IT feels like it's taken an age to finally bring red-hot indie-rockers Spacey Jane to Newcastle.
There's been multiple failures to launch. Initially they were due to perform at 48 Watt Street's intimate Small Ballroom in April 2020 prior to the release of their acclaimed debut album Sunlight.
That show was cancelled due to COVID, as was the rescheduled August gig.
As the band's popularity exploded due to Sunlight and the track Booster Seat's No.2 placing in triple j's Hottest 100, Spacey Jane were bumped up to the prestigious Civic Theatre for two nights in April. However, those shows were also postponed when frontman Caleb Harper lost his voice a week out from the shows.
The old adage goes "good things come to those who wait" and that was certainly true of Spacey Jane. The wait was entirely worth it.
The easing of COVID restrictions allowed the Perth four-piece to perform to consecutive sold-out Civic Theatre capacity crowds on Tuesday and Wednesday. Any Australian band that can sell 3000 tickets for mid-week shows in Newcastle deserves respect.
From the opening jangly guitar riff of Skin, Spacey Jane rocketed out of the blocks and the audience was right beside them.
It doesn't hurt that Spacey Jane, unlike many of their Australian indie contemporaries, genuinely look like rock stars. But they're also not too cool to enjoy themselves.
Back in March Sydney's surf-rockers Ocean Alley delivered a professional, yet slightly detached and bland, performance at the Civic Theatre. In contrast, Spacey Jane were a ball of energy.
Lead guitarist Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu and bassist Peppa Lane constantly bounced around the stage with beaming smiles.
Frontman Caleb Harper possesses a voice pitched between the raspy twang of Kings Of Leon's Caleb Followill and Ball Park Music's Sam Cromack and presented no signs of his recent throat illness.
Dressed in a white singlet displaying his snake tattoo and muscular arms, Harper channelled a young Bruce Springsteen, while Hardman-Le Cornu's constant thrashes, jumps and kicks were reminiscent of Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood in his pomp.
Lane was more reserved than her bandmates, particularly in the heavier moments of Still Running and Thrills in the encore, but her contribution can't be understated. Her sweet harmonies proved the perfect foil for Harper on Good Grief and Weightless.
The setlist was dominated by their debut album Sunlight, but older Spacey Jane fans were also treated to cuts from their 2017 debut EP No Way To Treat An Animal, including their first triple j hit Feeding The Family.
The song's distinctive riff attracted one of the night's biggest reactions. Of course that response was surpassed by the pop for Hardman-Le Cornu's descending guitar riff to introduce Booster Seat.
It can be difficult to initially understand the popularity of the meandering track, but when it's belted out by 1500 people in unison it becomes apparent. It was a goosebumps moment.
Spacey Jane aren't doing anything outside the classic indie-rock playbook. One criticism would be their arrangements rarely deviate, but when you boast anthemic choruses like Booster Seat and Good Grief, you're flying.
Spacey Jane have taken off and are headed for the moon.
