I am so sorry about my lack of posting lately – my inbox is brimming with releases from so many amazing bands and yet my internet has been misbehaving like never before, so there’s been little opportunity to post anything! I am also heading to Europe in a week and a half and will be travelling until the second week of November, when I land in Sydney again, so things will probably be quiet around here for the next little while (aside from talk of the wonderful music I see overseas, of course!)

I have missed three weeks of Throwback Thursday, so here are three songs. On Monday I celebrated one year with my Peter, and these are three of the main songs that sum everything about us up and are some of my favourite memories. Yep, I know it’s cheesy, but it’s who I am… So deal with it!

This is the first song Peter sent to me, a little while before we began to officially date. He said “listen to this song, but ignore those three words!”. We don’t have a ‘song’, but if we did I think this would be it, for sure. of Montreal is one of his favourite bands, and one that always puts me in a good mood. I love this song and I think anyone could agree that having it sent to you is the sweetest thing.

One night we were watching Rage and this song came on and I literally struggled not to fall off the bed in excitement, despite anything else that I should have been focusing on at the time. We bonded so much over Talking Heads when we first met – I don’t really know many people my age who share my boundless enthusiasm, so to find someone who did, and who’d also seen David Byrne live, was a goddamn miracle. Our music tastes aren’t exactly the same all of the time, but this is something we agree on 100%. Stop Making Sense is our go-to DVD when we can’t figure out what to watch. It’s all magic.

One night we were listening to Moon Safari and Peter proclaimed, “The second song was written about me”. This is the second song.

Awww…

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Melbourne’s Seagull are launching their second record, Council Tree, around Australia as we speak, hitting Sydney’s Melt on Friday. I had a chat to founder Chris Bolton about what makes the band tick.

(Prefer full article format? Head to page 44 of the online edition of Drum Media #1023 to see my write up as it appeared in the magazine.)

Congratulations on completing your record. Are you relieved?

It’s nice to have it out there for people to listen to. We worked on it for a fair amount of time and it’s nice to get some feedback from people. I’m glad that people can hear it. I guess in terms of the writing, the songs aren’t kind of structured in the kind of verse-chorus-verse-chorus kind of way. I guess with the writing of this album a lot of the ideas were musical at first instead of lyrical, so a few of the songs kind of started with the musical ideas rather than trying to get the lyrical idea across.

Is the songwriting process a collaborative one or does it rest more with you?

I wrote pretty much all of it, the way we kind of did this recording was like, I wrote out initial ideas for the parts of whoever I was jamming with and then we kind of work on it a bit, so it’s kind of collaborative to a point and we would work it out together and kind of add and change things together, but I guess a lot of the initial ideas were mine. Kish [Ryan, drums] kind of had a couple of ideas for the drum parts that had a pretty different feel to how I was thinking about it, so that was really nice to have his input but I kind of always usually have the first ideas for the songs. We’ve been playing together now for about two years, so it’s the same band from about two years ago.

Does having band members involved in different projects cause any strain on Seagull? Does it influence you?

I think kind of the reason why Kish is good at playing in a few different bands is because he’s really good at being sensitive to the songwriter. He’s quite adaptable to what the music is trying to do, so it is good having him in the band and Zulicki’s also played in a couple of bands as well. I don’t know if it affects us. You’ve gotta be quite flexible I guess, if someone’s away or can’t make it or something we’ve gotta alter the lineup or sometimes get in a fill-in kind of musician. It definitely changes how the songs are played and it can be really nice to hear things played by other people and it can be refreshing.

What influenced the existential themes on Council Tree?

There are some things… I guess I just started… I don’t know, there are kind of personal things like going to hospital and stuff and that kind of…when things happen that are kind of extreme I guess it changes how you think about music, I guess I just really wanted to make this album for my own musical tastes more, something that I would rly want to pick up and hear. It sounds self involved, but just kind of an album that I would really like. I don’t think it’s better, it’s better for me personally to listen to because it flows more easily in the process it was made, there weren’t too many road bumps, it just happened pretty easily in a pretty short amount of time and because there’s less stress associated when I listen to it I can enjoy it a lot more.

