I’ve seen some crazy rock ‘n’ roll shows in my life, but I don’t think anything could have prepared me for what I witnessed recently in London. Hailing from Warrnambool, Austrailia, Airbourne are AC/DC on steroids. It’s what Danko Jones was trying to do but on another level. This is one of those bands that have flown under the radar for me for some time now, but after seeing a photo or two from the beer can spraying bastard son of Lemmy, Joel O’Keeffe, it was finally time for me to see this for myself.
The Roundhouse is a unique venue in London. It’s hailed as one of the best venues in the world. It’a built inside the skeleton of a former railway engineer shed in North London, and it’s not the place I expected to see some balls to the wall, rip your head off style of high energy rock ‘n’ roll, but it worked beautifully. Airbourne have of course had their fair share of success and continue to do so, but they find themselves between venue sizes in London. Too big for the Electric Ballroom and just shy of a sell out at the Roundhouse.
While the band has done OK with record sales, the live show is really what carries these guys. The fact that they are one of the few bands who can capture the energy from the live performance onto a record doesn’t hurt, but either way, it’s incredible to me to see the size of the fanbase these guys have. Not to mention that every single person in this venue was losing their mind and going bananas during their set. No time for a ballads with these guys, it’s just a high potency mix of piss and vinegar from start to finish.
Breaking Outta Hell is their most recent release and now there’s the brand new box set which includes their first three “classic” records along with a new disc of unreleased material and a bonus DVD. I was so blown away by the show that I just dove in and got the box set to catch myself up on the past decade of insane rock ‘n’ roll that these guys have delivered—and I suggest you do the same. It makes for a great Christmas gift for the beer drinking, whiskey stomping rock ‘n’ roller in your life.
Need a quick intro to Airbourne 101? Take a listen to their breakthrough single from 2007 featuring the late great Lemmy driving these guys around town while they play in the back of a semi. Brilliant stuff.
