[Reviews]
JEBEDIAH / POLLYANNA / BETCHADUPA - Rave Magazine Arena Thurs Mar 28
Stupid me! Of course only I could forget that, being the night before Good Friday, everything (including the Arena) has to shut by midnight. So of course I arrived at 8 o’clock, congratulating myself on being so early, only to find that Betchadupa had already finished playing. So, sorry I missed you, fellas, but I’m a moron.
Anyway... Pollyanna hadn’t seen them for what must be a good five years, but it sounds as if the intervening time hasn’t seen the group radically change tack. From the first song, Matt Handley’s bittersweet guitar pop has become expertly crafted and sharply focused, and the precision and emotion of his voice was something to behold. The rhythm section pro-vided skin-tight, sympathetic backing, teasing out the dynamics of each tune. Radio hit Re-bound Girl was probably the highlight, with its muscular backing and memorable chorus, and if the band’s songs can be a little samey, there’s no doubting the passion and quality of their execution. The all-ages audience received them well, though once Jebediah took the stage, it must be said that the energy in the room increased tenfold.
I must admit with some embarrassment that I had never seen the Jebs live before, so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. But I certainly wasn’t expecting them to be so damn amazing. Everything about their set tonight, from the performances to the song selection and pacing, was absolutely spot on. Ostensibly the launch for their new, self- titled album, the band played no more than two or three tracks from it, concentrating instead on hit after hit from their first two records. Hell, every damn song they played was a bona fide crowd pleaser, and it was something of a shock to realise, when you hear them played one after the other, just how many classics Jebediah have already written. Leaving Home was an early highlight, its manic energy and anthemic chorus touching a chord with the under-eighteens upstairs, who, like their beer-swilling elders below, went completely ape-shit from the first note.
From there, it was one gem after another: the muted pop-smithery of Please Leave, the manic wackiness of Teflon (in an extended version that saw singer Kevin Mitchell introduce the band with an abundance of wit and charm), the poignant ruminations of Harpoon, and on and on. However, in the live arena, quality tunes aren’t enough to cut it on their own, and the band proved themselves riveting live performers, hurling themselves about the stage with Boundless energy while never missing a note. The audience responded in kind, and I haven’t seen a crowd this revved up in ages. It took me back almost ten years ago to the kind of response You Am I elicited as they stood poised to become, for however brief a period, the biggest band in the land. After Jebediah’s performance Tonight, I’d be surprised if, in a few years, I don’t look back to this gig as the moment when they look set do the same.
BRETT COLLINGWOOD