THE SUPERJESUS @ THE GOV
SARAH MCLEOD & THE SUPERJESUS ROCK US INTO THE 21ST CENTURY
It was iconic South Australian venue, The Gov, like I’ve never seen it before. Full to covid-safe capacity, it was set up theatre style which, to those of us who are usually front row in the mosh pit, was slightly disconcerting initially.
Supported on the South Australian leg of the tour by 6 piece Adelaide band, The Sundance Kids, who formed in 2006, broke up in 2012 (they must have been about 12 then!!) reforming in 2018 after a six year break, for what they call their ‘mid-life crisis’.
The entertaining set included singles Solutions, Drive Away and Burn So Bright and their two new songs.
I am loath to admit that this was my first Superjesus gig, so I’m no longer a Superjesus virgin and let me tell you, I won’t be missing another one.
After a zoom interview we did for radio with lead singer and guitarist, Sarah McLeod, where I found her to be funny, generous, honest, effervescent and an eternal optimist, I was keen to see her and the band perform.
If you missed the radio interview, it’s available here on the podcast Still Rockin’ It Podcast with That Radio Chick.
Forming in Adelaide in 1994, their debut album Sumo (1998) peaked at #2 on the ARIA Albums Chart, their second album Jet Age (2000) reached #5 and their third Rock Music (2003) peaked at #14. This tour is the 20th anniversary of that Jet Age album, which is really now the 21st anniversary because of covid postponments.
On behalf of the band, Stuart Rudd on bass, Jason Slack on guitar and Travis Dragani on drums, Sarah said how ecstatic they were to be playing live gigs again. They didn’t want to cancel or postpone this tour again so they just decided to do as many of the dates as they possibly could. Sarah said, “Every gig is a gift at the moment!”, which I think is the sentiments of every member of the audience as well.
Even the fact that we couldn’t dance, didn’t curb the Friday night of the long weekend crowd’s enthusiasm. Ever the optimist, Sarah said it made us all much better dancers, now that we only have to worry about the top half of our body and not be concerned with what the legs are doing.
They managed four dates in WA before our sold out one here in Adelaide, and covid-permitting they’ll be back at the end of the month to do it all again.
They played the album Jet Age in it’s entirety but not in order.
As with all great gigs, it was difficult to pick a highlight so here’s my top three:
Checkin’ In – written very last minute in the studio, starting out just as a bit of a jam, quite bluesy
Holy Water – where Sarah and her guitar went walk about through the crowd
Everybody Calls Me Lonely – first time played on a tour this tour
They also did a great cover of the Gin Blossoms’ hit Hey Jealousy “cos it’s fun and we think you might like it and to prove it’s not all about us”.
See Cheryl Lee on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/ThatRadioChick
Hear Still Rockin’ It Podcasts here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Qbm4HmfAXtd4SqbwqnfnA
