The Screaming Jets roared into town on their one-show WA leg of the ‘Dirty Thirty’ Tour, as they celebrate thirty years of rocking the world with their rip-roaring Aussie pub rock that has made them so successful, not only here in Australia but also throughout Europe, the UK & the World.
The night was opened by fellow rockers The Poor, who put in the near perfect set to get the crowd warmed up for Gleeson & Co. The Poor’s pedigree has seen them previously support some of the biggest in the business, opening for the likes of AC/DC, KISS, Van Halen & Alice in Chains, so it was fitting that they have been selected to kick start the shows on these early dates in the tour. Lead vocalist Anthony Skene prowled the stage with his huge presence with latest recruit, guitarist Daniel Cox shredding with ease as they fired off a powerful, fast paced set of classic heavy rock, joined by Matt Whitby (bass) & Gavin Hansen (drums).
Not for the first time, Perth rock fans failed to capitalise on just who was in town tonight and it was disappointing to not see a few more there to witness a band who thirty years on look to have no desire to slow down or wind anything up anytime soon. The Screaming Jets epitomise everything there is to love about Australian ‘pub rock’ music and tonight they didn’t disappoint smashing through a twenty one song set list that included the classics that are to be expected, as well as some pleasant surprises for the die-hard fans.
The majority of the set was taken from the early albums with the first eight songs coming from their 1991 debut ‘All for One’ and its follow-up 1992’s ‘Tear of Thought’. The night kicked off with ‘Dream On’, ‘No Point’ & ‘Needle’ fired off in quick succession, with Gleeson working the crowd with his wonderful facial expressions to show he certainly hasn’t lost his youthful playfulness. In fact I’ve seen much newer, younger bands with half the energy the Jets had up there tonight and this just added to the gig. ‘Here I Go’ & ‘C’mon’ continued before the first real crowd sing-a-long of the night in the shape of ‘Helping Hand’, which lifted the Astor roof.
The back drop was a constant history lesson from the Jets thirty year career with copies of contracts, ticket stubs & band photos flashed before us though out the evening to add to the nostalgia. There was no easing up with songs from the bands foundations as ‘Think’, ‘Tunnel’ & ‘Blue Sashes’ were played with a visit to 1997’s World Gone Crazy album with ‘Silence Lost’ sandwiched in between. The band left the stage for a five minute break after 2016’s ‘Automatic Cowboy’ & ‘Sister Tease’ before we were treated to an unexpected acoustic set of four songs, started by bass player Paul Woseen showing us has vocal & guitar skills, as he led the mini-set with ‘Friend of Mine’. He was soon joined at the front of the stage by Jimi Hocking (guitar), Mark MacLeod (drums), Scott Kingman (guitar) & Gleeson as they continued with ‘The Protest Song’, ‘Shivers’ & ‘October Grey’.
We were fooled into thinking the band had also rearranged ‘Living in England’ acoustically as Hocking teased us but this was soon revealed to be but a jest as Kingman fired it up to the rocker we know it should be. The only other recent track was ‘No Place No Home’ and as Gleeson informed us that news had filtered through of the election results, it couldn’t have been timed any better, as the band launched into ‘F.R.C.’ which the Perth faithful were happy to sing along to… loudly!
There could only be one song to close the show and it was exquisitely executed – ‘Better’ is one of those songs that have such a feel good factor to it and even the more subdued in the crowd couldn’t help but go just a little bit nuts. The band left the stage to rapturous applause, before returning for a wonderful version of Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’. Tonight was a trip down memory lane to celebrate the career of another band that has left such an incredible imprint on the sands of Australian rock history and long may they continue to produce their brand of music for years to come.
The tour continues as the band head to Adelaide before taking the show p through Queensland for a series of shows. For more information visit the bands website: www.thescreamingjets.com.au
Set List:
Dream On, No Point, Needle, Here I Go, C’mon, Helping Hand, Think, Tunnel, Silence Lost, Blue Sashes, Automatic Cowboy, Sister Tease, Friend of Mine (Acoustic), The Protest Song (Acoustic), Shivers (Acoustic), October Grey (Acoustic), Living in England, FRC, Better, Rockin’ in the Free World (Encore)
