18. Jesus Jones

O2 Academy Islington

28 January 2012

It’s classic Friday night fodder: beer, burger, and a nostalgia-fuelled gig that, in this case, my oldest mate had picked out. Now, when I say I don’t know much about the band, I mean at all, aside from their anthem “Right Here, Right Now”, which ruled every youth TV show in the early nineties: Paula Yates on The Word, surrounded by St Martin's fashion graduates, sporting impossible cheekbones, high on their own smugness and probably quite a lot of South American exported goods.

The venue was the Islington O2 Academy, an intimate little spot, Brixton's slightly lesser cousin. It is the sort of venue where, on most given nights, the tribute bands play; the ones with names like “Noasis” and “Fleetwood Mock.” I swear I once saw a poster for a Yorkshire-based Black Eyed Peas tribute act fronted by a gentleman who calls himself “will.i.eck.”

So with little to go on, I hope to be surprised, and surprise me they did. They hit the stage like a defibrillator, lighting rigs flaring and amps blasting out this hypnotic, groove-heavy vibe. It wasn’t the longest set, barely double digits, but they came at each track like they were wrestling it to the ground.

The crowd roared through “International Bright Young Thing”, belted out “Real, Real, Real” like a football terrace chant, and just when you thought they might slow down, they closed with “Idiot Stare”, a track that sounded one tuxedo short of a Bond theme. We stumbled out, ears buzzing, genuinely wondering why these guys weren’t more of a household name.