AIRBOURNE LANDED AT NORTH STAR !!!
By Michael Davis & Lisa Young / Horizon Press Company
Airbourne played on 3/31/08 at the North Star Bar in Philadelphia, PA and gave yet another incredible performance, but that is typical for this band who is currently on tour in support of their debut album, “Runnin’ Wild” !
In case you aren’t familiar with Airbourne, here is a very simple explanation. Airbourne is a hardcore rock band originating from Warrnambool, Australia, where they gained a steady following by conducting business in the Aussie pub rock tradition of AC/DC, the Angels, and Rose Tattoo. In short, four guys with beers in hand who would rather die than be caught wearing a pink shirt. The band is comprised of frontman and guitarist, Joel O’Keefe, Ryan O’Keefe on drums, David Roads on lead guitar and Justin Street on bass. They are a loud, energized, sweaty, beer-guzzling, “real” rock and roll band! Their music, vocals and lyrics are very similar to fellow Australian Hard rock band AC/DC.
Brothers, Joel and Ryan O'Keeffe, grew up in the country town of Warrnambool in southern Australia. Joel took on vocals and lead guitar and Ryan took up drums while still in school. They rehearsed loud and often, So much so that their neighbors sent the police around with noise complaints multiple times. Second guitarist David Roads was found in the local pub, where Joel O'Keeffe worked. Bass player Justin Street was located in the town's sand dunes by Ryan O'Keeffe while drunkenly rolling down them, and with his addition Airbourne was complete.
Steadily playing small gigs, they put out a self-financed EP called “Ready to Rock” in 2004. In early 2005, the band relocated to Melbourne. Later that year, the band signed a five album record deal with Capitol Records. One-off shows in the Melbourne pubs turned into one-off gigs supporting the Rolling Stones and Motley Crue. A remarkable feat considering that by this stage, the band had only released one EP, “Ready To Rock”. National tours with the likes of Dallas Crane, Jimmy Barnes, The Living End, You Am I and Magic Dirt helped further hone their rowdy live show. A main stage slot on the 2006 Big Day Out festival solidified Airbourne’s reputation as one of the Australia’s fastest rising bands.
In 2006, after a huge amount of interest from several international labels, Airbourne relocated to the U.S. to begin work on their debut album, “Runnin’ Wild” with legendary producer Bob Marlette. Marlette’s credits include albums by Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper and Shinedown. Airbourne went into pre-production, churned out 40+ songs and took the best 11, which are on “Runnin’ Wild”. Just to ensure their intense live energy translated to CD, the band not only enlisted Andy Wallace (who worked with Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana, Linkin Park and Slipknot) to mix the album, but made sure that the amps were set to 11 when recording!
Airbourne's music has been featured in several video games, such as Madden NFL 08, NHL 08, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Need for Speed: ProStreet, Skate, Grand Theft Auto IV, NFL Tour, Burnout Paradise and NASCAR 08. The song "Runnin' Wild" was also featured in a commercial for the console game Army of Two and played during Monday Night Football.
From the album’s fist-pumping title track, “Runnin’ Wild”, to their rock anthem, “What’s Eatin’ You” and their explosive songs, “Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast” and “Diamond In The Rough”, “Runnin’ Wild” is an exercise in booze-and-sweat soaked rock and roll that is looking to accomplish one primary goal, to give rock and roll fans a record that leaves them as energized, sweaty and pumped up as the band!
If you missed the concert on 3/31/08, and you love AC/DC and “true” rock and roll, do yourself a big favor and catch Airbourne in concert! The band will be playing with Finger Eleven on 5/13/08 at Crocodile Rock in Allentown, PA and on 5/14/08 at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ. Airbourne is also on the bill for the MMR*B*Q celebrating the 40th Anniversary of 93.3 WMMR which will be on 5/18/08 at the Susquehanna Bank Center (formerly the Tweeter Center) in Camden, NJ. The headlining act for the MMR*B*Q is the newly reunited Stone Temple Pilots. The 7 bands on the bill are: Stone Temple Pilots, Staind, Everclear, The Hooters, Airbourne, Ashes Divide and Jealousy Curve. Airbourne is also one of the acts on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Tour which will make 2 local stops in the Philadelphia, PA area. On 8/3/08 the Mayhem Tour will be in Scranton, PA at the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain and on 8/15/08 will stop at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ. The Mayhem Tour will feature co-headliners Slipknot, Disturbed, Dragonforce and Mastodon on the main stage. Two second stages, are sponsored by Jagermeister and Hot Topic, and will feature performances from Airbourne, Underoath, Five Finger Death Punch and 36 Crazyfists on the Jagermeister stage. The Hot Topic stage will include performances from Machine Head, Black Tide, Suicide Silence, The Red Chord and Walls of Jericho. So that is 5 more chances to see Airbourne locally!
Airbourne is a hardcore rock and roll band that has definitely come onto the music scene when rock and roll fans needed them most. For all of us fans that love sweat and beer driven rock and roll with strong power chords, loud drums and songs you can pump your fists to, Airbourne has come to our rescue!
For more information on Airbourne visit WWW.AIRBOURNEROCK.COM
