Live Review: The Jezabels, Gang Of Youths

Cold air and a warm reception greeted the growing lines outside Astor Theatre, as the concierge paced along offering ticketing instructions and matching the enthusiasm of early punters waiting to see The Jezabels. Even with largely critical responses to new album, The Brink, the anticipation for the four-piece powerhouse was already palpable.

All the eagerness in the world won't save an opening act though and newcomers Gang Of Youths started up their set to a mostly empty room. As the Astor filled out so did their sound, and the Melbourne indie-rockers waltzed out soft and smooth like cigarette smoke, their songs a brash mix of burnt vocal melodies and crisp guitar leads with explosive crescendos.

If Gang Of Youths were the waves, then The Jezabels were the storm. The band cracked into their set like lightning, a rhythmic leviathan untethered and ferocious. Singer Hayley Mary brought her unmatched vocal prowess to bear, belting out hit after hit from their two albums. New single, Time To Dance, brought a huge response from the crowd, more than putting the band's critics to rest.
And rightly so, The Jezabels more than proving their musicianship throughout the night; the intricacies, the subtleties and the raw ferocity with which the band pushed out their songs were truly wonderful. The people stood on in firm appreciation, respectful if not reacting, though the band were clearly trying to energise them. Yet the crowd was waiting for all those old favourites, and as the opening guitar lead of Mace Spray drifted out, the room dropped dead silent as the entire audience held their breath. Silhouetted against smoke and a minimal lightshow, Mary belted out the chorus of their breakthrough single, the audience matching her tenacity on every beat as the song whipped and pulled like a hurricane. Though they never let up on the throttle, the rest of their set felt like an afterglow. Still, every punter left with a bigger smile on their face than the concierge who had greeted them, a little piece of The Jezabels thundering on inside them.