The Reytons, Molly Rocket, Stormy Lou @ Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide 1/10/2024
When the rest of Australia catches on to The Reytons I have no doubt they will rue the opportunity to see this hot prospect in the intimate surrounds of Lion Arts Factory. This was a dynamite show and you can’t help not being excited about the future for this band. Hailing from Rotherham in South Yorkeshire The Reytons go about it with much gusto and intensity. The back story is a compelling one with full admiration being unsigned and one hundred percent independent. This will be one of those gigs when fans will be saying remember seeing The Reytons at Lion Arts Factory? With confidence, next time they return they will be playing much bigger venues.
Flying the Adelaide flag proudly were openers Stormy Lou followed by Molly Rocket. Both played spirited sets. Stormy Lou have more than proved themselves and they definitely have some killer songs in the kit bag including Impulsivity, Nothing To Me and the Ed Sheeran cover A Team. Molly Rocket continue on their merry way going from strength to strength. Highlights included Asphalt, Kiss You Dead and She’s Cruel.
The energy increased ten fold when The Reytons took the stage and their non-stop energy is highly infectious and captivating. It was a fiercely loyal crowd who were on to one of the world’s best kept music secrets and whilst numbers weren’t what they could have been they more than made up for it in appreciation and raucous noise. Opening salvo Red Smoke was scintilating and that vibe continued on Adrenalize and Let Me Breathe.
Frontman Jonny Yerrell took a moment to catch his breath and commenting that they have never been near this place before having felt like they had been on a plane for a week to get here. Yerrell encouraged the crowd to “go mental”, “get involved” and “Jump around like a knobhead” irrespective of it being a school night then later asking what day of week it was. They wear their influences on their sleeves and whilst they have an uncanny resemblance to other well known band in the genre I would say The Reytons are way, way, way, way better! Seriously good!
Three great albums to their credit and all worthy of being checked out the set list had a good spread across their back catalogue. Harrison Lesser is an absolute fire cracker and the likes of Retro Emporium and Headache are gems in their own right. The crowd were in to it, jumping, dancing and singing along with the band feeding off the energy of the crowd. There is definitely a magical quality with their music that resonates with this crowd. Yerrell and his band mates are full of beans and the way they relate to the crowd is really something to and it seemed as if he knew each one of us individually.
The band appreciated the turn out and there was an overwhelming sense of gratitude and “amazement” that people on the other side of the world are listening to their music given as Yerrell put it “the odds are stacked against you”. Great music will always transcend international borders. A song about home in Market Street was stellar as was 2006 and Cash In Hand & Fake ID’s. By this point the crowd were well and truly warmed up with the band putting it all out there. Essentially, “what you see is what you get”.
The time literally did fly as they ripped through Knees Up, Slice Of Lime and the uber popular On The Back Burner. After Billy Big Bollocks this would have been the point where the band would have left the stage saying “Adelaide, we are The Reytons” to return seconds later for encore opting to maintain the energy and flow of the show by staying on stage. With one last chance for Adelaide to go crazy it was the song that started it all in Kids Off The Estate and bringing it on home with Low Life and Uninvited. Stellar show topped off with the band hanging around after to have drinks and selfies with the fans.
Live Review By Rob Lyon