I had been drinking heavily at a BBQ before heading to The Corner, so I’m surprised I didn’t enjoy the support band on alcohol-fuelled excitement alone. Strange Talk were a talented group but offered nothing original, and I know this because of the notes I left on my phone, which included “Is this a Phoenix cover-band?” and “I think the lead singer is having a seizure”.
I had been drinking heavily at a BBQ before heading to The Corner, so I’m surprised I didn’t enjoy the support band on alcohol-fuelled excitement alone. Strange Talk were a talented group but offered nothing original, and I know this because of the notes I left on my phone, which included “Is this a Phoenix cover-band?” and “I think the lead singer is having a seizure”.
But all was forgiven as The Rapture came out to a massive rave from fans. The always-chilled Luke Jenner kept it casual, introducing himself with “What’s up Australian people?”
There was no fucking around, as they launched into Don Gon Do It from their last album Pieces Of The People We Love (and I will point out that I wrote ‘last’ and not ‘recent’ because it was released way back in 2006!).
This up-beat number set energy levels high early, demonstrating their signature style with screeching guitar solos, big vocal harmonies and synth-driven melodies.
We all chanted and danced like lunatics to the chorus of Get Myself Into It, as multi-talented Gabriel Andruzzi took over on sax (during the course of the show he also handled keys, bass, percussion and backing vocals).
Jenner played the suave/cocky/likable front man to perfection, reassuring the crowd “You guys are pretty fucking cool” before busting out some older tracks, starting with the soul-intro of Killing and belting out vocals on ballad-style Open Up Your Heart.
The iconic cowbell remerged for crowd favourites Whoo Alright Yeah Uh Huh and House Of Jealous Lovers, getting the mosh-pit even more riled-up and had everyone covered in a mix of sweat and alcohol.
The band ended the set with Olio from their second studio album Echoes and while it started slow, the gradual build in tempo set the crowd into a frenzy while repeating “Over and over again!”
The encore began with funked-up No Sex For Ben and while the set should have finished on that high, the guys ended with two new tracks from their upcoming album, Miss You and Grace.
We were only given a sneak-preview of The Rapture’s new material but it will be interesting to see how their musical direction has changed since 2006. Either way, the band haven’t lost their ability to put on a rockin’ live show.
