “Dad I Joined a Rock’n’Roll Band,” you can only pity the poor neighbours who had to listen to them rehearsing.
It must be something else for them to come across the other side of the world and find a room like this waiting for them. “Down for the Count” and “Ride or Die” prove it won’t be the last time Birmingham sees them either. The Airbourne comparisons won’t go away — but Avalanche are here to stay.
Speaking of here to stay… Airbourne walk on and, really, they haven’t changed a bit. They first came here in ’08 and they still play like they’ve got something to prove. They open with a new song, “Gutsy” — the title track from an album due in the summer — but from there it’s straight down to the good times, the stripped-back rock’n’roll, and the sort of sweat-and-heat energy that made “Runnin’ Wild” such a landmark debut in the first place.
There are plenty of highlights — “Fat City” being one of them — but it’s something Joel O’Keeffe says before “Hungry” that reminds you just how important this band is. Not just to them, but to us as well.
He talks about going around the world, about playing to two people… then three… then four. About putting the trailer on the back of the van. About the graft. And if you’re in a band, he says, never ever forget that you must stay hungry. It’s a proper moment — because watching the energy they pour into everything here, it’s exactly how they’ve always done things, and it’s probably how they always will.
Of course, the madness is still part of the ritual too. During “Raise the Flag” he still goes for his wander — crowd-surfing on the shoulders of a roadie, cracking a beer on his head like he always has, like he always did, like he probably always will. The whole band still does the synchronised guitar swinging (loudly and proudly) on “Cheap Wine & Cheaper Women,” because why wouldn’t you?
There’s another new one in “Alive After Death” — typical Airbourne, but also really, really good — and then it’s straight into the classics. “Diamond in the Rough” isn’t fooling anyone and is still as filthy as it ever was. “Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast” practically insists you get your fists up in the air and join in. “Breakin’ Outta Hell” hits like a bar fight set to music.
Then Ryan O’Keeffe plays the air-raid siren, and out they come for “Live It Up”.
And after that? Encore madness. Joel’s atop the speakers, playing the riff to “Ready to Rock” — and quite frankly Airbourne always seem ready to rock. Then “Runnin’ Wild”, because it’s probably one of the only hard rock songs that can genuinely spark a circle pit… and Airbourne still do it like it’s nothing.
It’s all summed up in the last words Joel O’Keeffe throws out, a force of nature somewhere between the Tasmanian Devil and a cartoon rock frontman — shirtless, sweating, and launching beers into the crowd so anyone who’s on the shoulders of anyone else gets drenched. He looks out and says: as long as we’re still alive and you’re still alive, rock’n’roll will never die.
And that is the essence. That’s what has always driven Airbourne and makes them one of the finest live bands you will ever see.
