Bluejuice - 2 October 2014, The HiFi

When I first heard the news that Bluejuice, one of the craziest and most talented bands out there, were breaking up, there were some tears. I’m not just talking the “I’ve got something in my eye” tears, I’m talking about the streaming kind. For the past 13 years, Bluejuice have been knocking socks (and jocks) right off, and it is monumentally sad that they are calling it quits. In saying that, they are putting on a Last Hurrah tour all around the country so as to have a “Happy Funeral”, Jake put it.

Opening the night was Jody. The four-piece have a good thing going on with their guitar heavy music. The room was really dead this early in the night, and they tried with all their might to get a response from the corpses. To their credit, they did an aplaudible job! They two main vocalists took turns on main vocals and there were some nice distinctions between the vibes of the songs. “Three Weeks Later” was definitely the highlight of the set for me. It was cohesive and really stood out from the rest of their songs.

Next up was DJ Tyler Touché. I really liked everything about this guy! It was a little weird going from a band to a DJ and I think this threw the mood in the room a little as the vibe was off. I love the textures that Touché creates. They’re unlike the electronic music that’s popping up everywhere due to the lack of ground shaking bass. Instead, there’s a whole bunch 80s keyboard synth sounds in there that create his signature sound. He was joined on stage by Sterling Silver, who sang some stellar live vocals. Highlights of the set have to be when he whipped out some live saxophone and “Baguette.”

As dismal as the crowd interest was for the opening acts, that all changed when Bluejuice took to the stage. They opened their set with “Recession” and within the first song,Jake was out crowd surfing and that’s where the shenanigans began. This being their last hurrah tour they pulled out all the stops, including all the old favourites and the new material. Having “S.O.S” back up by “I’ll Go Crazy” was an awesome setlist choice. I think it was this time in the set where Jake lost his shirt and shit really started getting real. There were copious amounts of water thrown off the stage, stage dives, riding on security guys’ shoulders and all round awesomeness.

Bluejuice once again donned their fluro getup that lost its sticky at various points in the set, which enlightens the fact they they are one of the most entertaining acts around. Stav in all his absolute greatness held the fort while Jake went off exploiting the side wings of the HiFi and tested the length of this microphone cable. I believe it was longer than last time they played the HiFi, as he got much further back in the crowd before he had to be reeled in. There was none of this in “No Time for Tears”, though. No shenanigans, just the music. It brought home that this was the last time I will see the band live. There is only so much vicarious living you can do though a recorded album; for this band, their heart and soul is on the stage.

They saved the best of their material for last with “Act Yr Age”, followed by “Vitriol”. The crowd was going off. I love fake encores. Everyone knows you’re going to come back on stage and tear the house down. This is exactly what Bluejuice did with “Medication” and “Broken Leg”. There was a hell of a lot of singing going on in "Broken Leg" and both frontmen left us to sing it!

It was a sensational gig, the best of theirs I’ve been to. While I am sad to say goodbye, I am extremely grateful to have be apart of their magical journey and experience this one last show. So long and farewell!