As regular as clockwork, Airbourne released their fifth album, three years on from the last and it offered another slice of Airbourne. So it was another dose of worshipping at the altar of AC/DC and just like every other album they’ve released, it’s time for them to tour the balls off it. Which, if you look at the UK tour, is exactly what they intend to do.
Of course, there’s the small matter of the s and as the Barrowlands begins to fill, Cellar Door Moon Crow unashamedly walk on-stage to “Back in Black”. The two-piece smash out their set and it’s hard to figure out what the hell you’ve just seen. A mix of The White Stripes and Beastie Boys with a hint of Cypress Hill, it’s the most left-field choice you could have a band like Airbourne. That said, they’re as tight as can be and as individuals, they’re great musicians. While rock doesn’t need to always be the straightforward fare, it should challenge your perception of what rock can be. And that’s what they strive to do. With grungy and bluesy guitar tones, it’s still very much within the rock camp. It definitely feels like they’ve made a few fans tonight and they’re able to warm the crowd up, especially for what comes next.
Taking things in a more Southern direction, Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown arrive and kill the momentum built by Cellar Door Moon Crow stone dead. Again, it’s another left-field choice to Airbourne but here, it simply doesn’t work, something which the band notices immediately. It’s simply a set from a band going through the motions, none of them coming together to play a song – they just play their individual parts. Nothing from their set shines out – mainly because every song sounds exactly the same. As a band, they lack substance, there’s no real chemistry between the musicians and the entire set is a slog to get through.
Following their traditional intro tape of the Terminator 2 theme, Airbourne explode onto the stage with the fist-pumping “Raise the Flag”. And that’s exactly what you can call the show – traditional. It’s beat for beat your standard Airbourne show and that’s no bad thing. You know exactly what you’re getting going into it, they know exactly what the crowd are expecting. Who are they to deny us it? They’re far less heavy-handed on new album Boneshaker compared to their run in of Breakin’ Out of Hell, with only a trio of songs featured in the form of “Burnout the Nitro”, “Backseat Boogie” and the title track.
Elsewhere, there’s the usual songs you can expect from an Airbourne set like “Girls in Black” and “Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast” alongside newer numbers like “Breakin’ Out of Hell” and “It’s All For Rock ‘n’ Roll”. There’s also the usual fare of Joel O’Keefe venturing into the crowd atop a roadie’s shoulders, smashing beer cans over his head and climbing on any surface he can. And while it might seem like they’re not deviating from the formula, at this point, would you really want them to? Moreover, they’re that damn good at it that it doesn’t seem tired or rehearsed, it’s simply part of the show.
As the riffs fly thick and fast, it’s obvious they’re as tight a band as they’ve ever been but if there is one thing which sours the experience is the constant extension of songs and means the main set consists of eleven songs when they could easily fire in a lot more and still have fun and extend a song or two. So once “Live it Up” and “Stand Up For Rock ‘n’ Roll” close out the main set, it’s clear what’s left in the tank but there could have been so much more. It is indeed “Ready to Rock” and “Runnin’ Wild” which bring the evening to an end as tradition dictates.
The DNA of an Airbourne show has never changed and shows no signs of doing so. But do we really want it to? Other than delving further into the back catalogue and indulging in some more songs rather than a baker’s dozen over the space of ninety minutes (and let’s not forget that most Airbourne songs don’t go over the four-minute mark), they could bring in some more numbers when they’ve got some absolute gems in their arsenal. Still, it’s Airbourne and regardless of what they do, they entertain.
Photos by Sean Larkin
