Airbourne - Live - QMU Glasgow

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Review By Darren McIntyre

Australian Hard Rock outfit Airbourne from Warrnambool was formed in 2003 by brothers Joel and Ryan O’Keeffe and gave us Runnin Wild way back in 2007, followed by No Guts No Glory in 2010, Black Dog Barking followed in 2016 with Breaking Outta Hell, and Boneshaker in 2019 proving that the boys are going from strength to strength.

The Glasgow crowd are being whipped into a frenzy right now waiting for Airbourne, the stage is jam-packed with Marshall stacks with the rest parked up in the truck outside as they could not fit any more gear on this tight but well-proportioned Glasgow stage, not having long to wait as the theme tune from(Terminator) rings out along with thundering air raid siren the boys simply walk onto the stage to thunderous applause from this sell-out crowd as we ready ourselves to be drenched in sweat from this rock n roll power outage that is about to be unleashed. From the getgo, we are rewarded with the classic rock n roll juggernaut that is –

Ready To Rock – The boys break into a chorus before a heavy bass takes us away on this rollercoaster, fast. furious, hard, loud, vocals on point and a tune and a half from the boys, the crowd joining in with the chorus as they are enjoying this fabulous night of rock past and present, a night to remember for rockers of all ages as the boys give us what we came for, a night of scintillating in your face balls to the wall rock n roll that we have waited a couple of years for, we are cheering at the top of our lungs as Joel greets us with a How You Doing Glasgow which sends the place wild, he thanks us for coming out on a damp sodden Monday night to rock out with him and him 3 brothers and tells us we are gonna have a party tonight as we roll into

Too Much Too Young Too Fast – Heavy guitar starts off with a great bass line upping the tempo, vocals come in and bring this track together, chorus kicks in cymbals crashing all around us, the hairs are standing up on my arms as the volume is cranked up to 11, classic Airbourne, strong, loud and full of guts as the boys really bring the heat to this capacity crowd tonight and I can tell you the boys are just as excited for tonight as we are let me tell you. This is an anthem that never gets old and you can tell from the reaction of the crowd as they sing every word and punch the air with every shredding riff that is thrown at us tonight, we catch our breath for a second and just soak up the atmosphere of this long overdue gig that has been put back a couple of times since it’s original date hence the sold-out signs, the place is buzzing and really up for it as we stroll into

Back In The Game – As the buzz oozes from the speakers we know what’s coming and boy was it worth it, Joel cranks up the volume as a shredding power-drenched riff echoes all around us as this chest-beating beast erupts into life with a solid snare drum punch that is followed by cymbal crashes that let us know Airbourne are back. The whole place is rocking as we feel the energy pouring from the stage and giving us what we came for, a solid night of hard rocking and rolling that just screams in your face as the boys swap sides and take us to the top with their precision playing that is as tight as a ducks backside. The crowd are going nuts and the Mad Crew with Dumbo at the helm are doing a sterling job controlling all the stage divers and crowd surfers as they go insane for these 4 nutters from down under as we get deeper and deeper into this sweat-drenched beer-fuelled rock n roll extravaganza that is playing out before us, we are just getting warmed up as we head into –

Girls In Black – Heavy guitars thunder in, hard beating drums come next as this track takes shape, the heavy bassline is next giving us the glue to hold this beast together, vocals come rolling in like a juggernaut and the track is complete, a real heavyweight that has you shaking along and punching your fist in the air, Joel heads into the crowd on the shoulders of one of the crew and he is circling the venue to the delight of this mental sweaty crowd who cannot get enough of this in your face down under rock n roll 4 piece who really know how to entertain a crowd. Joel heads back to the stage to finish what he started to the delight of this swelling crowd, we head into the classic beast that is –

Burnout The Nitro – Amps cranked up to full, pounding drums run into full-on guitar riff as this comes from Boneshaker, chorus comes in Smoke, Fire, Thunder, and Lightening, this is full-on in your face rock and roll at it’s finest, the boys are back, finishing off with a stonker of a solo that is ripping this place apart with it’s intensity that is taking us on a journey and letting us know that the boys are firing on all cylinders tonight and boy don’t we know it, we roll into a real thought provoking track as Joel sends it out to all the people who have been having or are still having a rough ride since Covid as he presents us with –

