Gig Review: Spacey Jane

After their performances in Christchurch and Wellington, Australian indie rock band Spacey Jane arrived in Auckland for their If That Makes Sense Tour, bringing to Auckland Town Hall a riveting and explosive performance last Sunday (1 June). If you like funky guitar riffs and hooks that refuse to leave your brain as you imagine yourself in a music video with the current cold and wet weather as background, you will love Spacey Jane’s music.

Phoebe Go and The Moving Stills opened for Spacey Jane, setting the tune for a night full of energy and drama. It was also really heartening to see all three bands talk about each other and the great fun they were having touring with friends. I don’t know about you, but I love when I can clearly tell that people love being here with their members and the other bands they’re touring with – it really shows in the way they rock and have fun on stage! I also found The Moving Stills’ little banner very charming, and got to find out why they were named that, so would definitely recommend if you want to have a eureka moment over missing something obvious in hindsight (but it might just be me who didn’t realise LOL).

The headliner Spacey Jane started off super strong with songs from their latest album, If That Makes Sense, with groovy moves and an enthusiasm matched by the audience. The members played off each other, jumping and dancing around the stage and generally raising the energy through the roof. I wish I could tell you exactly what order the setlist followed, but I was too busy vibing, and those couple of hours are a bit of a happy blur. I can say it was a jam-packed setlist that wove all their hits like Booster Seat and Feeding the Family with newer songs from If That Makes Sense. The audience was enthusiastic, moving to the rhythm and singing along to everything. They were quite a force when Booster Seat and All the Noise were played, competing in a beautiful cacophony of lyrics, and the people behind me were inventing new dance moves the entire time. When Spacey Jane left the stage abruptly, the shouts of “ONE MORE SONG” in the hall were deafening, and the band performed a few more tracks so that the end was also on songs from If That Makes Sense. Overall, a great show, with a lot of good music and cheerful vibes that truly made me appreciate that bands are best enjoyed live, especially ones like Spacey Jane that started out playing live music gigs!