The Jezabels at Rescue Rooms

Yet to get the same recognition in the UK as that which they’ve deservedly achieved on home soil, The Jezabels began their three monster months of touring in style in front of a near-capacity Rescue Rooms crowd.

With music sitting somewhere between Fleetwood Mac, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Kate Bush, it was sure to be an energetic set consisting of thick and glossy alt pop.

Support came in the shape of Champs – alas no, not The Champs who did Tequila – whose trembling vocal harmonies and gentle, delay-clad riffs were a great way to whet the appetite for the main act. And, more importantly, band members included lookalikes of Russell Brand, Billie Joe Armstrong and Richard Ayoade.

Brand, BJ, Richard and co

The Jezabels strode confidently on stage, all in black, and plunged straight into the brooding title track of new album ‘The Brink’.

The set, consisting mostly of brand new album tracks, was cleverly peppered with classics such as ‘Hurt Me’ and ‘A Little Piece’, the likes of which were brought to life by Nik Kaloper’s impressive drumming.

The strong line-up was brought to an end with fan favourite ‘Dark Storm’, before being reignited by a tumultuous crescendo of an encore with ‘Catch Me’ and ‘Easy to Love’.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7UZznPRpr4[/youtube]

In terms of performance, The Jezabels really brought their A-game. Hayley Mary’s fragile yet soaring vocals never fell short of pitch perfect; Heather Shannon and Sam Lockwood married synth and guitar masterfully to keep the band’s layered sound as crisp as on their albums.

The smoothness of the set did, however, prove to be a little too much for some.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eLi57nrEJw[/youtube]

Overall, a fantastic response to an unfairly praise-less album reception and a highly promising start to what is sure to be a hectic couple of months for The Jezabels.

Awkward overly-starstruck sneak-attack photo