The Skids @ The Gov, Adelaide 10/5/2024
Believe it or not, after forty five years iconic Scottish punks The Skids made it to Adelaide to play all the hits and more at The Gov. It may have been a modest sized crowd but they more than made up for it with energy and noise. The way that The Skids attacked their set seemed as if they were playing in front of twenty thousand people. Richard Jobson is The Skids, his band are elite players, and his energy and the way that he engages the crowd is top shelf and his voice is as strong and powerful as ever.
Right from taking the first step on stage The Skids barnstormed their way through Charade and with Jobson let off the hook he was full of beans saying “it’s taken forty five years to get here, c’mon let’s go Adelaide” ripping through Of One Skin. Jobson said that being on stage he felt sixteen again but two songs he said he felt “fucked” at this point. Adding that they had to no choice but to come to Australia and that they would not be here if it wasn’t for Green Day and U2 covering their iconic hit The Saints Are Coming, which they played next. Jokingly he said that this was his youngest crowd spotting a fifty five year old towards the back.
Jobson is quite the performer, his music stands tall, and it is the stories and jokes that were intertwined with the set list that keep it entertaining. Working for the Yankee Dollar took on greater meaning now than ever before and the Leo Sayer stories were aplenty and that Jobson blames him for “everything” and so much so that he is in his “fucking head” having being pipped to number one. In a touch of irony their new album Destination Düsseldorf did go number one and that title track was played.
Using the stories to get his breath back Jobson referred to fan in Glasgow who yelled out why do you talk so much was a well positioned prompter for no one to ask the same question. The show was just as much a tribute to Stuart Adamson (passed away in 2001) who was very much an integral part of The Skids until he left the band to head with fame with Big Country. Circus Games was the last song written with Adamson which was followed by a song that Jobson was desperate to sing with sea shanty Bound For South Australia. I don’t think anyone was expecting that. Hurry On Boys, A Woman In Winter followed then Jobson described TV Stars as the worst song he had ever written. The crowd loved and sung with plenty of voice.
There was a homage to their heroes The Clash playing Complete Control. Masquerade was great as was the big sing-a-long on Into The Valley. Suggesting this was the point where they would normally stop but felt enthusiastic enough to keep going finishing the main set on The Olympian. Returning for an encore Jobson said that it was great to be pretending to be sixteen again talking about the song Charles on their first album which was one song out of twenty five “that weren’t shit” and only having enough money for one hour of recording time. The encore finished with Here We Go Again which morphed in to Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side leaving Adelaide with another rousing rendition of sea shanty Bound For South Australia. Great show and another to tick off the bucket list.
Live Review By Rob Lyon