How has your classical guitar training helped your work with Seagull?

I guess I don’t really get nervous when playing, which is funny because I used to play classical guitar but if you get nervous playing classical guitar it really is bad news because if your hands get a tiny bit shaky you made lots of mistakes. Because of that kind of pressure when I was younger playing classical guitar, I really feel fine playing in any situation Seagull songs because even if I really screw them up its not like I’m doing anyone injustice, I’m not upsetting Bach or Albeniz or something. It’s just helped me kind of feel better about performing. I played classical guitar and I really didn’t learn anything about songwriting from that, I just kind of I guess learned about songwriting as much as you can just by listening to bands that I like. I didn’t really learn anything about writing music from studying classical guitar.

What has your experience been like writing film music?

I did a soundtrack for an independent Melbourne film called Further We Search, and that’s really nice to hang out and make music without any words. That probably affected the making of this album, kinda focusing a lot of the nature. I think doing that little soundtracking that I did, I think I really enjoy film music and I think hopefully parts of council tree are a little bit filmy or cinematic or something, the sounds, I like that kind of music. The director/writer, a guy called Darius, he had heard Goodbye Weather and also heard Nick [Huggins]’s Shipwreck LP and he just liked it. We were kind of friends and friends and kind of got in contact and said something kind of in that vein but different enough. The approach I have for writing Seagull songs kind of changes every single song, some parts, it’s hard to know if that experience of making film soundtracks affected that at all. But I think it affected the time in the studio as opposed to the actual writing of songs, me and Nick worked in the same place we did the soundtrack in so it felt really comfy in there, kinda made the recording of the Seagull songs more comfortable.

What can people going along to the shows expect from your live performance?

It’s just a chance pretty similar to recording Council Tree, a bit more flexibility in the structure of the songs and a bit more dynamic I guess. I don’t know, it should be good, it’s been a while since we’ve done a lot of whole band shows so to be honest I’m looking forward to what it will be like as well. I hope it will be sick.

Photo credit

Supported by: Collarbones, Aidan Roberts (The Maple Trail)

Collarbones was a surprising start to the night. A cross-city collaboration between Sydney’s Marcus Whale and Adelaide’s Travis Cook, tonight’s performance was simple and effective – Cook stood hunched over a MacBook, programming and slicing breakbeats and samples, and Whale showed a mature vocal command as he crooned over the noise. The band that comes to mind almost instantaneously upon hearing this music is Seekae who, funnily enough, were covered during the set, as was J.Lo with an unexpected ‘Jenny From The Block’. Boyishly charming and undeniably talented, Collarbones’ performance tonight was casual but impressive and, judging by the number of feet shuffling and heads bobbing, pretty damn groovy too.

Blue Mountains band The Maple Trail was a solo affair tonight, starring frontman Aidan Roberts. Armed only with an electric guitar, Roberts employed a loop pedal to accompany himself as he meandered through a set of surf-inspired songs, sometimes grabbing a string bow and sawing across the guitar strings to create an interesting, but grating, effect. It’s interesting to see Roberts working alone on stage – there’s no doubt that he’s charismatic, but the chatter in the room soon raised above the level of Roberts’ playing as the loops and his gentle vocals inched too close to monotony. The set lacked the usual power of a Maple Trail show, feeling instead like a second-rate version of the real deal.

Melbourne trio Otouto has climbed the international ranks quickly, playing their last Sydney show for quite a while tonight before they spend the rest of the year in the USA. Tonight’s performance was laced with creative techniques and vocal gymnastics, demonstrated instantly when opening with Sushi and following with a perfect take on latest single ‘W. Hillier’. Throughout the evening, sisters Hazel and Martha Brown not only took on vocal duties but also flitted between three synthesisers, glasses of pitched water and guitar. The band showcased several new songs, which kept with the general Otouto feel but introduced some interesting new vocal and harmonic techniques. Pedalling through most songs from this year’s Pip with a few notable exceptions (Martha normally plays viola on ‘Cartoon Shoes’, but was string-free tonight as the song was excluded), the band closed with a “cheesy” cover – Mariah Carey’s ‘Touch My Body’. Seasoned performers like Otouto are tricky to fault, although tonight’s show was missing that extra punch that usually takes their shows to the next level.

