Reviewed onFriday June 24 (photo by Ashley Mar)
Anyone who remained unsure just how big of a deal The Rubens have become only needed to see the throng of hands before the blues-swaggering five-piece took to the stage on Friday. In an electric atmosphere of fever pitch excitement, the Hordern was awash with the Hoops symbol as taken from the cover of the band’s second album (or the international ‘OK’ sign for the uninitiated). Such a simple gesture was surprisingly rousing.
Kicking off the night was triple j Unearthed winner Ali Barter. The Melbourne-based singer-songwriter injected some seriously fun Stevie Nicks vibes while oscillating between surf-pop and electro-grunge. The riff reverberations of ‘Far Away’ were pure joy.
Indie-electronic explorers Slum Sociable were up next. This was jazzed-up trip hop with some impressive tambourine sway by vocalist Miller Upchurch. Mansionair then breezed in with their dreamy beats. Start to finish it was a mesmerising set, including the synthpop gem ‘Speak Easy’, YouTube hit ‘Hold Me Down’ and their elegant cover of Future Islands’ ‘Seasons’. Jack Froggatt’s soft falsetto truly is a thing of beauty.
The Rubens opened with frontman Sam Margin centre stage, framed by a single spotlight. Crooning a cappella the first verse of ‘The Day You Went Away’, he was soon joined by fellow bandmates and a blindingly bright light show. What followed was a rip-roaring rock gig of old: the band had no time for politeness or banter, ferociously and fervently belting out thumper after thumper with few pauses.
‘Hold Me Back’ saw Margin ditch the guitar, loosen up and use more of the stage. ‘My Gun’ brought out Seth Sentry, who chimed in with his version of ‘99 Problems’. Barter also joined Margin in duet for ‘Paddy’. And while their voices didn’t particularly complement each other, the only real misstep was their awkward cover of Adele’s ‘Hello’. Rockier in this case did not mean better, or even on par.
Of course, the song that brought the house down was that wee number, ‘Hoops’, which topped this year’s triple j’s Hottest 100. Phones were whipped out and set to ‘record’ as soon as the first few beats were knocked out on the drums. Margin went crowd-surfing on a blow-up raft to a bandmate rapping The Waitresses’ ‘I Know What Boys Like’. Bonkers but a blast.
