The genre-delving quartet Bluejuice ripped into their set with precision; frontmen Stav Yiannoukas and Jake Stone feeding off each other from their emergence. Stone sang from atop James Hauptmann’s drum kit before tearing into Can’t Keep Up.
Always the story teller, he revealed he used to work at The Annandale. “They should have fired me fifty fuck’n times, I was a manic depressive bartender,” he laughed.
Hauptmann, guitar and synth-man Jamie Cibej and keyboard player Jerry Craib may have sunk to the shadows behind the vocalist’s comedic performance, but it was evident from their unmarred sound they were the sturdy back bone of the band.
“The next song will feel…like a cats tongue.” Said Stav.
“On your vagina,” sniggered Jake.
The brutally loud track Head Of The Hawk reverberated through our ear drums, lulling at the middle-eight just in time before they bled. Bluejuice is known for mixing genres, but Wednesday’s nights gig proved they also mix it up on the d-floor with pirouettes and jazz hands a-plenty.
The highlight was definitely during Vitriol when Stone took off his shirt mid-song before crowd surfing almost to the back of the pub, microphone in hand, face down. The last song was of course, Broken Leg which proved to be the best sing-a-long of the night. Even if their timing was out or even if a guitar broke during their set (impossible, they’re set was flawless), we wouldn’t have noticed, we were putty in their hands since their first pirouette.
The Vines opened to a room of applause, front man Craig Nicholls sported a Jet emblazoned jacket and bassist Brad Heald and guitarist Ryan Griffiths looked quite British in their blazers and bowlers caps, worn low enough to cover their eyes – yep they had that whole faux-shy thing down pat.
Early in the set Nicholls pulled out a maraca (for about five seconds), chucked it behind him and with the raw grit of an outback highway tore into tracks Autumn Shade and Don’t Listen To The Radio. Heald caught a ray of limelight with his long indulgent solo during Outtathway but as always nothing could take away from Nicholls screaming vocals. He dropped his loose jaw for Winning Days and we swayed in unison below him.
With The Vines most recent album release not long passed, it was a relief they only showcased a few songs off Melodia, the last was True As The Night and as if to thank us for standing through it, they promptly played Ride. The psychedelic rock song Mary Jane was thrown in, along with Dope Train before crowd favourite Get Free incited even the most wimpy punter to try and rival Nicholls screams.
Fuck The World was played last and was easily the most raucous moment of the night. Jake Stone from Bluejuice mounted the bar and dived into the mosh to crowd surf. Pandemonium began as Nicholls smashed his guitar into the drum kit before Heald and Griffiths man-piled onto Hamish Rosser’s drum kit, the instruments had been battered so obviously there was no encore. We left feeling it was over too soon, a testament to The Vines stage presence.
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