Although I had heard of The Superjesus previously and had listened to their music, I did not really get into them until their album Rock Music, when I fell in love with songs “Stick Together” and “So Lonely” in 2003 and 2004 consecutively. Not long after, the band broke up and Sarah McLeod embarked on a solo career with album Beauty Was A Tiger, which at the time, I listened to religiously (it needs to be on Spotify). Cut to 2019, The Superjesus are back and have been for a while since they reunited in 2013. While I admittedly have been a bit slow to the reunion party, our paths hadn’t crossed until now.
With original band members Sarah McLeod (lead vocals, guitar) and Stuart ‘Ruddy’ Rudd (bass guitar) accompanied by Jason Slack (lead guitar) and Travis Dragani (drums), The Superjesus have never looked so good.
Conveniently tied with the 50th year since the Apollo 11 moon landing, freshly released track “The Impossible” written about the moon landing conspiracies, is also the title for The Superjesus’ current tour, The Impossible Tour. For the Melbourne leg of The Impossible Tour, The Superjesus performed at Max Watts on Friday, September 20, 2019.
The crowd were warmed up by fellow Aussie rockers and Melbourne band, Violetine who were dragged out of retirement (unsure if willingly or reluctantly) to support The Superjesus. Equipped with their freshly dusted tunes including “Any Day” and “You Know”, Sean Miljoen and Glenn Lewis were accompanied by The Living End‘s drummer Andy Strachan to help dish out Violetine hits, which they did so with wicked bickering and fun banter. I really enjoyed their set. Violetine were funny, they sounded great and for me, it’s been a long time between gigs since I have enjoyed a support artist.
When The Superjesus took to the stage, the crowd were pumped and surprised by the band’s visuals in their NASA inspired white matching attire to which Sarah McLeod shared that she ‘loves a good theme’. Opening with “Shut My Eyes”, The Superjesus performed a good collective of both singles and B-sides from their discography, including new song “The Impossible” , which looked and sounded incredible on-stage thanks to Sarah’s impressive vocals, the band members looking ‘spacey’ in their white outfits, and a clever use of lighting.
With their professionalism and commanding stage presence, it’s hard to believe that The Superjesus were inactive for almost 10 years. While all members of The Superjesus appeared effortless in their delivery, Ruddy looked particularly energetic while performing “Secret Agent Man”. But it is Sarah McLeod that was the ultimate showman (or should I say, ‘show-woman’) with her empowering sassy confidence, piercing eyes and mischievous smile, it would have been hard to find anyone at the venue not captivated by her stage presence.
During the song “Gravity”, Sarah commanded the crowd to sing a round, splitting the audience to sing different parts, which in the end married together and concluded the song nicely. While fans in the audience happily sang along and bounced around to various Superjesus tunes including “Enough To Know”, the crowd were rendered speechless when Sarah surprised the venue with a dramatic rock rendition of arguably the best Kylie Minogue song ever (if you disagree, you can fight me), “Confide In Me”, climbing on-top of the drum kit to tower over the entranced audience.
Still ever the ultimate Australian rock queen, having grown up listening to The Superjesus, Sarah McLeod is just as cool, feisty and fierce as I remember, and possibly better than before. In what I witnessed to be a wonderfully entertaining gig with Aussie rock legends, I am incredibly ashamed that it had taken me this long for the band’s return to be on my radar. I feel very blessed I had the opportunity to witness The Superjesus again in their element – rocking the stage where they belong. Let’s hope that this band will stick together for years to come. And if they tour Melbourne again, I know next time it will be on my radar and I will be there with bells on (not literally).
For more information on The Superjesus, visit: https://www.thesuperjesus.com
Photography by Grant Alexander and Stephanie Chin.
