The 69 Eyes

w/The Eternal and The Deadthings

The Hifi Bar – Melbourne, 1st June, 2009.

The hotly anticipated debut Australian tour for The 69 Eyes lived up to the hype, with The Hi Fi bar filled to half capacity before the first support band graced the stage. Many people travelled far and wide, some from as far afield as Perth to see The 69 Eyes live, in the flesh.

The Deadthings were the first cab off the rank, bringing their brand of glam rock with goth undertones to warm up the crowd. While they delivered a satisfactory performance, the vibes in the room were quite flat and the band didn’t seem to command the attention of the sparse audience, leaving some people to quickly lose interest, with one or two leaving the room.

Next up were The Eternal, who had just returned from their European tour. No jetlag was evident when they were onstage, their performance lifting the vibe in the room. By the time they closed their set with “Blood”, the air was thick with anticipation, the crowd .

Finally, The 69 Eyes rolled in like a ball of fire, with Jyrki 69 demonstrating the difference between a lead singer and a frontman in his stage presence. He exuded the elements of the world’s greatest frontmen from aeons past, most notably Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Robert Plant and Jim Morrison, and drummer Jussi 69 is arguably the most vibrant, animated drummer in rock – apart from his antics behind the kit, his style of drumming is like no other. If Jussi were a cartoon character or other, he would be Animal from The Muppets.

Overall, The 69 Eyes upstaged the support acts on their own merits as neither support band had had their sound or lighting compromised in any way, which is a rarity. Being their first Australian tour, they played for at least one hour, playing songs from their extensive back catalogue including “Gothic Girl”, “Perfect Skin”, “Sister of Charity”, “Christina Death” and “Never Say Die”. The grand finale, they played “The Lost Boys” for their encore, leaving leaving the pumped-up crowd with a memory of a brilliant stage show that will stay with them for a long time to come.

For more information on any of the bands visit the following websites;
The 69 Eyes www.myspace.com/theofficial69eyes
The Deadthings www.myspace.com/thedeadthings
The Eternal www.myspace.com/theeternalband

Review by Megan Masters