Airbourne & The Black Spiders Thrill The London Forum

… and deliver an un-rivaled night of high energy rock & roll!

Photos: Louise Phillips

“I want you to repeat after me as loud as you can, Fuck you Black Spiders”. The Black Spiders frontman makes this request in the middle of their high energy set and it’s answered by a roar from the crowd. The Sheffield band have a surprisingly long history and songs like Stay Down and Stabbed In The Back are no frills, very high energy blasts. They may be relatively short on new ideas but if it’s not broke, the Black Spiders clearly see no need to fix it.

Airborne burst onto stage with high octane Ready To Rock and it’s as good a mission statement as any for the Australian four piece. As satisfying and unpretentious as a sirloin steak and chips, Airbourne have absolutely zero desire to re-invent the wheel. They deliver the sort of straight to the bone heavy riffing and big choruses that many bands before them have. The difference is that none of them have Airbourne’s dedication and sheer off the charts energy levels.

Watching frontman Joel O’Keef tear from one side of the stage to the other, crack beer cans over his head and climb the furniture will bring a smile to anyone and everyone who has even an ounce of joy left and it’s all backed up by anthems like Too Much, Too Young Too Fast and Live It Up. Indeed during the latter frontman Joel seems to fall off the stage but even that doesn’t slow him down as he makes his way into the upper standing and seated area of Kentish Town Forum for Raise The Flag.

It’s All For Rock ‘n’ Roll starts with Airbourne’s now famous tribute to Motorhead’s Lemmy. This is a toast of entire bottles of Jack Daniels. They end a 3 song encore with Runnin’ Wild and an hour and a half gig that would kill the Duracell bunny himself. Airbourne once again proved they are rock and roll lifers with a passion and dedication that can not be beat.

AIRBOURNE

 

The Black Spiders