The Rubens @ HQ Complex, Adelaide 30/11/2018
Music lovers have been spoilt for choice over the last couple of weeks with so many awesome acts hitting town. That continued with The Rubens who have had a massive year supporting Pink on her all conquering Australian tour and releasing their album Lo La Ru which is an absolute beauty. Having seen The Rubens play several times now over the last couple of years there’s no question they have grown in stature proving to be one of Australia’s finest going around at the minute.
The production had been really stepped up on this tour taking full advantage of the lighting capabilities in HQ. It was an excitable Friday night crowd that made plenty of noise as the band took to the stage opening with Go On from Lo La Ru. Lead vocalist and guitarist Sammuel Margin acknowledged it had been a while since they had played their own show here and was excited to be back. The Best We Got was brilliant and so to was Casper. With a set loaded with great songs there wasn’t the need for a lot of banter with the crowd with Hold Me Back and Cut Me Loose from Hoops proving popular. Sammuel said that he was going to jump out in to the crowd and say hi and that he did, even going up on one of the balconies watching everyone having a good time and even grabbing a sip of beer from one of the fans on his way back to the stage. Gold! The band really did feed off the energy of the crowd which Sammuel said “you seem loud and up for a big Friday night!”
Their debut album has not been forgotten with the likes of Elvis and My Gun getting a run. It isn’t until you hear songs from Lo La Ru when you can fully appreciate how good this album is. God Forgot, Freakout and I Know were gold. Taking the focus off their songs there was a cover featuring Chance The Rapper’s Same Drugs offering a contrast for a brief moment. The big guns came out with Hallelujah, Never Ever (interestingly featuring a male vocalist in Ollie English this time) and Hoops. There was no way The Rubens would be leaving Adelaide without playing Million Man which closed out a solid night of entertainment preceded by Sammuel going solo on Lay It Down. No doubt we will be looking on with keen interest to see what’s next for The Rubens in 2019.
Live Review by Rob Lyon