Bottom Of The Well – Unmistakable guitar riff comes in followed by a great little hook, pounding drums come in, and lyrics are almost a shot at how the band got here and how they are going to stay here, Joey tells us that they play more in Scotland than they do in their native Australia, a testament that us Scots know how to rock and roll and that the boys are welcome anytime, Joey bellows out that he loves Scotland as we don’t take shit from anyone which brings a huge cheer from this excited, eager audience. Joel chats some more before his trademark smashing of beer cans on his napper, the crowd are going nuts and loving every minute of this crazy rock fuelled extravaganza as we get a smattering of Ghostbuster that lets the crowd sing along to this classic hit, we stroll into –

Breaking Outta Hell – Heavy bass starts this beast of a track off, guitars kick in bringing the track to a boiling point, pounding drums complete the order and the song bursts into life, a real powerhouse track from the boys, the rawness is plain for all to see from this outing a real gutbuster, awesome is all and we have been treated to a real full tempo rock n roll masterpiece tonight as the boys have given us a real treat in the form of a greatest hits if you like set that celebrates the boys and what they have achieved since 2003, we stride straight into –

It’s All For Rock n Roll – Trademark Joel’s intro kicks off with a steady bass line bringing the track together, a fantastic hook throughout this tune makes it a real go-getter or a tune, the audience appreciates the amount of work these guys put in, and it shows another powerhouse of a song that has all the elements thrown in too, Joel wheels on Lemmy’s Bar and begins to pour 4 large JD’s n coke and tells us the story of how they roped Lemmy into appearing in one of their videos and all Lemmy wanted was 2 bottles of JD, the man was and still is a legend Joel screams out and the crowd don’t argue. All through the night there has been beer after beer thrown to the audience to try and catch and usually to the amusement of the band which always goes down a storm, the boys finished strongly and exit the stage and after a few minutes Ryan comes back and begins whirring the Air Raid Siren which leads us onto –

Stand Up For Rock n Roll – Unmistakable riff starts off running into a heavy bass drum beat and crashing cymbals, thundering drums lead on to a killer riff that carries you through to a thundering conclusion that this is a rock classic from the boys. The vocals are just shredding through this foot-stomping monster as we feel the energy oozing from the stage as the boys rip into this classic Aussie beast that is pleasing this sold-out crowd tonight let me tell you, we slide into the classic –

Live It Up – Bomber roars overhead as guitars kick in, Ryan is pounding on the drums as the track gathers pace, bang the track comes to life, pounding beat from all corners, this is a cracker of a track, great beat, great lyrics, great hook all round belter of a tune, solo in the middle defines this tune an Airbourne classic. The place is going nuts as these boys have delivered a no-nonsense, no-thrills, killer show tonight that lets us know that they are on top of their game with a killer show that blew us all away and then some and even brought an hommage to their brothers AC / DC with a midsection of Let There Be Rock which got us all hot and bothered, Joel stands in the middle of the stage and rolls of a rendition of Scotland The Brave to which he tells us that he loves coming to Scotland because we are mental and embrace him and the boys every time they roll into town and we show our appreciation with a huge cheer, we come to that time when the last track hits us like a tornado and brings us to the end of what has been a thrill a minute, in your face rock n roll belter of a gig as the boys hit us with –

Runnin Wild – Heavy cymbals begin the journey to rock euphoria with the last track in this blistering set, heavy laden guitars combined with a bass line make this a sure-fire winner of a closing track that would be worthy at any show. The bass pedal in the middle brings down the track until it erupts again with Joey’s distinctive sound, the crowd are going mental and don’t want it to end. A real masterclass of a show, letting us know that Airbourne is here to stay. The night from start to finish has been nothing short of colossal and we cannot wait for the next time they grace our shores and it will be with a new album I hear.

Airbourne –

Joey O’Keeffe – Guitar / Vocals

Brett Tyrrell – Rhythm Guitar / Backing Vocals

Justin Street – Bass / Backing Vocals

Ryan O’Keeffe- Drums/ Vocals

Setlist –

Ready To Rock

Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast

Back In The Game

Girls In Black

Burnout The Nitro

Bottom Of The Well / Ghostbusters