The Living End, Jet and The Vines
The Australian Invasion Tour came to The Vic on Sheffield for an early show on Friday night. First up, The Living End, a Strange Cats-like punk trio putting out some very loud sounds. Next up, pop rockers Jet, a four piece from Melbourne that dangles retro-influenced jams from the likes of BTO and ACDC in front of their hard driving delivery of short, catchy rock songs. The final act of the evening, The Vines, brought an acoustic guitar to the stage in the hands of their tortured artist, lead singer who spent a good deal of energy shouting down fans who dared to heckle him. At one point he responded to a growing chorus of boos with , “You can leave, you fucking moron.” I guess many in attendance were there primarily to see Jet, as many dissenters walked out, needing no admonitions from the stage to do so. To my mind, The Vines were the best act of the three, even with all the antics. They have a spacey, Jeff Buckleyesque presence, and it was strangely interesting to see them play through the boos and heckling of drunken, Friday-night-in-Chicago fans.