Live Review: Jet, A Swayze & The Ghosts

It seems Monday nights are for reminiscing, as small groups huddle outside The Tivoli, catching up like they haven't seen each other in years. It's definitely an older crowd out tonight for Melbourne darlings Jet, but there's still a few younger heads eagerly anticipating this band. 

Opening act A Swayze & The Ghosts are full of energy and they're all about the early-2000s Australian indie revival, with jangly guitars and heavy, raucous drums. They're the perfect act to get the crowd pumped up and ready for the main event, although we probably didn't need much help. They seem to be over as soon as they begin and the minutes seem to drag on second by agonising second as the stage crew move about, teasing and tantalising us with every task.

Minutes before the band are due to come out on stage, the crowd is reeling with excitement, with chants of "Jet! Jet! Jet!" hammering on the ceiling. They race out on stage, give us a wave and launch straight into Last Chance. It's quickly followed up with Are You Gonna Be My Girl and there's not a single person who isn't singing along. Next they play Rollover DJ, with singer and guitarist Nic Cester pausing at the end to say a big hello to everyone. "It's so great to be here in Brisbane," he says, "We're gonna play the whole album [Get Born] for you tonight." The roar from the crowd is deafening, but quickly drowned out by the band finishing the song.

The intro to the next song goes on for a while, Cester leaning into his mic many times only to stop and smile as the crowd do all the singing for him. After a few minutes, he laughs and says, "I'll do the singing here, thanks," and we stop so they can play Look What You've Done, followed by Get What You Need. For the next song, Cester introduces us to his little brother Chris on drums, who heads to the middle of the stage to sing Move On. Some kind of mishap in the front row throws Chris and he starts again. Afterwards, he runs back up to his kit, playfully and worriedly asking the crowd, "Can someone find that kid's teeth?" and we're left to wonder what actually happened.

The band smash out hit after hit, the crowd never letting up with the singalongs. They finish every track off their debut album as promised and then head straight into classic 2009 single She's A Genius, renewing the electric energy that's still burning through the room. Afterwards, Cester mentions a story the outfit read on Instagram this morning and asks the audience about someone named Louise. A chorus of shouts and squeals erupt from the crowd front-left of the stage and the band announce they were extremely touched by the story. They gift to Louise a T-shirt signed by them all, also dedicating their next song, Seventeen, to her.

Jet finish up their set shortly after, but barely any time passes before they're straight back on stage for an encore. After each song, they promise us it's their last and yet they just keep on playing. After three or so songs, they finally depart the stage for the very last time and, as the crowd all move toward the exit, we truly do feel reborn.