Just when you thought that live albums were becoming a thing of the past thanks to things like YouTube, we go and get into a pandemic, where live music is nonexistent and fans are left yearning for an experience from their favorite artists. Jinjer’s entry into this arena comes from one of the band’s last pre-lockdown performances in Australia. It also serves as a nice introduction to the band for those who haven’t observed them just quite yet.
With an impressive 15-song set list that spans the best of what they have to offer from Macro/Micro, King of Everything, and even Cloud Factory, it’s a nice entry point for those who may have heard of the band but not looked into any of their albums to this point. One can’t imagine that there’s going to be many griping about the setlist, as all of their biggest songs to this point are present. Given the solid sound the band possess when they are playing live, it’s also a great opportunity to hear how tight they are in their performance, which Live in Melbourne is happy to illustrate. There’s a warm sound to the whole thing, capturing the audience’s excitement without getting in the way of the music and their interactions to the band – clapping, shouting, and cheering to tracks – while they can still demonstrate their command of the stage. It’s also quite crisp for a live release, you can hear all of the instruments clearly (“Sit Stay Roll Over” is a good a track as any to showcase this, given the quick tempo changes), and vocalist Tatiana Shmailyuk is able to showcase her live range as being just as impressive as in the studio. Keeping it all together and including the banter between tracks also helps to enhance the ‘live’ experience that it should provide.
Continuing to strike while the iron is hot, those in need of a Jinjer live fix should be pleased to hear that Live in Melbourne provides the best experience that many are going to get, in the near future at least. Trying times abound, but fans can bring in a bit of joy in getting a whiff of that live experience, and Jinjer does a solid job with this release.