Live Review

The Jezabels – King Tut’s, Glasgow

• 7th Sep 2011

Australian indie pop band The Jezabels played their first ever Scottish show last night, thrilling a large crowd with an hour long set that featured both new songs and fan favourites.

The first support act was the John Mclain Band. Their rock sound had a bluesy edge and their twin guitar approach worked well, especially on the appropriately titled Tutankhamen Blues. The lead singer had a decent voice, deep and resonating, but lacked vocal range. The closing fast paced Searching For Rachel was perhaps the highlight.

Kid Canaveral, a Scots indie pop quartet mirroring the headliners’ line up of two males and two females, were next on stage. Their uptempo music was based on a solid beat and two guitars that provided the melodies and hooks. With lead vocal duties split between the two guitarists there was good variety to the music. Left and Right sung by the female lead guitarist was a nice pop song and their past single And Another Thing also stood out.

The Jezabels took to the stage in near darkness to a tremendous reception from the audience, several of whom were following the band around the UK. The opening Cherry Pie got the dancing started from the off and was typical of a sparkling set played with a dynamism and energy that thrilled.

Hayley Mary on the vocals was very much the centre of attention, using all of the small stage to dance and play to the crowd. Dressed in black and with her hair partially covering her face, she clutched the mic, emotion pouring out. And her voice was true and clear throughout, as she hit the high notes with ease.

The band was tight, mixing older tracks with some new songs. Nik Kaloper behind the drum kit set a solid beat while guitarist Samuel Lockwood laid down some heavy chords and also added delicate fills to the music. And Heather Shannon on keyboards played some intricate melodies while also providing lovely vocal harmonies.

Mace Spray was very well received, its heavy drum beat marking a slow time as the vocals soared over swirling keyboards. Three tracks from the band’s debut album, out later in the month, were also played: Endless Summer, Rosebud and Try Colour. The latter two were played live for the first time, not that you would have known from the excellent renditions.

The set was closed with two older releases. Hurt Me, a previous single, got the biggest cheer of the night, while the final Dark Storm ended the set in explosive fashion as one last big chorus had the crowd singing along.

The band left the stage and there was no encore scheduled. The house music started briefly but after a hasty band conflab they returned to the stage to play one more new song.

This was a fine show from a band that knows exactly how to play entertaining indie pop music. With their new album about to be released this is a band that is going places. And hopefully future plans will include a return to Glasgow sometime soon.