This week’s throwback is a little different, as it’s not so much to a song or a band as it is to a show – my first show, in fact! At the age of 13, I went to see Sum 41 and New Found Glory at the UNSW Roundhouse. The date was 10 August, 2003 – you see what I’m getting at here, as 10 August is only a few days away from now. On top of that, the leaked Soundwave lineup that was splayed all around the intertubes last night includes these two very bands! So I decided to take a little trip down memory lane.

We discussed my foray into punk/whatever last week, and Sum 41 was one of the bands that made that happen. I don’t remember exactly how I got into them, but I bought All Killer No Filler in 2002 and really loved it. I was pretty into New Found Glory too, but perhaps not quite as much – the first album of theirs I got was Sticks and Stones, released the same year as the show, and I really enjoyed all their various covers as well.

We won’t get into the nitty gritty details of all the things I wanted to do to Cone from Sum 41 or my desperation to go to a pool party with them that was hosted by Nova or 96.1 before they were ‘The Edge’ or…god, I don’t really remember and it’s probably a good thing that I don’t. But let’s just say that my Sum 41 obsession was a little bit out of hand, and I cried when my sister called them devil worshippers and to this day I still know all the words to all the songs on All Killer No Filler. Moving on.

For the purposes of further nostalgia, let’s have a read of what I wrote about this show in 2006, when I was looking back on all the gigs I’d been to so far at that point (if you want to read more of my early “reviewing” work and promise not to judge, click here).

This was my very first concert when I was 14 years old. Sum 41 was one of my favourite bands back then and I went along to this concert with Sophie, Kaitlyn and my cousin Van. The atmosphere was something I had never experienced before and it felt pretty amazing to watch people I had admired for so long up there on stage, singing along to songs I had become so familiar with on CD.

The first band was In The Grey, a smallish Australian act who I had not heard before. Being the first live band I had ever seen, I had nothing to compare it to but I do remember them doing a particularly good cover of 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club’, which will remain one of my favourite ever concert memories. NOTE: THIS IS NOW NOT ONE OF MY FAVOURITE EVER CONCERT MEMORIES. WHY DID YOU LIE, 17-YEAR-OLD GISELLE? YOUR PREDICTIONS WERE WRONG. IDIOT.

Although I don’t listen to these bands any more, this is a very fond concert memory as it was my first, and it also exposed me further to Australian music through the support band.

So there you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth. I swear to God if The Ataris, Sum 41 and New Found Glory end up doing a sideshow together for Soundwave I will blow my load everywhere… I live for nostalgia and that would be the ultimate. It’s been a long time between pop punk shows and honestly, sometimes the crowds at the sorts of gigs I frequent these days aren’t anywhere near as passionate about the music they’re seeing.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to sing along to ‘Fat Lip’.

Supported by: Bearhug

The last week and a half has been nothing short of spectacular, with so many great artists gracing our fair city, giving me the opportunity to see seven international acts in such a short space of time – none of which I’d seen previously. So it was with a somewhat heavy heart that Wednesday rolled around, the last show of the lot – Broken Social Scene. As it turned out, it was also the best of the lot.

Sydney five-piece Bearhug, who recently signed to Spunk, started the night off with a style of music that sounded very much like BSS indeed, but with vocals which potentially need a bit more work. The instrumentals, including a triple billing of guitars which often provided a healthy aural assault, were spacious and ambitious, and the songs on which vocals did not feature were the most enjoyable for their atmosphere. The five young members were extremely focused throughout the set, with drummer Nick Mabbitt breaking one of his sticks only several songs in, but also attempted to interact with the crowd in small slices of banter which were often a little awkward. There is a way to go for Bearhug, but for a first impression they did rather well – Ryan Phealan just needs to work on his voice, which sounds a little unsure at the best of times in a live situation.

