Airbourne take off at the Civic

Airbourne

Wolverhampton Civic Hall

Concert review and photos by Ian Harvey

Aussie rockers Airbourne were clearly in the mood for a heavy metal Armageddon as the Terminator theme tune signalled showtime to a packed Civic Hall.

Bursting onto a stage dominated by rows of Marshall amps, it quickly became clear that most of the focus was on barechested singer and lead guitarist Joel O'Keeffe.

See our gig photo gallery below

In terms of AC/DC (and with Airbourne you simply can't escape the comparisons) O'Keeffe is Angus Young and Bon Scott rolled into one. He's got the showmanship and power of the former plus the cheeky grin and raspy voice of the latter.

The fans lapped up 90 minutes of booze-soaked, good-time debauchery, which saw O'Keeffe venture out with his guitar into the crowd downstairs and then later clamber up onto the balcony to go walkabout up there too.

Titles like Blonde Bad and Beautiful, Girls in Black and Cheap Wine & Cheaper Women say it all.

Fan favourites Diamond In The Rough, What's Eating You and the Airbourne "manifesto" Stand Up For Rock 'n' Roll left the crowd hot, sweaty and smiling from ear to ear.

As someone who was lucky enough to catch AC/DC in the late 70s, this as near as possible captured the heady thrill of those early days.