THE JD SET feat. FAKER with BRITTLE and STARTING SUNDAY – Metro Theatre (07.08.09)


The fantastic concept that is The JD Set has returned to our shores for a second round, showcasing an audience’s pick of relatively unknown bands (Brittle and Starting Sunday) alongside one of Australia’s most popular acts (Faker)… All for free!

The way they ran the ticketing system was fairly simple: register for tickets online, bring it along, and arrive before 8pm to guarantee yourself entry. Such indeed saved oneself having to line up in a queue, and prevented any disappointment. But what they failed to mention was that a) Faker wouldn’t be on until 11pm, and b) there wouldn’t be pass-outs until 10pm. While this prevented people from getting a stamp and then leaving until Faker came on, this fact also caused many to turn themselves away at the door, opting for a good meal over unheard of support acts, and an assumption they wouldn’t be able to get back into the venue.

While some may argue this is all fair enough for a free gig, nowhere on the ticket or the website was this information available prior to the event, and as a result they definitely lost a small portion of the crowd, the gig failing to fill up the entire evening – nullifying the reason for the rules in the first place! Seems to me Jack Daniels overestimated the popularity of Faker (and unexpected rules) in the over 18 Sydney market!

But moving on, as I entered the Metro, Queens of the Stone Age were blaring through the speakers, and such helped me ignore the annoying setup of the evening. And opening act Starting Sunday (Formerly Front Counter), from Melbourne, weren’t far behind, launching onto the stage with a stirring drum solo as the rest of the band arrived. Definitely off to a good start, but such promise failed to amount to anything of substance. A lyrical example from one of their first tracks, “Losing Sleep”: “I think this bitch is fucking lame” – such is seriously the extent of their writing. All in all, their set came off as generic, played with mild self confidence and/or talent, and the lyrics were seemingly formulated by angry 13 year olds. I feel like I’m losing brain cells just talking about it.

Their out-of-place banter didn’t help matters either – lead singer Rhys saying “this next song is pretty fucking angry” and then later describing the next as “pretty”. Neither song matched his description, and they both sounded exactly the same to me!

To their credit, a song or two came off borderline Incubus-esque (if you ignored the lyrics) and worked… but the rest sounded like a poor man’s Panic at the Disco. And considering the latter are already a bad rip off, insulting decades of good music, you get the drift of my feeling here. And surely they’re a bit late onto the borderline Emo Punk scene… especially at an 18+ gig. But they don’t seem to mind.

Brittle (also from Melbourne) sounded like a decent take on No Doubt on first listen – just more punk than pop… but then I realised, getting myself closer to the stage, that the lead singer was in fact a male, and this was probably an offensive remark. Whoops. But it did pretty much work. You just had to close your eyes to avoid confusion. And unlike the preceding act, when Brittle’s lead singer Ben Whiting said “you can dance if you want” to their track “Hurricane” – the second last of their set… it actually was just about worthy of a dance.

Much to my dismay, Queens of the Stone Age didn’t make an appearance in the final interim of the evening, but Faker came on quick enough to prevent too much sadness. Surprisingly, they opened with all guns blazing, kicking off their set with the massive “This Heart Attack,” sending the previously dead crowd – who now filled the Metro to about 75% – into an out-of-the-blue frenzy. But, as you’d expect, the rest of the set couldn’t quite keep up. Enthusiasm quickly drained, and with Nathan Hudson’s voice seemingly a bit under the weather, I found myself leaving the gig slightly early, and rather underwhelmed by both their set and the whole evening… with Brittle surprisingly shining through as the standout.

The whole “JD Set” thing is a great idea, but if you’re going to leave the voting of bands up to the public – who can be anyone (yes! People lie about their ages online!) – yet only have them play to an 18+ crowd, then you’re kind of missing the ball. I really did feel like I was at a show meant to be experienced by 15 year olds, who would have no doubt appreciated the band’s general mediocre and/or generic talent. And yes, I unfortunately throw Faker into this category. And to then lock the 18+ adults inside the Metro, having to listen to said “talent” without question (and a surprisingly late Faker start to boot), then you’re just going to have an unenthused crowd … minus the few hardcore fans in the front row.

Perhaps time to go back to the drawing boards and develop the idea further. It’s quietly possible that the structure Jack Daniel’s developed in the UK etc. simply isn’t going to work at the same level in Australia. Or maybe 15 year olds in Melbourne shouldn’t represent the voice of the rest of Australia! Maybe do it the Eurovision way – NSW voters can only vote for other states, etc. But one thing I know we all agree on: Love or hate the bands – good on ’em for supporting local music.

Larry Heath

Founding Editor and Publisher of the AU review. Currently based in Toronto, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @larry_heath or on Instagram @larryheath.