Eagles of Death Metal + The Southern River Band – The Tivoli [Live Review}

Review: Nev Pearce
Photography: Dan Maynard

After the usual lineup down the street and around the block, The Tivoli is absolutely buzzing with excitement as the rock and roll sermon is about to begin.

The congregation is diverse, with old-school rockers, punks, battle jacket metallers and shaggy-haired hipsters all coming together to worship at the altar of rock led by our Reverend Jesse ‘The Devil’ Hughes (aka Boots Electric).

Eagles of Death Metal, (for those living under a rock) aren’t, in fact, a death metal band, but instead, a high-octane rock band formed in 1998 by childhood friends Hughes and Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, who is still active with the band but doesn’t tour with them often due to his commitments with QOTSA.
Opening the show is Southern River Band from Perth.

Now I had heard a lot about these guys from a friend who described them as ‘Australia’s answer to The Darkness crossed with Airbourne’ and that didn’t even fully prepare me for the spectacle I was about to see.

As the lights on the stage illuminate shirtless long-haired Cal Kramer, the frontman exclaims ‘We’re all Maroons tonight right Brisbane?’ before launching into the heavy blues-soaked riffage of their Aussie rock set.

Everything you hear about this band is true, from their wild stage antics, ripping solos to booze fulled ‘c bomb’ filled banter, these Perth legends have been making a name for themselves in recent years as one of the best bands on the scene and a damn tough act to follow.
While SRB warmed the crowd up to a fever, tonight absolutely belongs to Eagles of Death Metal.

As Time Warp blasts over the PA a shining red caped Jesse Hughes takes the stage to amp up the fans for the service ahead before he and his band dive straight into ‘Gotta Woman’.

I Only Want You is the first big moment of the night and the whole room top to bottom is moving and singing along to the classic dance floor tune that for many of us is where it all began.

The band is extremely tight and entertaining live, with Hughes’s stunning partner in crime Jennie Vee shredding her bass lines effortlessly while making the entire room fall in love with her rock goddess persona, drummer Leah Bluestein pounding the drums like they owe her money and punk rock guitar legend Scott Shiflett shredding the whisky soaked licks while Hughes stalks the stage with his charismatic croon and moustachioed swagger.


Seeing the band interact with each other and not just go through the motions makes the show fun and unpredictable as the hits keep rolling on like Cherry Cola, Complexity, I Want You So Hard and more, we are also treated to a truly magical cover of Bowie’s Moonage Daydream with extended solo jam that’s nothing short of hypnotic.
Wrapping up their encore with Jesse on the top floor of the balcony having a 12-minute shred off with Scott during I Like to Move in the Night and two giant wacky wavers on either side of the stage during the big finale of Speaking in Tongues, you can’t help but feel intoxicated by the sheer excitement of an Eagles of Death Metal show and it’s something everyone could use to remind themselves that rock and roll is meant to be fun, over the top and a little silly during these serious times.

For remaining dates and tickets head to : https://shorturl.at/afwY6


– Gallery –