28 DaysThe Hi-Fi is more than a mere concert venue tonight, it's also a time portal. Upon stepping inside we're transported back to the Howard years; a time of fishermen's belts, Etnes skate shoes and backwards caps; a time when your rock and roll band wasn't worth a damn unless you had a DJ scratching up a storm during every song's pre-chorus. Sure, tonight is a celebration of bygone years, but there's a light, decidedly upbeat nostalgia filling the room, and as the beers keep flowing the crowd becomes steadily more excited to relive Upstyledown with tonight's headliners.
Local punks Spitfireliar kick things off, and the crowd seems interested, perhaps because the band has the chutzpah to sell a T-shirt with a picture of Natalie Portman sitting on the toilet.
Gold Coast nu-metal outfit Es Three are up next; and their set reminds the crowd of what rap and rock are supposed to sound like next to each other.
With his smutty wit and a barrage of quotable lyrics, Evil Eddie was always going to be a crowd favourite. As his set veers between rock and rap cuts, as though to further prove that two styles can sit beside one another in a contemporary setting, the crowd joins along in some of his numbers, especially closer Queensland.
When 28 Days finally take the stage, the crowd verges upon hysteria. With little ado, they launch into their number one record Upstyledown. The first half of the album is rock solid; from opener The Bird to the contemplative Goodbye to the party anthem Rip It Up, the crowd stay with 28 Days all the way. Vocalist Jay Dunne still has enough puff to hit all the raps, and the band sounds so much better with Jedi Master Jay behind the decks. Though Upstyledown drops away slightly around the halfway mark, the crowd stays with the band, and on both sides of the barrier, everyone seems to be having a ball. When the album's over, the band take a break before coming back with a rousing performance of Say What, then they hit their final cut, What's The Deal?
Though an altogether timeless ode to the idealised summer party, tonight What's The Deal? serves as a poignant rumination from a band that achieved mainstream success before falling into the pop cultural zeitgeist's wake. When they could be bitter about this, 28 Days just seem happy to be able to drink some beers and play some of these tunes to a room full of people who know all the words, even the rap parts. I guess now we just wait around until One Dollar Short get off their arse to do an Eight Days Away tour.
