AIRBOURNE – LIVE – GRAMERCY THEATRE – NYC
On Friday, September 9th I headed to the Gramercy Theatre in NYC to see the opening night of Airbourne‘s US and Canadian tour which runs until October 11, ending in Los Angeles. This is their first tour since 2016 in the US. Their original tour to support their 2019 release Boneshaker was unfortunately scrapped due to Covid. And what a great start to what should be a fabulous tour. I have to say that they delivered one of the best shows that I have been to and Airbourne is one of the best bands I have ever seen.
I had so much fun at the show. The energy in the room was extremely profound. The band really knows how to get a crowd going and have a great time. You can see how much enjoyment the singer/lead guitarist was having. He had a perpetual smirk on his face. They came out playing “Ready to Rock” and the fans that knew what to expect were ready and singing along right off the bat. I had a big smile on my face throughout the whole show. These guys are really bringing some serious fire to the hard rock scene with their drive and enthusiasm.
Airbourne formed in the band’s hometown of Warrnambool, Victoria 10 years ago . Their first album
Runnin’ Wild was definitely one of the best reviewed and most talked about in recent rock history. The
band won a Metal Hammer Golden Gods Award for the best debut album. Since then the band has also
released No Guts. No Glory as well as their most recent album, Boneshaker which debuted at #17
on the ARIA Albums Chart.
Airbourne consists of Joel O’Keefe (Vocals/Lead Guitar), Ryan O’Keefe (Drums), Justin Street (Bass) and the newest member Jarred Morrice (Guitar). I have to say if this was only the kickoff of their tour, then wow!!! What a start! These guys lit a fire under the crowd from the moment they hit the stage. During
the second song Joel went out into the crowd on his tech’s shoulders singing and playing his guitar and the crowd went wild.
At one point Joel thanked Lemmy, as they had toured with him in the past. A bar was then rolled out onto the stage and Joel poured shots for himself, the band and people in the crowd. In addition, as many beers were poured and tossed out to people in the crowd trying to catch a drink. The Gramercy definitely
smelled like a brewery by the end of the night but it was all in good fun. People were having such an awesome time at this show and the theatre was packed.
The band that played before Airbourne was called The Native Howl. This was my first experience with this band as well and they were fantastic! They label themselves bluegrass death metal. What an exotic combination. They really riled up the crowd. The Native Howl are from Leonard, Michigan and they use a
blend of guitar, banjo, electric bass and drums. The members consist of Jacob Sawicki (Guitar/Banjo/
Harmonica), Alex Holycross (Vocals/Guitar), Zach Bolling (Drums), and Mark Chandler(Bass).
In march of 2016 “their single “Thrash Grass” was released which redefined the band’s live image and their intensity, music wise. In 2018 their much anticipated third album, Out of the Garden and Into The Darkness, was released. The album debuted at number 3 on the Bluegrass Billboard chart and number 50 on the New Artist Billboard chart.In June of 2022, The Native Howl won season 1 of Hit Parader’s No Cover for a contract with Sumerian Records beating out the runner-up Night Spins.
These two bands are a definite must see if you haven’t seen them yet I had an amazing time and left totally satisfied.
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To learn more about Airbourne, check out the website
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