It really depends on who you talk to, but considering the noise generated by the Veronicas a fortnight ago, this Aussie pop act had some shoes to fill for Origin II.
Queensland-based band Sheppard filled the pregame entertainment honours in Brisbane, playing their omnipresent 2014 track ‘Geronimo’ to Suncorp Stadium.
Their debut album Bombs Away hit No. 2 on the ARIAs album charts, with the lead single spending three weeks at No. 1.
Considering the near-impossible logistics of providing stellar live audio to viewers at home, the band didn’t sound half bad. But, as always, the official #Origin Twitter handle lit up once the six-piece took the stage with punters sharing a piece of their mind about the NRL’s pre-game entertainment choice.
Again, it really depends who you talk to. For some, ‘Geronimo’ is a beautifully carefree tune reminiscent of days in the sun as a teenager. For others, it’s just another shamelessly clean-cut example of where pop music went horribly wrong.
As mentioned after Game I, it’s fair play to Sheppard. With gigs scarce post-Covid, booking a 5-minute slot warming up Origin in Queensland is a goose egg Aussie musicians can’t pass up, even with the expected social media baggage that follows.
The general consensus appeared to be against the pop mainstays performing at yet another Australian sporting event, after recently having played at halftime for the 2020 AFL Grand Final.
“It’s really a dream come true, we’ve been watching Origin since I moved to Brisbane for boarding school,” lead singer and keyboardist George Sheppard told 4bc radio on Saturday.
“We used to get together in the boarding house, it was a huge event. Now I’m apart of it, it’s a real pinch yourself type moment.
“(The AFL Grand Final) was next-level. We got to pretend to be Coldplay for a moment,” he said.
“When the industry fell off a cliff in 2020, we just felt so lucky to be able to do something like that.”
When asked where the inspiration for the title track of their upcoming LP Kaleidoscope Eyes came from, Sheppard referenced his own lyrics and not the recurring line in Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds made famous by The Beatles.
“How do you come up with all of those titles?!” Sheppard was asked.
“Well, Kaleidoscope Eyes is actually a lyric in the first track of the album,” he replied. “I just thought it summed up the entire album and summed up what we were trying to say, and the thematic tone of the thing.”
Sgt. Pepper has entered the chat.