MUSIC
JET ★★★★
Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
January 31
"Sold out" signs plastered on the pub door, a line of eager fans stretching along Alexandra Parade and the smell of anticipation heavy in the air.
![Jet, pictured at the 2004 Aria Awards, are enjoying each other's company again.](/web/20170201034556im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/z/y/s/0/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu2u8r.png/1485918597227.jpg)
It's been a few years, "six or seven" according to lead singer Nic Cester, since Jet last powered up but they are far, far from rusty.
The once shaggy looking four-piece that broke internationally with debut album Get Born in 2003 (a couple of years after forming) more than blew out any cobwebs on Tuesday with a 90-minute set at Collingwood's Gasometer Hotel.
Cester still has the casual swagger of a rock'n'roll singer, only now he's bearded, while brother Chris on drums has traded his wild man appearance of days gone by for a short back and sides look. Bass player Mark Wilson, too, has clipped his mop of hair and looks more like an elite athlete than a rock'n'roller, while guitarist Cam Muncey, wearing spectacles post-show, maintains the calm presence of a man on a mission.
Indeed, in the years since Jet last threw the switch on their amps, it seems the long period of downtime has served them well. And boy, have they bounced back with style. If there was any doubt the multiple ARIA award winners wrote great songs, just go back and Get Born will clear that up.
Cold Hard Bitch, Get Me Outta Here, Are You Gonna be My Girl? and Look What You've Done, all rolled out during this warm-up for the group's upcoming support shows with Bruce Springsteen, could fit comfortably into a list of the best Australian songs of the last two decades. And no wonder Jet were in such hot demand overseas during their height; they can match it with the very best of the English or American rock bands of that period.
This night they dug deep from their catalogue, delivering to a packed pub more than enough evidence they weren't on stage for the hell of it. "It's great to be back with friends," Cester said after a couple of sparkling opening salvos. The singer has spent considerable time overseas but said he was rapt to be back in Australia, rehearsing for the past week with his bandmates.
His distinctive voice sounds in rude health and when he unleashes that huge wail at the back end of Cold Hard Bitch, it gives you goose bumps. On stage, too, there was a strong sense these guys are enjoying being around each other.
It's a long way from the bust-up that seemingly slammed the door on one of this country's most exciting rock'n'roll bands.
"It seems time has healed those wounds," Chris Cester said last week in an interview with Fairfax Media. He neatly stepped around a question about any new recordings, but said there was some new music and "everyone's just having a really good time, and that's really the bubble we're living in" ahead of supporting the Boss.
Jet play headline shows at Taronga Zoo in Sydney on February 16 and 19 and support Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at AAMI Park, Melbourne on February 2 and 4; Hanging Rock in Mt Macedon on February 11; Hope Estate in the Hunter Valley on February 18; AAMI Stadium in Christchurch on February 21; and Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on February 25.