There was an odd vibe in the room, having descended the stairs to The Hi-Fi from the 30-something degree heat of the city in anticipation of the Brooklyn four-piece’s Laneway sideshow. Perhaps it was that everyone was just a little beaten by the relentless humidity of the day, now night, the crowd lacked resilience as we manoeuvred our way through the packed room to find a perfect viewing position in the middle of the floor, minutes before the band was to due to begin. Where some party bands might have audiences buzzing amidst a hum of excited chatter, all bodies were instead fronting the stage with an eerie stillness and hypnotising focus, eagerly awaiting the show ahead.
With low light, the band briskly took to the stage and with frontman Chris Keating owning the mic, burst into tracks from last year’s brilliant release, Fragrant World. Setting the tone for the set early with a vibrant mix of old and new, energetic Keating almost burst a blood vessel as they lunged into glitchy single, Longevity, four tracks in, before punching through favourites from Odd Blood including Madder Red and O.N.E. With single after single quickly invigorating the surprisingly dance-less crowd, Yeasayer were flawless in their delivery, complemented by a stunning lighting display that took the performance from simply an aural experience to a complete mind and body enveloping sensation. The muddy synth and R&B flavoured bass of Reagan’s Skeleton travelled through the floor and into one’s bones, making it literally impossible not to move in some kind of uncoordinated capacity to each divine layer.
In what seemed like only 30 minutes in (it was actually more like 60), breakthrough single Ambling Alp came surprisingly early in the set, making a chorus line of the crowd for a rowdy sing-along, and made testament to the old saying ‘time flies when you’re having fun’. A few lesser-known songs from their latest LP were thrown into the set before the group left the stage after a faux-finale. Then, surprise! After some rigorous chanting and foot-stomping from the crowd Yeasayer brought about an ‘impromptu’, or rather, clichéd encore, and the band played for another decent 20 minutes before finishing with 2007’s Wait For The Summer. With an orange glow lingering on stage as the band bade us farewell, the crowd, if not before the show, were now well and truly in electric stead.
BY TEGAN BUTLER
LOVED: The awesome lighting and expert use of smoke machines
HATED: Wasn’t much to hate!
DRANK: Ice-cold cola.
