Photo from www.goodcharlotte.com
In the past few years, Good Charlotte’s main men, brothers Joel and Benji Madden, have almost certainly received more media attention for their love lives and leading ladies than their musical ventures. But Tuesday night at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre proved that (for them at least) it’s still all about the music.
Warming up the mostly teenage audience were support acts New Empire and Short Stack. Shaun Diviney from Short Stack did his best Adam Lambert impersonation while strutting the stage, throwing the odd expletive here and there (Note to Shaun, I don’t think the young children knew what half those words even meant), but it was obvious – Short Stack definitely have charisma and tonnes of stage presence.
Then came the headliners.
Supporting last year’s release, Cardiology, the show was an oddly energetic and fast paced affair. Did I think that 32 year old Joel could still sing and jump around the stage a mile a minute like he did in his early twenties? No. Am I eating my words? Absolutely. Good Charlotte knew what their fans wanted, and they delivered.
Starting with bratty pop-punk singalongs The Anthem and Boys and Girls, the fever pitch energy never ran out for the group. Their more-than-cult following in Australia was evident; fans lapped up each song after the next.
And kudos to the group for a varied and enjoyable set that drew on all their albums. The biggest cheers came for hits Keep Your Hands Off My Girl and Dance Floor Anthem (I Don’t Want To Be In Love) from 2007’s Good Morning Revival (in my opinion, their best and most mature album to date); but fans of their older material were still kept in tow with hits Little Things, The Young and The Hopeless and Motivation Proclamation scattered through the set list.
Oddly enough though, the group’s more recent hits Sex on the Radio and Like It’s Her Birthday were shoehorned in the first part of the show. The boys seemed more excited to perform their older material and let the songs from Cardiology take a supporting role.
The stage design was basic (perhaps a little too basic?) although hoping for Joel and Benji to emerge from giant metallic skulls or disco crucifixes ala Kylie and Madonna was wishful thinking. That aside, I have no gripes. The show was enjoyable and the fans loved every minute of it.
Adelaide went down well with Good Charlotte too. Earlier in the day they performed for MTV’s Guerilla Gigs in Rundle Mall, and Joel and Benji were in fine spirits, chatting to the crowd throughout the show. Benji excitedly recounted the group’s earlier days when they played much smaller venues, and where most if not all in the crowd were girls. (I can’t imagine why someone whose list of exes reads as long as a normal person’s shopping list would love telling that story…)
Throwing in an acoustic version of Emotionless next to I Just Wanna Live and a cover of Blink 182’s Dammit for good measure, they ended the show with Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous, and a definite high note. Almost 11 years after their debut, Good Charlotte showed Adelaide they still have it.
For more information, visit: http://www.goodcharlotte.com/
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