Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Lignano Sabbiadoro / Arena Alpe Adria / Italy
Concert date: June 15, 2017
Attendance: 750
Ticket price: €28.75
Even though they played nearby Zagreb last summer and are playing the Pivo in cvetje festival in Laško in mid-July this year, it was an absolute must to hop over a month earlier and check out the stage form of those charismatic Australian rock’n’roll troublemakers in shorts, Airbourne. They played an incredibly pleasant, charming venue in the Italian resort town of Lignano Sabbiadoro, called Arena Alpe Adria. It was exactly fifteen years since the author of this concert tale first saw Motörhead, on June 15, 2002 in Graz, Austria. By the way, Airbourne dedicate one of the songs on their current summer festival tour of Europe to the immortal legend, the magnificent one and only Lemmy.
The band, which has been »clocking in« on the scene for a good twelve years, put out its new studio album »Breakin’ Outta Hell« in November 2016, and on it they stay loyal to the inspiration of their older countrymen, one of the pioneering rock’n’roll outfits, AC/DC. Then again, where AC/DC are close, Rose Tattoo are always close too. Aibourne had to grind hard at first to reach international success. A solid band of brothers helped get them there, with the lineup practically unchanged throughout the group’s entire run. This April, though, the band officially announced that longtime rhythm guitarist David Roads had been replaced by a new member, Harri »The Riff Doctor« Harrison.
The show in Lignano was one of the few this summer where Aribourne played outside a festival bill, as a proper headline show. Before Airbourne, though, the Italian rock’n’roll stallions based in the province of Pordenone (the town of Casarsa della Delizia), called Fake Idols, got their chance. These are the very same Fake Idols who will play this year’s Rock Camp Summer Music festival, a stone’s throw from Trieste (Trebče near Opčine). The band came across as a remarkably tight, well-tuned quintet. It’s built on two fat, thundering, down-tuned Gibson Les Paul guitars, a piercing, rattling bass, hefty, rock-solid rhythmic punches with flirty lead rhythms, and a raging, throaty, arrogant vocal. The band released its self-titled studio debut in 2014 and used the Airbourne opening slot in Lignano to present its current studio follow-up from 2016, »Witness«. From that one we heard an extremely successful cover of The Chemical Brothers’ Go, plus the originals I Am Fake and Mad Fall. You can tell that, despite a relatively short career, the band is superbly well-rehearsed and has already played bigger stages, Gods of Metal among them. In the mix, the guitars could have been cranked up a little more during the show, which showed especially in the less audible solos, but otherwise no complaints. Incredible kinetics, dynamics, the band members constantly running left and right across the stage, and plenty of interaction with the crowd. The crowd already knew the songs very well, and Fake Idols got quite a bit of backing when everyone sang the verses along with them. A great warm-up, then. The English lyrics were also delivered at a confidently high level, which has always been a headache for Italian bands.
At half past nine in the evening, Airbourne decided to tear the stage down. This band is not just the herald of a new rock’n’roll generation, but also a damn good band-aid of (at least partial) consolation for all of you who want to hear AC/DC live but (most likely) never will (ever again). A nice turnout from Slovenia too, especially from the Gorizia region, welcomed the stout-hearted Aussies as they hit the stage. Of course, all eyes were on the incredible Joel O’Keeffe. It came as no surprise that the main white spotlight chased only him throughout the show. He really is the key link holding the Airbourne crew together. A true stage imp, he spews unbelievable amounts of energy the whole way through! He sweated through everything there was to sweat through. He delivered yet another show at an extremely high level, with feather-light ease and a piercing scream that manages to squeeze out only a few more low notes than his role models Bon Scott and Brian Johnson. The furious, riled-up man soloed while keeping the crowd tight in his grip with nonstop banter. Everything really did revolve around him. Arena Alpe Adria was barely half full that night, say around 700 people, but there was still a nice bunch of the most fired-up fans who got wildly involved with the band. The front rows shook accordingly, especially during the band’s unbreakable hits: the closing Runnin’ Wild, Live It Up, It’s All For Rock’N’Roll (which Joel dedicated to Lemmy – the latter appeared in the video for this song), No Way But The Hard Way and Stand Up For Rock ‘N’ Roll. There was no shortage of theater either, with a giant spotlight Joel swept over the crowd, and the air-raid siren wailing at the start of the obligatory encore, courtesy of Joel’s brother and the band’s drummer Ryan O’Keeffe .
No question! An excellent show. From start to finish it rode the crest of a giant wave, a volcanic eruption of rock’n’roll’s primal riffs, secondhand adapted of course and served up with confidence all over again. Just the way the new generation of rock’n’roll revivalists does it, Airbourne among them. That’s that. You’d have liked one or two more songs, sure, but still. Consider this an invitation for everyone to go see Airbourne in mid-July at the Pivo in cvetje festival, no excuses. In Laško, of course!
Setlist
AIRBOURNE:
1. Ready To Rock
2. Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast
3. Rivalry
4. Down On You
5. Cheap Wine And Cheaper Women
6. Girls In Black
7. It’s All For Rock ‘N’ Roll
8. Breakin’ Outta Hell
9. No Way But The Hard Way
10. Stnd Up For Rock ‘N’ Roll
—encore—
11. Live It Up
12. Runnin’ Wild
Photo gallery
