Review by: Craig McDonnell
Pictures by: Seanie Cahill
Increasingly popular Irish pop-rockers Jody Has A Hitlist headlined an all ages show with support from three other bands last Thursday in The Academy
The first band of the day was The Upgrades. Kicking off with ‘Something, I Dunno’, frontman Kelan then told the crowd that this would be the ska bands last ever gig. Without citing a definite reason, it’s hard to look past the fact that Kelan also plays keys and sings in Jody Has A Hitlist. Halfway through their set they played a new song which certainly had a more pop-punk feel to it. Finishing with ‘Bukkake’ the curtain closed on a great Irish band.
Next up was Juliet’s Rescue, formerly Box Social. This young band played the HotPress New Bands Stage at Oxegen last year. The most eye-catching thing for me was the visible confidence throughout the band, in particular from frontman Daire. Every song was played without a beat being missed. The crowd was encouraged to dance, sing and clap along for the whole set and they duly obliged. A very impressive band and definitely one to keep an eye out for in the coming years.
The penultimate band was Not Advised from Southampton, UK. This energetic band have supported Jody Has a Hitlist before and you can see why they continue to be asked back. Pop-rock tunes full of energy and the cocky-yet-likeable frontman telling the crowd to “keep those energy levels up” ensured everyone was ready for the headliners. Highlight of the set was a cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Man in the Mirror’ which was dedicated to the man himself.
Jody Has A Hitlist took to the stage to almost deafening screams. Even if the music wasn’t good from this 5-piece you get the sense they would still be popular thanks to their boyband good looks. As luck would have it, the music is incredibly catchy too. Every song off their EP, available for free off their myspace, is played along with some new songs and 2 covers. The covers were well chosen. ‘Tik Tok’ by Ke$ha and ‘Bad Romance’ by Lady Gaga had the crowd jumping and singing every word. For their finale, they were joined on stage by Fox Avenue guitarist and DJ Dara Quilty for a rendition of ‘Nobody’s Looking At You’. Unfortunately guitar problems mean only half the song is played with 2 guitars, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind and enjoyed every minute of this song and indeed the whole gig.
