Pranksters Bluejuice stir up the Hifi
Words: Kylie Johnston
Pictures: Helena Michalak
Friday 23rd April
Brisbane band The Swamplords open the night’s proceedings gracing the stage in a confusing concoction of silly outfits. Their music is also somewhat confusing, self-described on their Myspace page as surf-a-billy which I suppose it is, incongruous as it may seem.
Next up is Sydney indie-rock outfit, The Holidays, who have gotten a lot more Vampire Weekend-esque since I last saw them. Their songs are catchy and well executed but I can’t help but think that sort of Strokes derivative indie-rock has about as much life left in it as Michael Jackson. This isn’t to say they’re not a good band, they are but the crowd that Bluejuice has attracted to the Hi Fi bar tonight is far from their target market.
After a 35 minute break the crowd of predominately male footballer types is definitely well plied with liquor and ready for who they came to see, Bluejuice. The band receives a rapturous welcome as they take the stage in Karate outfits, doing nothing to diffuse their prankster reputation.
From the very first note dual front men, Jake Stone and Stav Yiannoukas’s energy levels are off the charts, with manic jumping and quirky dance moves respectively. By the second song Stone has his shirt off and there is full-on crowd participation. The guys have a great time on stage and constantly interact with the audience, whether it be with between song comedy or crowd-surfing or even pouring a whole bottle of whiskey straight into the mouths of the punters in the front row. They relentlessly whip the crowd into a frenzy playing most of their singles back to back towards the end of the set. Surprisingly, the lesser-known songs go down just as well.
It’s not pitch perfect and it’s not cool but it is impossible not to enjoy a room full of people having that much fun. After this tour the band are taking their blend of humour and mish-mash of musical styles overseas. They’ll be lucky if is goes down well in New York or London, but tonight both the crowd and the band have a great time and that’s what counts.