Airbourne ProfileThe scheduled slightly later kick-off actually appeared beneficial for Melbourne outfit The Ugly Kings. A strong pre-headliner turnout ensued and many already-well-lubricated punters, amid the more seasoned collective, sought a soundtrack to some additional brews. The band delightedly and purposefully obliged via heavy, engaging blues-rock akin to The Doors wrestling with Black Sabbath. Bristling with stomp, the respectable crowd interaction from many of the uninitiated could only be viewed as a success.
"Are you ready to rock?" Airbourne bellowed during the opener (that would be Ready To Rock, naturally). Conducting such a 'survey' among the rabid Friday night crowd was superfluous. It's likely attributable to greater focus on foreign markets, but the Warrnambool mob remain somewhat of a cult proposition within their homeland. Their no-frills approach to classic hard rock writ large had evidently endeared them to a healthy crop of loyalists craving Malcolm Young-esque riffs, though. The overall aesthetic further boosted their appeal; streamlined appearance and fondness for a drink, qualities their bullshit detector-sporting following readily related to. And the band executed with such sheer conviction that even Down On You's lunkheaded lyrics elicited an audience-wide chant throughout the packed room.
Perennially shirtless, sweat-drenched frontman Joel O'Keeffe's antics — scaling the stacks, or venturing into the crowd atop a crew member's shoulders while high-fiving fans and smashing beer cans against his cranium during Girls In Black — were afforded a rapturous reception. Elsewhere, early favourites Stand Up For Rock 'N' Roll and Runnin' Wild sent the already-surging pit into a state of delirium. Their set was perhaps a tad truncated at just 70 minutes, but the quartet poured such copious energy into it that no one could have felt short-changed. A modern act who have managed to convert grizzled older rockers while simultaneously attracting a smattering of younger folk, Airbourne should be ruling arenas in this part of the world rather than preaching to the converted in theatres.
