Nic from Jet.
Nic from Jet.
JET
MESS HALL
THE GAELIC CLUB, SURRY HILLS, SYDNEY
FRIDAY, JUNE 18 2003
Friday
night at the Gaelic Club – I arrived around 9.30ish – to a fairly
packed venue. I missed the first band but was looking forward to Mess Hall and
Jet. Both were bands I hadn’t seen live, but I had heard good reports about
and heard limited songs from both on radio I was definitely keen to check them
out. It was to the bar for a couple of quiet drinks while the stage was being
set up for Mess Hall – the sounds of The Stooges Funhouse were blasting
out of the PA and it certainly put me and many others in a good mood.
With little fanfare, Jed and AJ the two members of Mess Hall came to the stage
– AJ on drums and Jed handling guitar and lead vocals. I was curious as
to how this two piece band would sound, especially in a live situation...and
let me tell you THEY ROCK!
Jed elicits some feedback.
Mess
Hall deliver a hard driving rock/blues fusion and they do it very well. AJ’s
drumming propels the band with tight beats while Jed’s guitar and slide
fills out the sound – the boy also has a great set of lungs. I don’t
know the names of any of their songs with the exception of Lock and Load but
I was very impressed by these guys and highly recommend anyone with a taste
for hard rocking guitar blues to check them out.
Once Mess Hall left the stage the stage the crowd seemed to really swell. I
was keen to see if Jet could live up to all the hype: the stories from the UK
music press about them being the next big thing, the multi-million dollar recording
deals...all for a band who haven’t released an album and have only been
around for a very short time.
To warm applause
Jet came on stage and opened up with the acoustic "Move On", featuring
Cris handling lead vocals, Nic with an acoustic guitar in hand, Mark on harmonica
and Cameron brandishing a Gibson Flying V. After blowing out the cobwebs with
this song, Mark ditched the harmonica for his bass and Cris headed for his drum
kit. The band then got into the sassy rocking "Cold Hard Bitch". From
there, the set list then consisted of "Get What You Need", "Get
Me Outta Here", "Hey Kids", "Come 'Round Again", "The
Radio Song", "Roll Over DJ", "Last Chance", "Are
You Gonna Be My Girl", "Take It Or Leave It" and then a closing
cover of Elvis’s "That’s Alright".
Highlights for me from the set were "Cold Hard Bitch", "Last
Chance" and a rocking "Take It Or Leave It". My impression of
Jet was some sort of amalgam between The Stones sassiness combined with the
aloofness of Oasis – no wonder they are current darlings of the UK press.
Jet aren’t doing anything new – but they have some great songs and
they play damned well. Do they live up to the hype? I guess they do and good
luck to them. - Richard Sharman
