Airbourne w/ Florence Black @ KK’s Steelmill, Wolverhampton.

It’s been a few years since I last saw Airbourne but all the reports suggest the band, Joel O’Keeffe in particular, are still as mad as a box of frogs – let’s see what transpires shall we!

Before Airbourne hit the stage we have Florence Black, an up and coming Welsh 3-piece from Methyr Tydfil that many rock fans are raving about.

These lads were Planet Rock’s Best New Band of 2022 and are led out by frontman, Tristan Thomas alongside bass-player Jordan Evans and drummer Perry Davies – three surnames as Welsh as you could want. Opening with songs that included Bird on a Chain and On the Ropes, the band got into ‘lively’ mode pretty quickly. Not too much strutting around the stage but some good old-fashioned rock music played with plenty of feeling. Towards the end of the short-ish set the familiar opening riff of Breadfan by Budgie hit hard. The vocals were nothing like the distinctive tones thrown out by the late Burke Shelley but the tribute to their fellow Welsh rockers did not go unnoticed. Just as a note of interest, I hired Budgie to perform at my school dance in Liverpool in 1972 and they cost the vast sum of £25! Enough reminiscing, the band close the set with Sun and Moon from 2021’s Weight of the World.

The smoke hadn’t shifted at all when Airbourne came on to the stage, trailed by Joel in a surgical boot, perhaps he and Johnny Depp had invested in a pair to share!

As if the fans didn’t know it already, the band opened up with Ready to Rock. I’d like to say that this was a crowd favourite but the honest fact is, all the songs seem to be fan favourites.

The good thing was that the beer coming from the stage didn’t make an appearance during the first three songs so the camera survived another Airbourne gig unscathed. You’d think the surgical boot would have calmed Joel down but it seemed to do nothing to dull the madness (that’s Madness with a capital ‘M’!), he continued to leap around the stage apparently unfazed by the not-so-trendy footwear.

The mayhem (perhaps that should be Mayhem, also with a capital ‘M’) continued right through the set which included some of my favourite songs including Girls in Black, Boneshaker and, the finale, Stand up for Rock ’n’ Roll. As expected, the beer did come out, the front few rows got sprayed and enjoyed every second of the experience as Joel constantly praised the Wolverhampton crowd for turning out on a Tuesday night.

No time to leave the stage before the encore so it was straight into Live it Up followed by a rousing and somewhat smoky performance of Runnin’ Wild.

Nothing about the band, or their performance, has changed significantly over the past few years, they continue to entertain with their antics, well, Joel’s antics, and good heavy rock ‘n’ roll – and long may it continue. Airbourne are bonkers!

Words & images: Reg Richardson (Rock Stars Rising).