Review by Ross Hatton

It was one of those nights that if you didn’t have to go out, you probably wouldn’t. Wet, windy and in general, very un-summer like. But let me tell you, the weather took a back seat on Saturday night because THE JEZABELS were in town for the very last show of their mammoth 18 date ‘Prisoner Tour’ at Astor Theatre.

Home grown indie patriots, WOLVES AT THE DOOR kicked off the nights proceedings with their distinctly creative lashings. Although a little introverted on stage, you can tell it’s more about being in-tune with each other’s dynamics than it is about putting on a spectacle. Setting a rather laboured but  memorable warm up to the night, Wolves visceral and raw energy combined with unpredictable song-writing, luscious harmonies and a rather subtle, sinister undertone, made them a must watch and decent starter to the night.

Canadian six-piece, HEY ROSETTA were up next and immediately let their professionalism and experience show as we were hit in the face with some seriously well put together tunes.  A world apart from the washy 3-piece sounds of Wolves At The Door, Hey Rosetta’s musicianship and ability to turn what was until then, a semi-uninterested crowd, into all eyes and ears on them was remarkable. Guitars and drums were there of course but it’s Rosetta’s cello and violin accompaniments that really give these guys a lush and expansive sound.  Not to mention the vocally well endowed lead singer Tim Barker. Rosetta managed to frame the night with a set filled with some emotional highs and lows – as well as amazing attention to music detail. Subtle harmonies, charismatic head bobbing and an overall catchy appeal made it easy for the crowd to fall in love with every note.  Aside from some blinding stage lighting that was more suited to a solarium than a stage, Hey Rosetta will no doubt have earned themselves a bunch more Aussie fans after this performance.

But as the sizzling tunes of Hey Rosetta slowly faded, the tension in the air grew as the time was near for what we were all came to see. Lights dimmed, the Astor movie screen opened up behind the drums and within moments, the Jezabels strutted out on stage to raucous applause.

Opening with their self titled album track ‘Prisoner’ the Jezabels proceeded to burst our retinas with a firestorm of light and sound. Astor became a shadow casting wonderland as both the movie screen and a rather eerie, large shadow of lead singer Hayley Mary and guitarist Sam Lockwood was cast onto adjacent theatre walls. Needless to say, the oversized shadow of Mary was definitely a huge step away from her actual life size. It’s always been a wonder how such a tiny frame can pump out such a massive voice, but that’s exactly what she did as they wowed us with the second track of their album, ‘Endless Summer’.

A couple of songs in and what felt like a blur of sonic waves and atmospheric heart, the Jezabels began to settle and really show us what they were made of. Mary’s stage presence is hard to ignore as she busted around in torn black leather – not to mention exuding a voice that has more dynamic control than anything I’ve heard in a long time. The Jezabels music has always been somewhat of a raw balance of uplifting peaks and plateaus. Something you can only compare to the feeling of waves crashing down around you. But when you hear this live… the effect is ten-fold. Amazingly precise and well placed drumming from Nik Kaloper,  topped off by the soothing rings of keyboard player Heather Shannon and Lockwood’s fast paced guitar strumming – all created that perfect Jezabel balance.

Crowd favourites ‘Easy To Love’ and ‘Mace Spray’ were a standout as the soothing vocals and delicate rhythms intoxicated listeners. The Sydney four-piece have an uncanny ability to draw you in so deep you tend to forget what’s happening around you. And that’s exactly what happened.

A settling moment and a little stage banter later and the Jezabels launched into ‘City Girl’ where they were joined on stage by some of the Hey Rosetta string players. Needless to say that extra boost of Cello and Violin only further drenched the Jezabels already oozing stage sound.  Single ‘Hurt me’ got the crowd feeling the love as seated fans began to embrace the good vibes standing up to dance about.

A brief exit and it was Encore time. They rolled back into gear with ‘Deep wide ocean’ and after a short pause launched straight into a classic off their 2009 ‘The Man Is Dead’ E.P ‘Disco Biscuit Love’. The feeling of tour finality was now creeping in as the audience began to clap along and really let go. Before we knew it, the full line-up of Hey Rosetta joined the Jezabels on stage wielding tambourines and percussion pieces as the gig now kicked into celebration mode filling the Astor with dancing and good vibes.  A fitting end to what was no doubt, one memorable tour for the Jezabels.