You will recall, if you are a regular visitor to this blog, that I do not often use first person narratives when reviewing – I find it a little unprofessional at best, and try to remain somewhat impartial. Not possible when wanting to describe Broken Social Scene‘s performance last night, because it hit me at the very core and became a very personal evening. Quite simply, one of the best – if not THE best – performance I have witnessed in my seven years (as of next week!) of concert-going, but those who have witnessed BSS live before have reported that it paled in comparison to past shows. Which just proves how powerful these guys are, if a sub-par performance from them topples basically everyone else I’ve ever seen.

With a live personnel varying from one person to twelve people, the show we experienced last night was distinctly different from those offered by other bands because of its sheer scope. Opening with Forgiveness Rock Record‘s expansive first track ‘World Sick’ (my track of the year so far), it was evident immediately that these guys really know what they are doing – the sounds emanating from the stage were enormous, as was Kevin Drew’s voice, and though the buildup of the song was not as intense as on record it culminated in a loose jam straight away, with five guitars plugging in together. The various band members would move around the stage to different instruments during the night, with two drum kits often played simultaneously and a super impressive local horn section brought in during ‘Art House Director’ and returning throughout the evening, adding an extra element without which the performance would have seriously suffered.

The set was expectedly heavy with songs from the band’s latest release, but there were several surprises in store for older fans, in the form of songs like ‘KC Accidental’ and ‘Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)’. Unfortunately, due to Lisa Lobsinger contracting the flu, any female-fronted songs were unable to be performed last night, meaning that favourites like ’7/4 (Shoreline)’, ‘Anthems For A Seventeen-Year-Old Girl’ and ‘Swimmers’ were left off the set list. Lobsinger wafted around the stage from time to time, taking to the drumkit and half-heartedly tinkering on the keys, but there was too much else going on with the other eleven performers to spend too much time dwelling on what could have been.

Lead vocals were tossed around during the night, with Brendan Canning taking the mic for the excellent ‘Water In Hell’ (dedicated to Bearhug) and ‘Love Is New’, from his own BSS Presents album. Canning and Drew made sure to engage with the audience throughout, often inappropriately, and though each has his own individual sense of humour both were charming if not a little kooky. Drew wandered through the crowd during ‘Ungrateful Little Father’ and slung the “money changes everything” line over to the crowd during ‘Superconnected’, during which the tiny venue was drowned in so much noise that if you closed your eyes you’d think you were somewhere much bigger.

Maybe the highlight of the set, ‘Lover’s Spit’ featured with Drew on keys and vocals and four band members eventually joining on melodica, harmonica, trumpet and saxophone for a subtle and personal number before the rest of the band came back for an “encore”. The night ended with FRR instrumental number ‘Meet Me In The Basement’, atmospheric as ever, and it seemed to stretch out forever as that four-note riff echoed around the room with vigour. Drew shouted his thanks over it as it went on and on, and by the time it ripped to a close the venue had more or less erupted with cheers.

It’s quite difficult to describe an experience like a Broken Social Scene show, and I’m just sorry that I didn’t pay these guys much attention when they last toured. Obviously the show would have been better if Lobsinger wasn’t sick, or if they brought Feist with them (as they did in 2008), but to me, with nothing to compare last night to, there is no band going around today that does this whole ‘collective’ thing better. If you can only see one band this year, make it Broken Social Scene – last night brimmed with excitement, passion and a real sense of musical excellence.

