After the previous nights show at The Tivoli in Brisbane, Eagles of Death Metal played Luna Park’s Big Top in Sydney.
The show of which was significantly larger scale in Sydney, with a much friendlier crowd and more music-orientated punters which made the show far more enjoyable. The show opening at 7, my boyfriend, his mate and myself were lucky enough to find cheap flights to Sydney to catch another show.
I cannot say it enough, but this band has the charisma, the style and the sound that is impossible to tire of. Their impressive techniques, paired with their cheeky attitude and friendly disposition towards their fans makes them loveable and so much fun to watch.
Opening the second show in the tour were The Protectors who unfortunately had not fixed any of their problems with lack of genuine attitude as well as tightening up their sound from the previous night. Looking even more cliché (if possible) and copying Aerosmith’s style identically, their setlist remained the same, and drew a very small crowd.
It’s far to say that there were more people sitting at the bar, than paying attention to this poorly put together band. The guitarist was bland, the singer was boring and mumbled his way through any crowd participation, the bassist barely caught my attention, and the drummer was stiff.
The second support act was Kram. Kram is probably better known for being the drummer in Spiderbait, the Australian rock act. You’d definitely remember him as the vocalist for the Black Betty cover that was released earlier in the 2000’s. After setting up, Kram exploded onto the stage to perform a roaring rock song (title of which, unknown), but from this point onward his show fell apart. Stumbling throughout songs, as well as a poorly executed sound check previous to this made his gig fall apart at the seams. The bass amp failed to work after a song, leaving the bassist to stand and play along silently for the rest of the show. Kram stumbled around the stage knocking over microphone stands which unfortunately, did not look like it was on purpose.
The snare drum skin also broke, which worsened the sound. The undoing of the entire show was unfortunately Kram’s arrogant attitude that dissolved into an ego-stroking self masturbating piece of tripe. Pretentious and overdone.
Eagles of Death Metal appeared on stage after a short set up, once again to Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out of My Head. Jesse appearing once again as a rock God, revving up the crowd for a night full of rock’n’roll.
With the same level of enthusiasm and genuine charisma the band executed their similar setlist to the Brisbane show with style and attitude.
The crowd participation remained mostly the same, but the subtle changes made the night seem new and fresh, as if I didn’t watch the same show 24 hours previous. I could not tire of this band. Their songs are fun and naughty, their attitude is friendly and loveable while just as naughty as their songs.
t one point Jesse Hughes encouraged the ladies to scream. Then the men, then the ladies again. Why? “There was no point to that, but good golly I love to hear you ladies scream for me.”
His attitude made everyone smile and laugh along with them, as the crowd moved and danced along with each song.
The setlist for this show (once again, can’t remember everything) is as follows:Bad Dream Mama, Whorehoppin’, Already Died, Got a Feelin’, I Only Want You, Anythin’ Cept the Truth, Wannabe in L.A, Heart On, Now I’m A Fool, I Like to Move in the Night, Don’t Speak (I Came to Make a Bang) and Secret Plans followed by Beat on the Brat (Ramones Cover), Boys Bad News, Kiss the Devil, and Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones cover)
The only thing I can say against the band’s performance was that it certainly wasn’t long enough. The crowd gobbled up the music and the antics and were left hungry for more. Each of the band members were just as friendly as previous, with more band interaction on the Saturday night.
At one point, Jesse Hughes was trying to encourage Brian O’Connor, whose appearance can be likened to Andre the Giant to go on the ferris wheel.
“There’s a ferris wheel outside Brian! Any ladies want to come on with me? I’m afraid of heights!”
The friendship between the band members was obvious and can easily be said that it helped their performance move along smoothly without any hiccups.
Hughes was reluctant to leave the stage, as you could see the look of worry on the stage manager’s face once the sound restriction was well over due.
Kudos goes out to Eagles of Death Metal for putting on two very memorable, exciting and amazing performances, and giving me reason to smile for weeks to come. I challenge anyone to find a band that does the same thing!
And no, I didn’t get vomitted on at the second gig.