The Mess Hall at Jive

Date: Friday, April 22nd 2005
Venue: Jive
Time: 8pm door opens, 10pm gig start
Price: $12
Bands: The Mess Hall w/ Pharaohs

Sydney's The Mess Hall have been described as the Australian answer to Ohio's The Black Keys. The two-piece make such loud brilliant noise for just a guitar and drums so I wasn't going to miss their show at Jive.


The Pharaohs started things off around 10pm, who I've seen a number of times before (at The Shins gig and at the Bad Girls of The Bible 7" launch; both previously reviewed). They were the only support so I think they played longer than the usual 40 minutes and they were tight as usual. They played some new songs and their riffs are catchy as always. This band has been playing such great supports lately (including a stint at the Big Day Out this year, which if I'm not mistaken, is one of their first gigs), so expect big things from them.


The Mess Hall finally played around 11pm. They played songs from their 2003 EP, Feeling Sideways, including the popular hits, Railyard Rumble and of course, Lock & Load (which one audience member could not stop yelling the track name of). They also played their new single Disco #1 (which will be in their new album, Notes From A Ceiling, coming out in June) and tracks from their 7" record, Evelyn and Shake Shake (which was released in limited copies of 500 last March 14th this year).


Highlights of the show were a number of people dancing during their set. But it was unfortunate that there was only a small crowd and most people were sitting down despite it being a sort of dance rock atmosphere. However, I really enjoyed the gig and hope the band come back again soon. This gig was the first time the band has come back to Adelaide in like over 2 years (or somewhat), so I hope it wouldn't be that long again.


Loud. Crash. Rock. Can't wait for their new album.