Set:
World Sick
Stars and Sons
Texico Bitches
Fire Eye’d Boy
Forced To Love
Sweetest Kill
Art House Director
Cause = Time
Frightening Lives
Love Is New
Water In Hell
Superconnected
Ungrateful Little Father
KC Accidental
Lover’s Spit
—
Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day)
Meet Me In The Basement

The first time I saw local lads Sierra Fin, in a support slot for Final Fantasy back in 2008, I was really underwhelmed – at the time they played mild mid-tempo indie pop that had nothing differentiating it from the next band, with a performance that was pretty unmemorable too. It seems that since then the boys have done some soul-searching and re-emerged as one of the most exciting support bands in recent memory. They’ve added a member (Kent Eastwood – accordion/guitar – playing his first gig with them tonight) and also just wrapped up the recording of their debut album, The Cautionary Tale of the Beautiful Blackout, a concept album centred on orchestral arrangements. The addition of Eastwood’s accordion adds a new dynamic to the songs, which are still in the general area of indie-pop but are now more lush and focused, with some cuts adopting a darker edge. The highlight of the set was ‘Bluebird Song’, in which singer Russ Tainton strummed a ukelele as he and his bandmates harmonised before throwing the tune over to the audience, all too glad to oblige in a singalong as Tainton jumped off the stage and wandered through the crowd. The orchestral parts of the songs were filled out via computer, swelling to enormity as the band showcased never-before-heard songs from the upcoming record. Their first show since finishing the album, tonight’s set proved that this band will no doubt become a staple in Sydney’s live scene – a fantastic return.

Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit has been a favourite on Australian shores this year, playing at Laneway in February and back again a mere six months later. Adoring fans were all too eager to express their enthusiasm, with singalongs breaking out left, right and centre and a quiet awe emanating around the venue throughout the evening. Playing mostly from this year’s The Winter of Mixed Drinks, the band opened with ‘Skip The Youth’ and the charisma of frontman Scott Hutchison was immediately detected – he stopped throughout the evening to make jokes, often at his own expense and always to the delight of the crowd. The often abrasive rhythm section contrasted nicely with Hutchison’s gentle, lilting guitar tones, at times complemented also acoustically.

Beautiful kaleidoscopic lights swirled as the performance progressed, with the backing vocals of Hutchison’s four bandmates airtight and atmospheric, especially on the wonderful ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’. None of Frightened Rabbit’s performance relied on gimmicks – the music itself was extremely focused and driven forth by incredible joy, both on and off stage. The very grateful Hutchison encored with a solo ‘Poke’ before the band returned to the stage, culminating in an extended jam after Hutchison walked off after closer ‘Keep Yourself Warm’. After witnessing their live show, there’s no questioning why this band has received praise worldwide – Frightened Rabbit achieved the perfect mix of musical passion and enjoyment for both performers and spectators.

Set:
Skip The Youth
The Modern Leper
Nothing Like You
The Loneliness And The Scream
The Twist
The Wrestle
Footshooter
My Backwards Walk
Head Rolls Off
Old Old Fashioned
Swim Until You Can’t See Land
Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms
—
Poke
Living In Colour
Keep Yourself Warm

Supported by: Seth Frightening

It was two years ago to the day that Sigur Rós last stepped onto Sydney soil, playing a spellbinding show to a packed-out Hordern Pavilion. Of course, at the centre of the Icelandic band’s hopelessly ethereal music is frontman Jón Þór Birgisson aka Jónsi, he of the otherworldly voice – and so when the announcement was made that he would be trekking back to Australia in support of his first solo album, Go, the question was whether or not he’d be able to match the magic of his band’s last visit. The answer is both yes and no – but we’ll get to that in a second.

Starting proceedings was a New Zealand act by the name of Seth Frightening. Recorded, the project is the sole work of Sean Kelly (aka Seth), but tonight he was joined by a friend, both clutching an acoustic guitar. It was quite difficult to understand what the project’s direction musically is supposed to be – while the recorded material is pleasant enough to listen to, live it was a mess, with the harmonising vocals sometimes raising to an ill-pitched scream that seemed not to be abstract in purpose rather than just a miss. The guitars, raw and honest, did sometimes reach a point of cohesion, with both performers occasionally taking on a rapid strum to create a more frantic and interesting atmosphere, but altogether the set was uninspiring and downright confusing. It could perhaps have been an off night for Seth Frightening, but the songs seemed melodically and structurally unsound and the performance itself offered nothing interesting enough to make up for that.

