Everything in the air as the Spiders and Airbourne tear apart Limelight...in a good way

THERE is nothing new in rock 'n' roll; but there are ways to inject an extra dose of attitude. Airbourne and Black Spiders brought a wagon load of that attitude to Belfast on Monday (October 21st) and a raucous crowd responded with roars of approval.

Black Spiders, like the headliners, are no strangers to these shores. However, they seem to have grown in stature of late with new album This Strange Land adding yet more full-on texture as their triple guitar attack more and more utlisises the differences achievable; while the rhythm section was nailed down tight.

Drummer 'Tiger' Atkinson played like Mr Motivator on speed, haranguing both his kit and the crowd.

The 'in-your-face' thrust of Black Spiders - best witnessed in the "f**k Black Spiders" chanting and Stick it to the Man - can sometimes to be too much, but Belfast embraced this, brought Black Spiders into the bosom of hard rock excess.

Drink is a feature of many a hard rock and heavy metal performance. The rights and wrongs of prominent pushing of booze from promoters, venues and the band on stage can be debated to the nth degree: but when Airbourne are in town the advertising blurb urging us all to "drink responsibly" is mis-translated into a call to drink as much as possible and the only responsibility is not to spill your drink.

The Pied Piper of excess is Joel O'Keefe, Explorer guitar strung around his slim, small body as he rants through party rock 'n' roll; riffs tumbling from his cohorts and a constant motion across the stage that threatens physicists assertion that there is no such a thing as perpetual motion.

Just a few years back Airbourne were exploding in welter of promotion behind Running Wild; now songs like Too Much, Too Young Too Fast and Diamond in the Rough provoke reactions that mean they are confirmed hard rock classics.

And that reaction was as rowdy as it gets: mosh pits, crowd surfing - it could have been a metal gig for all intents and purposes.

This was truly a crowd standing up for rock 'n' roll.

As usual Joel took a wander off stage and pranced across the top of the bar, his scrawny frame a blur before returning to be the mad Australian master of ceremonies.

Ryan O'Keefe, David Rhoads, and Justin Street scanned the crowd and scampered across the stage a wonderful wunderlust infecting them and all in the packed venue - with tracks from latest release Black Dog Barking as welcome as earlier material.

There are, of course, those who criticise Airbourne and their ilk of re-treading pub rock. They miss the point. Every time Airbourne hit the stage they add layer upon layer on their upwards ascent to domination: energy and frenzy mean that the comparisons are trite and unsustainable. The quartet create their own definitions. And, as Joel noted from the stage the crowd were ready to party and drink even if it was a Monday night.

In terms of a Monday night in the pit, sweaty, a long way down the path to drunk, and roaring along to anthems - Airbourne are the perfect soundtrack to excess - excess with a smile on its face.

"We will never do a power ballad. Ever"

NEXT Tuesday (April 13th) one of the most uncompromising hard rockin' ass kickin' bands in the world land in Belfast for their third visit to the city.

Airbourne - if you didn't already know - are the embodiment of blue collar, working class rock 'n' roll: birthed as the bastard sons of AC/DC and Rose Tattoo, conceived in pub where the 'guitar man got famous' and where 'Rock 'n' Roll Outlaws' pounded out tunes to stun.

Belfastmetalheadsreunited caught up with the band, and spokesman in chief Joel O'Keefe as their UK tour progessed towards Belfast to hear how things are sitting as Airbourne's ascendancy towards legendary status continues apace.

With their second 'proper' album out, and three years of a roundabout of touring, punctuated with recording 'No Guts, No Glory', we wanted to know have things caught up with the fearsome foursome?

"It does get tiring but if we get time off we get bored and can't wait to get back on the road," he said. "We live to tour and we tour to live, so bring it on!"

And, with that commitment comes a statement of intent whether it be playing in Belfast or Melbourne for the band.
"We believe that anything worth having is worth working hard for. We are determined to never let any one down, ever. That is what we are all about."

Hard work has paid off for the band. Not least as evidenced from their Belfast debut in The Limelight. Since then their star has been on the rise. From pub venues, through to the festival circuit there is a connection with fans who may be latter day metalheads raised on the excesses of the NWOBHM, or diehard rockers and even thrashers.
As the band has grown we wanted to know the difference between the intimate shows packed into pubs in comparison to the bigger venues and the festivals.

"We love the crowd to be right in our faces but there is also such a great energy playing to a bigger audience," said Joel

All of which bodes well for the Mandella Hall gig - which is big enough to accommodate eager throngs, while still enabling almost all present to connect with the band.

And, connections are all-important to Airbourne: with the audience and with their roots. When it came to writing No Guts, No Glory they headed back to the now almost derelict Criterion Hotel in their hometown Warnambool, Australia.
"It was the perfect place for us. It was close to where we were staying, it had plenty of space for all our equipment and the best burger joint in town was across the road," said Joel. "It was ironic, we played our first ever shows there and the last thing that place ever did was have us in there writing. It almost burnt down a few of months later."

In recent interviews the band have joked that they are just re-arranging the chords for the new songs, but they undertook a rigorous selection process whittling down almost 40 tracks to the ones that hit the streets a few short weeks ago. From their debut releaseRunnin' Wild, No Guts, No Glory retains a winning formula with rabble rousing pub rock to the fore, but with slow burners like Bottom of the Well and the mid-paced White Line Fever showing that the band are prepared to explore the very limits of so-called Aussie pub rock. But where they ever tempted to pander to the pundits and throw in a power ballad?

Let's just say that Joel is emphatic on that point: "We know our sound and what we love and we never want to go away from that. We will NEVER do a power ballad. Ever."
But, the band are no luddites, looking over their shoulder to the past. They have freshened what could have been a jaded hard rock sound, and are prepared to look at other ways to expose audiences to their rockin' antics, including computer and console games, with the likes of Girls in Black from Runnin' Wild appearing on the Need for Speed console game.

"The computer game industry is massive right now, it is almost like the radio was 20 years ago," said Joel. "Millions of people play these games, it's really good to reach this audience that might not hear of us otherwise.

But with kids getting hooked on Airbourne's sounds, too many venues remain out-of-bounds to under-18s.

Joel is apologetic, but not without a nod to what almost every reader of this blog did, or attempted to do when younger: "Unfortunately the agent is the one that books the shows. However, hopefully in the future there will be more all ages shows. In the mean time sneak in and grab a beer!!!"

Airbourne started from humble roots, and through hard work they rose from early 2003 gigs. For many Runnin' Wild was a sudden, but welcome, shock, none less so than when the esteemed organ Classic Rock awarded the band 'Best New Band' in 2008.

It speaks to the bands own modesty their reaction when they received the honour.
"We had no idea, we were just sitting there drinking, then all of a sudden we were getting pushed onto the stage!!"

And therein lies the roots of success. Work hard, expect nothing, but toil to achieve everything. Airbourne play hard, Airbourne are an antidote to sugary sweet, pop pap, and posing bands more concerned with being part of a nebulous scene rather than sticking to what they believe in. There might be No Way But The Hard Way but for fans of all ages Airbourne's route to the top is one we all can enjoy come hell or highwater.

But don't expect any power ballads!

Airbourne play the Mandella Hall on April 13th. There are very, very few tickets left, if any. If you can's get along...your loss!