Live Review: Alex Lahey, Stand Atlantic, Jess Day

Having just finished touring the UK, Melbourne rocker Alex Lahey kicked off The Best Of Luck Club tour in Adelaide last night. All the acts showcased fist-pumping tunes, frighteningly relatable lyrics of insecure angst and some absolutely blistering guitar riffs, their audience clad almost exclusively red plaid flannels, tight black jeans and scruffy Converse sneakers. You know the ones.

Local Adelaide act Jess Day was up first and she delivered an impressive set of catchy guitar melodies and primed vocals, perfectly foreshadowing the night to come.

Following up was Sydney punk-rock band Stand Atlantic who gave a deadset amazing performance. Whether it was devoted fans belting out the lyrics or newly infatuated bystanders, the whole crowd was completely engrossed, with a couple of ruffians even having a go at crowdsurfing. Headphones couldn’t possibly do justice to this kind of music – it's an absolute treat to see these guys live, pumping up the crowd for the main act.

Contrary to Alex Lahey's usual style, the first half of the setlist was on the slower side. New songs Black RMs and Unspoken History had the crowd in a very mellow sway, while an acoustic rendition of a certain modern classic – Bachelor Girl's Buses And Trains – had the entire crowd singing along. The night really picked up in the second half when Lahey unleashed her catchy, bopping bangers. Her breakout track, You Don’t Think You Like People Like Me, was an obvious crowd favourite while new single Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself introduced some sleek and sexy saxophone to shake things up. Despite finishing in stellar fashion, with the ground-stomping and head-banging I Haven’t Been Taking Care Of Myself, it definitely felt like things were just getting started, only to end soon after, and without playing any songs – apart from her breakout – from her EP, B-Grade University.

Nonetheless, it was still a spectacular performance that had everyone moving and grooving. The crowd responded with open arms to all the new music, granted this was only a couple weeks after the new album dropped. Fans would surely become only more and more obsessed with the new tunes over time.

Alex Lahey is managed by Leigh Treweek, who is a director of Handshake Media, owner of this website.