Artist: Airbourne & Stone Gods

Venue: Leeds Met University, Leeds  

Date:   18 November 2009

Rising from the ashes of The Darkness, the band (who include ex-members Dan Hawkins and Ritchie Edwards) are completed by ex-Graham Coxon bassist Toby MacFarlane and former Bush drummer Robin Goodridge, yet (perhaps thankfully, as it’s usually a kiss of death as Audioslave and Velvet Revolver will tell you) the ‘super-group’ tag has never been applied to the Stone Gods. Tonight though, all memories of The Darkness are forgotten as The Stone Gods rip through the majority of their awesome debut ‘Silver Spoons & Broken Bones’ with effortless class. Songs like ‘Burn the Witch’, ‘Knight of the Living Dead’, and new single and soon-to-be anthem ‘Don’t Drink the Water’ really get the place rocking this evening.

Fans of good-time classic rock like Thin Lizzy and AC/DC will love this band and they would be strongly urged to check them out as there aren’t many newer bands (with the exception of tonight’s headliners) that can rock a live crowd like this and it’s great to see former bass-tech Ritchie Edwards come into his own as the commanding frontman he is, a particular highlight being when Edwards decides to throw caution to the wind and march through the uncomfortably packed crowd still playing the guitar – awesome.

On most nights and supporting most bands, the Stone Gods’ performance would have been easily enough to see them go home with the spoils but live, Airbourne really are something else. From the opening chords of ‘Stand Up For Rock N Roll’ right through until the end, the band never let up, cranking out one anthem after another and there’s actually a point during the awesome ‘Diamond In The Rough’ that you wonder if the venue can take it. The band are tight as hell tonight and it’s there’s something really enjoyable about watching a band who clearly believe in the quality of what they’re doing, what it represents and who are doing it purely because they love it – there’s no pandering to radio or record companies here, just a good old-fashioned rock n roll band doing what they do best.

Frontman Joel O’Keefe seems like he’s been locked up backstage because as soon as he hits the stage, he’s like a whirlwind, drinking and headbanging the entire time, at one point climbing up to the balcony on the speaker stacks, it’s a wonder why more frontmen can’t be like this – every bit the rock star without trying to be. By the time the band are into their stride, the venue is nearly at bursting point and all this without mainstream media support and radio play – proof that good, honest rock n roll doesn’t need such avenues.

What the crowd witness here tonight is nothing short of breathtaking and as one of us mused on the way out of the venue, this is what it must have been like for the previous generation seeing AC/DC in the seventies with Bon, and yes, it was that good. And so what if they sound like their countrymen, who cares when they’re this good? Give me a bunch of honest guys that sound like a great band such as AC/DC than any of the supposedly original screamo tosh that is currently bogging down the rock world in their whiny angst. Stand up for rock n roll – Airbourne do and the world is a better place for it.

Review by: Adam G.

All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated.