Live Review: The Superjesus, Jackson Firebird, She Rex

An uncertain gathering for all-female outfit She Rex meant they had to put in the hard work to elicit even a lukewarm response. The synth-infused Sydneysiders' Rage Against The Machine-esque rap/rock/funk fusion was aided by lead vocalist Nikkita Rast's ebullience and the sparse early attendance enabled her to interact directly with individual punters. Not their night, perhaps, but the experience will benefit.

Self-proclaimed “country bumpkins”, Mildura garage rockers Jackson Firebird's bluesy sound still hit like Mike Tyson. Built on a foundation of fat guitars and drummer Dale Hudak's ruthless skin-bashing, the distorted vocals added further colour. By this stage a decidedly larger crowd had converged, greeting their fare with greater enthusiasm. Axeman Brendan Harvey's amusing call for the audience to afford his band-mate a “round of applause for marrying my sister” further endeared them.

Given how often it gets bandied about and thus regularly applied so unnecessarily, this reviewer isn't exactly enamoured by the term “nostalgia” with regard to many modern rock acts. However, it certainly applied to The Superjesus' hour on-stage, the second show of a reunion tour (their first in a decade) following a couple of one-off performances. Many a late '90s/early '00s alt-rock memory was relived, the Adelaide quartet obliging by mining each of their releases. This spanned opener, Shudder (from studio swansong Rock Music), through to riff-heavy debut single, Shut My Eyes, near set's end. Frontwoman Sarah McLeod has kept mighty busy during the band's extended absence, but it was witnessing her in this guise that the majority of fans had evidently been yearning for. While remaining personable with the audience, she oozed charisma and confidence, even going for a stroll along the venue bar at one point while the rest of the band ably stayed on task. You couldn't have removed that smile from her face with a sand-blaster. Ditto the sold-out crowd.

A litany of fan favourites – Saturation, Down Again, Stick Together, not to mention uproarious singalongs Secret Agent Man, Gravity and Second Sun – covered the expected bases, but were delivered with obvious glee rather than merely going through the motions. As McLeod prepares a new solo rock record, what exactly the future represents for The Superjesus seems uncertain. Irrespective, this was one resurrection truly greeted with a religious-like fervour.