Airbourne
With a queue snaking from the entrance of the Nick Rayns LCR long before doors, there was a sense of eager anticipation as I joined the crowd for Airbourne’s first Norwich show in years.
There was a decent sized crowd for the first band of the night The Amorettes. This rock three piece gave it their all. Whilst not quite hitting the mark for this listener they managed to get a somewhat static crowd to singalong to highlight of the set Hot and Heavy. A valiant effort indeed.
As Crobot hit the stage the venue had filled considerably - though strangely not on the main floor. So whilst busy, the atmosphere was still a little lacking. Crobot tore into their set with a rousing rendition of The Legend of The Space Born Killer and continued into new song Not For Sale, each garnering an excellent response. Crobot worked their arses off to get a good vibe going and at times succeeded, though occasionally it felt a little forced. When the band got lost in their music - particularly the closing trilogy of Play It Cool, Nowhere to Hide and Welcome To Fat City - it was so much better for how much more natural it felt. As they left the stage you could sense the atmosphere had changed.
There was a buzz to the crowd, a palpable excitement had grown as the time neared for Airbourne, a band with a fearsome live reputation, to take to the stage. The floor finally filled and the techs revealed no less than 10 amps and 20 cabs (you read that correctly). Smoke filled the LCR and the impressive light show began as the opening bars to the Terminator 2 theme pummelled people into a fervour. It finally felt like an event, the crowd was there, the band were there, we were ready.
Apt then that as the opening bars to Ready To Rock filled the room, and possibly the whole university campus, that the moshing started. The volume of the music was literally body shockingly loud and all the better for it. It was impossible not to be carried away by the songs as the set continued. Even tunes that on record don’t impress so much, for example Rivalry, took on a new form live.
The band’s energy was relentless as they stalked the stage, with frontman Joel O’Keeffe routinely smashing beer cans on his head and throwing the spoils to the baying crowd. At one time he surfed through the masses on one of his roadies shoulders soloing all the way. Not once did anything feel contrived, it was totally natural, primally powerful and utterly believable.
Picking highlights from a gig as great as this is hard though the mighty Girls In Black stands out as does the utterly filthy Down On You which was an unexpected treat - being its live premiere. There too was a tribute to Lemmy which was a nice touch. The main set came to an end with Stand Up For Rock N’ Roll and it’s fair to say the crowd literally went ‘fucking crazy’ - O’Keeffe’s words not mine. I’m not normally a fan of an encore but on this occasion it was some welcome relief.
Arriving back of stage with an actual real life air raid siren, and not being shy to use it caused utter carnage for the closing two tracks Live It Up and the outstanding Runnin’ Wild. More beer was thrown to the crowd and circle pits were actively encouraged. Put simply, Airbourne completely slayed us and are fully deserving of their reputation. It was a night to remember and will live long in the memory. Norwich rocked.
