Reviewed on Tuesday August 16
Is Lisa Mitchell doing okay? It’s a question left unspoken among the audience during her set, and left unanswered by the Albury-born Australian Idol alum by the time she finishes up. Granted, Mitchell has always been a reluctant star – she was visibly frightened by the screaming of her young devotees at her Enmore Theatre headliner many moons ago – but it’s accentuated tonight at her first public showing around these parts for years, playing in a venue in which she has nothing to hide behind and inexplicably toting a headset microphone.
It will later be described by tonight’s headliners as a “Britney mic”, but let’s make no bones about it: Mitchell is no Britney. Instead, she meanders around her side of the stage and occasionally throws up her hands – all the while looking genuinely distressed and distracted. Her pillars on either side – drummer Dan Williams and guitarist/keyboardist Luke Liang – do their best to hold down a solid foundation, and there’s brief respite in the form of throwbacks ‘Neapolitan Dreams’ and closer ‘Oh! Hark!’ It’s not enough, however, to alleviate the concern surrounding Mitchell’s shaky comeback.
In the opening minutes they’re on stage, thrashing through an extended intro to ‘I’m With You’ from 2013’s Spreading Rumours, Grouplove exude more energy than most bands will within an hour. That’s part of their raison d’être, if you will – to dance like nobody’s watching while simultaneously singing like the world’s ending. It’s served them well for years now, and tonight is no exception.
It’s been a little while since the band were last on our shores – indeed Big Day Out still existed the last time they were – but as they power through favourites like ‘Itchin’ On A Photograph’, ‘Shark Attack’ and ‘Tongue Tied’, it genuinely feels as though they never left.
Christian Zucconi and Hannah Hooper aren’t only real life lovebirds: they’re also a force to be reckoned with onstage. They trade hooks on ‘Ways to Go’ and ‘Lovely Cup’ effortlessly, but they also transform into badass MCs when the band unexpectedly turn in a cover of the Beastie Boys’ ‘Sabotage’, complete with a massive stage dive from Zucconi for good measure. A full-scale return is imminent, and theatres await. For now, however, it’s a real treat to get these happy song merchants back in sweaty club surrounds.
