While touted as the “debut [V] Live event”, today’s event was always going to be a hard reminder of the days when Channel [V] ACTUALLY brought regular live music to the streets of Sydney. Free events, usually at Fox Studios, showcased some of the world’s hottest properties (Foo Fighters, Incubus, The Dandy Warhols and Queens of the Stone Age were just some of the many acts to grace their stage) alongside Aussie greats (The Vines, Jet, Delta etc.), providing yours truly with many great memories and Australian TV with quality live music.
But then, citing “lack of interest,” their focus on live music waned, replaced by b-grade reality shows and an all together decline in station quality – both in the music and the presenters who brought it to us. While such is as much an indictment of the state of the music industry as it is on Australian TV, when a station even cuts back on its signature Big Day Out coverage, you really have to get the feeling that someone lost the plot. Or maybe they’re simply adjusting (read: underestimating) themselves to the current group of 15 year olds who make up their market.
And indeed, at today’s “first” performance of [V] Live, they were out in full force. Many, no doubt, excited to see opening act The Scare, who came on a good 90 minutes before Jet hit the stage. As such, it almost felt unnecessary, but killed time and got people in the door in any case. I remain underwhelmed by these guys, I’ve got to say. None of their tunes grab me, and what some might consider “dominating stage presence,” just comes off as highly pretentious to me. This is totally OK if you’ve got the tunes to back it up – i.e. Oasis – but it’s totally unjustified here.
After a little over an hour of the VJ’s providing their more-often-than-not annoying banter, Jet finally hit the stage, providing the crowd with a longer-than-expected set (about an hour), comprised of 14 songs; a good mix of new and old. And all in the name of a good cause: the release of their new album, “Shaka Rock”!! After all, what would a TV Gig be without never-ending publicity?
It would be fair, and almost surprising, to say that little has changed since their 2003 glory days. Their sound and stage presence feel less developed now than they did 6 years ago … although could the new track “Black Hearts (On Fire)” be some sort of message to fellow Melbournites Cut Copy? Just putting it out there… take with it what you will.
But all in all, it was much the same as what we’ve all seen in the past. The new tracks definitely lack the imagination that made “Get Born” such a great album, and just come off sort of “samey” as a result. They’re still good fun on stage, and they’ve always been – but they still just don’t do… much. I remember seeing them at BDO 2004, wondering why it sounded like they had pressed play on their record and then walked off. While I guess that’s “their thing”, I’ve nonetheless always been keen to see a bit more experimentation. I guess that’s just “not their thing”. But to their credit, they’ve made some of the best music Aussie rock has offered the world in the last decade, and they certainly show this off in every performance. Damn it, Are You Gonna Be My Girl is STILL catchy!
And to the station’s credit, all the past few years aside, hopefully this is a sign that Channel [V] is jumping back on the live bandwagon for keeps. There was an awful lot of energy and money put into the gig: They streamed the show live online for free, and the elaborate set up at the Big Top – VIP area, support act, kissing booth, [V] Promoter search and all – put the Fox Studio gigs to shame (although with such planning, there’s a noticeable loss of spontaneous and unexpected energy). Who knows who we’ll see next, and where, but bring it on. We all love free, and we all would love [V] to bring back some quality. Hey, that rhymes.
