Lisa Mitchell brought a large portion of the sold out crowd early on a Thursday. Her performance was ridiculously professional and instantly mesmerising.
The infectious sounding Grouplove bounded onstage to a thoroughly rapturous reception from the adoring crowd. They broke into Borderlines and Aliens from their 2013 album Spreading Rumours. From the get-go it was painfully obvious that this show would be just like every single Grouplove show you could ever have the pleasure of seeing: incredibly enthusiastic, energetic and just about as much fun as you can possibly have in 90 minutes.
Naked Kids had been absent from their setlists for quite some time, however requesting it on several of the band’s Twitter and Instagram accounts paid dividends. For a non-single, it gets a massive reaction every time and is clearly a cult favourite.
With new album Big Mess on its way, Grouplove shows at the moment are to increase hype before the record drops and play a song or two from the forthcoming release. Melbourne was treated to only the second live performance of Do You Love Someone. It had only been released a few days prior, however there was a sense of people nodding along approvingly as they listened for the first time. Let Me In, a song released exclusively for the soundtrack of The Fault In Our Stars a couple of years back is a great tune live and sounded as full and lush as always.
A cover of the Beastie Boys Sabotage was a definite highlight. It did separate the younger fans to the older, the over 25’s revelled in every second of the ‘90s hit. They finished the regular set with the lead single from Big Mess, Welcome to Your Life. It was abundantly clear that every single person in attendance had heard this new song before. And it didn’t disappoint.
Their encore featured Itchin’ on a Photograph, Ways To Go and ended with a massive rendition of Colours. Grouplove absolutely blew the crowd away and while satisfying, everyone who was lucky enough to attend was left wanting more.
WORDS BY ALEXANDER CROWDEN
IMAGE BY IAN LAIDLAW
Loved: Everything.
Hated: 18 year olds trying to start a fight, given the name of the band.
Drank: All the alcohol.