As the lights dimmed for the man of the hour to take the stage, simply set up with a bare tree background, Jónsi appeared, armed only with an acoustic guitar. Beginning with ‘Stars In Still Water’, accompanied only by a band member on gentle glockenspiel, it was straight away evident that he has lost little in terms of vocal ability in his years away from our shores. Pure, beautiful and undulated, such a quiet and unassuming tune was an excellent way to open a set that would show off the sheer range of his voice, which admittedly at times strained to hit the highest registers. The first few songs of the night continued in a similar vein, carried along by his four bandmates (including his boyfriend Alex Somers, one half of Jónsi and Alex), swelling appropriately during songs like the divine ‘Tornado’ with its rolling piano. The room was still during these first songs, with Jónsi pausing momentarily during the unreleased ‘Icicle Sleeves’ to a completely silent Enmore – perhaps the audience, one of the most respectful in recent memory, was stunned out of speech because of the inexplicable beauty washing over them, with the only noise being clapping (sometimes at the wrong time). It was intense, to say the least, but that all changed in an instant when the more upbeat songs from Go began to roll out.

It was then that Jónsi began to interact with the audience, taking “I love you!”s and “have my babies” calls with good humour and hardly showing any signs of panic when the piano gave out. The string of energy started with Go opener ‘Go Do’, which saw the previously static crowd break out into delighted smiles as everyone began to move. This was a different Jónsi altogether, and it’s refreshing (but also takes away from the mystery, somewhat) to be able to know exactly what he’s singing now, with his move to English lyrics. It wasn’t quite the same as a Sigur Rós show because of the heightened energy and this ability to comprehend the singer exactly, and yet the atmosphere was so joyous that no one seemed to care. The streak continued with ‘Boy Lilikoi’ and ‘Animal Arithmetic’ before slowing back down, and funnily enough the audience was able to make the switch right back to solemn respect, proving yet again Jónsi’s incredible power.

With a few more serene songs, Jónsi ended the main portion of the set in a loose instrumental buzz that was topped off by his vocals cracking over a loop into oblivion. Returning seconds later for an encore, he was dressed in a fabulous feathered headdress, wrapped in an Icelandic flag, as he charmed the crowd again for the last section of the night. ‘Grow Till Tall’ was one of the most powerful ends to a concert I’ve ever seen – it was a wonderful way to focus precisely on his voice, and the instrumental build-up, especially with the drums, climaxed so perfectly into his impassioned vocals. Eventually thrown into a loop, Jónsi topped off his own vocals with a kind of frenzied screaming as the lights dramatically flickered, drowning him out, and by the time he walked off stage the audience was completely immobilised. Emerging with his bandmates for a final bow, there was not a single face in the crowd that didn’t have a smile stamped stupidly all over it.

Anyone coming to this show expecting a replica of the Sigur Rós experience did not get that, but the experience on offer is beautiful too, just in a different way. Slightly marred by a poor sound mix which saw the bass turned up too loud, what would have potentially pushed this show to perfection is if the entirety of the stage setup, which from reports around the rest of the world is breathtaking, was brought to Australia. Comparisons and venue complaints aside, it was a night that illustrated exactly why Jónsi is such a well-loved figure in the international music community and a true showman. Hopefully we’ll see him back on these shores in the very near future.

Set:
Stars In Still Water
Hengilás
Icicle Sleeves
Kolnidur
Tornado
Sinking Friendships
Saint Naive
Go Do
Boy Lilikoi
Animal Arithmetic
[new song]
Around Us
—
Sticks and Stones
Grow Till Tall

(via jonsi.com – check out the set list, hilarious!

