The Superjesus have been going from strength to strength since reforming in 2013 after a nine-year hiatus as a band. When lead singer Sarah McLeod announced in November 2012 on Triple M radio station that the band would reform for a one-off show, fans across the nation showed that one-off would not be enough to satisfy the demand of hearing The Superjesus’ songs live once more. Responding to popular demand, The Superjesus embarked on their first tour in 10 years “The Resurrection Tour” and the band have been performing and touring ever since.
Last year The Superjesus celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of their Album “Sumo” and the band toured extensively in 2018 playing the album in its entirety to sold out shows across the country.
Fast forward to this year, and the hard-working band members are touring again to celebrate a double release – their album “Sumo 20 Live”, which was recorded at the Sumo 20th anniversary shows in Sydney and Brisbane, and their brand new single “Impossible”; a song about moon landing conspiracy theories.
On Friday 20th of September The Superjesus hit Max Watts House of Music in Melbourne to play their hits spanning the bands career to a full house of loyal dedicated fans that keep coming back time and time again to see these great Aussie rockers.
Before The Superjesus came on to the stage; the crowd were treated to support act “Violetine”. Violetine; like The Superjesus, have had a break from the music scene for a period of time. The three-piece band got the crowd warmed up playing their songs from their EP’s spanning from 1996 to 1999. There were many in the crowd that remembered their singles and happily sung along to the tunes.
After Violetine finished their set, the crowd started to pack in and came forward to fill the floor. The stage went dark, the band members came onto the stage, the impressive light display burst to life and the band erupted into their first song “Shut my Eyes”. The crowd immediately started cheering and singing along.
The band members were all dressed in white with lead singer Sarah McLeod and lead guitarist Jason Slack in white jumpsuits; and Stuart Rudd on bass and Travis Dragani on drums dressed in white jeans and white t-shirts; all representing a space suit theme to go hand in hand with their new video clip for “Impossible” where they are in space suits.
The set included 13 songs, covering songs off their albums “Sumo”, “The Jet Age”, “Rock Music” and “Love and Violence”. Songs included were – Down Again, Saturation, Ashes, Secret Agent Man, and Love and Violence. Mcleod chatted to the crowd in between songs explaining some of the songs and her frame of mind when writing them, which was described as “manic”. Mcleod is also known for her witty banter on stage with her band mates as well as when chatting to the crowd.
One such moment was during the song “Gravity” where McLeod asked for audience participation to sing two parts of the song. To divide the crowd in half, McLeod jumped up on the speaker and announced; everyone to the right-hand side of her vagina would sing one part of the song and everyone on the left-hand side of her vagina would sing the second part. Yes, you read that right folks! You can check out the video of this on The Superjesus’ Instagram on their IGTV post.
After Gravity finished the band left the stage, the crowd was cheering and screaming out for more. McLeod, Rudd, Slack and Dragani came back on stage happy to oblige.
The band were supposed to do two songs for their encore – “Enough to Know” from their album The Jet Age and a cover of Kylie Minogue’s “Confide In Me”; however, due to a technical glitch on their second song of the set “Over and Out”, McLeod promised the crowd they would perform it at the end so everyone didn’t miss out; or want to ask for a refund on their tickets!
The Superjesus always put on a killer entertaining show. The music and sound is tight, and McLeod’s humour and banter on stage give that extra special something to the shows that make fans leave saying “that was awesome”! If you haven’t been to a Superjesus gig before, make sure you get along to one in the near future. You won’t be disappointed.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Simone Tyrrell at Live Music Photography
