Jet, Pacific Avenue @ Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide 23/9/2023
Wow! This was an incredible gig last night at Hindley Street Music Hall with Jet who are celebrating their twentieth anniversary playing their landmark album Get Born in full and supported by Pacific Avenue who are band on the rise. It was a really good Saturday night vibe with the venue packed early and I’m pretty sure without a shadow of a doubt that it was a full house.
Pacific Avenue opened proceedings and it was a bold statement of intent with their walk out music being Thin Lizzy’s The Boys Are Back In Town. Front man Harry O’Brien spoke of being influenced by the band they were supporting and that it was a surreal experience.
There wasn’t a heap of time for them to engage with the crowd making every minute count right from first drop with their single Spin Me Like Your Records. Their debut album is great and they have plenty in front of them with their brand of alt-rock. Big ticks for Modern Lovers, Strawberry Daydream and Devotion. The crowd did go nuts for the cover version of ABBA’s Dancing Queen finishing on Leaving For London and Something Good.
Jet hit the stage at nine o’clock and by that stage the crowd were quite excitable and even the band at times looked quite surprised by the reaction. This would be right up there with the best I’ve seen them play and I think Hindley Street Music Hall really did suit their sound. Jet started in barnstorming fashion with Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, She’s A Genius and Black Hearts (On Fire). Front man Nic Cester took a moment to reflect on twenty years and writing a bunch of songs that would become Get Born and change their lives forever. It was unfortunate that Chris Cester could not join the celebrations but I’m sure he was there in spirit.
It isn’t until you hear Get Born played from start to end that you can full appreciate how this album was ahead of its time. It is jam packed full of great tunes. Last Chance got things rolling and the vibe was electric on Are You Gonna Be My Girl? How many houses did that song alone buy the band? Judging by the reaction that song resonates as strongly now as it did when it was released. Rollover D.J. was stellar and it was amusing that when the band started Look What You’ve Done that Nic had to remind the crowd that he was the singer and that it breaks his heart that Adelaide sung it better than Melbourne. Jet powered their way through Get What You Need and the Rolling Stones fused Move On was a huge highlight for me.
Nic asked the crowd “what’s the vibe?” and he thought it was “fucking good”. Radio Song, Get Me Outta Here, Cold Hard Bitch, Come Round Again, Take It Or Leave, Lazy Gun and Timothy were all great moments from Get Born and the crowd knew all the words singing it back to them with much gusto. The atmosphere was fantastic and how could the band not return for an encore? Well they did starting with Nic playing Shine On acoustic followed by new tune Little Fish which was a pleasant surprise. With the show coming to a close there were a few more to come with Seventeen, Bring It On Back and finishing on the rocking Rip It Up. Fingers crossed that there is more to come for this much loved Aussie band.
Live Review By Rob Lyon