Supported by: The Like, Gypsy and the Cat

Have you ever watched a support act and thought “wow, what the hell does this have to do with anything?” That’s kind of the general feel that echoed around the Hordern when Gypsy and the Cat – originally from Melbourne, more recently based in London – took the stage. Usually support acts have some kind of commonality with the headliners – so as to, you know, interest the crowd – but Gypsy’s music was, for the most part, bland guitar-driven pop rock, borrowing from the cheesiest moments of the 80s, laced with saccharine harmonies that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Hillsong soundtrack. This band has been on the rise lately and it’s honestly quite difficult to comprehend why that is. In part because of the total irrelevance of the band to the audience, and also in part because of – well, their music being boring as hell, Gypsy and the Cat really failed to impress.

Los Angeles’ The Like took the stage next, this being their first visit to Australia. The all-girl four-piece provided a welcome change in pace from the dreary performance that preceded it, with singer Elizabeth Berg a little fireball of energy. At times it was a little too contrived, like a rock and roll version of the Spice Girls, but songs like ‘Trouble In Paradise’ packed a hefty punch that kept the performance somewhat engaging. The music generally, though, was neither inspiring nor aggravating – this band drew very little emotional reaction either way. Two of the girls have fathers in the business (a Geffen rep and the drummer for Elvis Costello and the Attractions) – perhaps without that connection they wouldn’t have reached the international touring circuit because while they weren’t unbearable, they also weren’t anything out of the ordinary.

My history with The Strokes is weird. I claimed hatred for them in high school – I think I read some cool music magazine or something that hated on them and I wanted to be cool too, without knowing much about their music at all. I always liked ’12:51’ regardless (secretly!), but it wasn’t until this year that I decided to give them another go – and they are basically the only thing I’ve been listening to all year, and the band whose tickets I was most desperate for. Go figure.

It had been four years since the New Yorkers last visited Australia and the atmosphere in the venue was one of tremendous excitement. When the lights came on and the five of them walked out, bursting into ‘New York City Cops’, the place more or less exploded. What followed was a short and succinct set comprising songs from all three of the band’s albums, all inciting the same rapturous reactions. The thing about the performance is that there were absolutely no gimmicks, besides the brilliant lighting which included an illuminated Pacman game – banter was kept to a minimum (save for a few witticisms from Julian Casablancas) and the joy of the show was found within the audience’s enthusiasm more so than the band on stage. Sounding almost exactly as they do recorded, The Strokes turned the floor of the Hordern into an enormous dance party, everyone at the mercy of Mr Casablancas – maybe the most effortlessly cool person in the world. Who else could wear sunglasses inside for over an hour without drawing any criticism? His distinctive drawl blasted through the speakers with ease, only slightly marred by technical problems that saw an intermittent buzz come through, with the rhythm section providing a rock solid foundation.

The band has been playing basically the exact same set list at all their recent shows, but it’s quite a good mix, save for the exclusion of some songs that would have sounded excellent live. The most rabid reactions were to songs like ‘What Ever Happened?’, ‘Last Nite’ and ‘Reptilia’, perhaps because of the nostalgia factor – and ‘Juicebox’ and ‘Heart in a Cage’, both included in the encore, were ferocious beasts with the former seeing Nikolai Fraiture shred the hell out of that infectious bass line and the latter’s shrieking riff blowing the roof off.

Clocking in at just over an hour, The Strokes did not play for even close to long enough – seeing as the set list was identical to those played at festivals, it was short, sweet but left all wanting a little more, especially for the enormously expensive ticket price. While some people flock to live shows for the profundity of an act, The Strokes’ set reaffirmed completely that there’s another appeal to live music that has nothing to do with art. It’s called having a massive amount of fun.

Set:
New York City Cops
The Modern Age
Hard To Explain
What Ever Happened?
You Only Live Once
Soma
Is This It
Vision Of Division
I Can’t Win
Reptilia
Last Nite
—
Juicebox
Someday
Under Control
Heart In A Cage
Take It Or Leave It