In front of me, I faced one of the hardest dilemmas for a 20-something living in the inner-west. Multiple gigs in one night. Could I make it work?
Starting at Oxford Art Factory, already running late due to an overextended pres, we sprinted downstairs just in time to catch Jude Pascal. Just him and his guitar, he still managed to capture the audience’s hearts. One could hear a pin drop in the crowd with how enamoured they all were with him. A highlight of the set, and honestly the whole night, was his cover of ‘You Can Close Your Eyes’ by James Taylor and Carly Simon, for which he invited lead singer of Allerdyce, Lucie onstage to join him. The harmonies carried me to another world. He was closely followed by The Afterthoughts, which were anything but. Their set took the show to the next level, with everyone immediately dancing along.
Now, here’s where things got interesting.
Banana Farm started their 45 minute set at 9:15pm; the Jungle Giants were on at 10:00pm. But the Metro Theatre was only 10 minutes away. We could make it happen.
Banana Farm is nothing if not wholesome. Ethereal vocals from the lead singer Grace Rogers, layered over the top of some dirty bass lines. The music has a Phantastic Pherniture feel to it, but way more dreamy. When they started playing their new EP, things really kicked up a notch. ‘Shrinky Dink’ began and the crowd couldn’t help but dance along to the janky chords. They moved into their first single — and crowd favourite — ‘Walls Away’. Everyone was singing and swaying along. Soon after, they invited Jude Pascal back on stage for another song and the sound filled out.
Before I knew it, it was 9:50pm. Time to start the 700m sprint to Metro Theatre!
As we ran up to the doors, the seccies saw what a hurry we were in, and barely stopped us for long enough to check our IDs, our bags, or even notice that there were more of us in our group than were put on the door under my name. The energy was immediately palpable. We raced in to find the crowd erupting as the Jungle Giants walked on stage. The room was packed like sardines, and smelled entirely of weed — which makes a lot of sense. You know it’s going to be a good show when someone is crowd surfing before the second song is even over.
Lead Singer Sam Hale’s star power was undeniable as fans reached out from the crowd, desperate to touch him. One fan even tried to hand over his prescription glasses for him to take; Sam tried them on for a moment before declaring “No, you really need these, man” and handing them back.
The band thrived off of the crowd’s energy, and vice versa. Hale and Andrew Dooris on bass guitar, looked as though they were running laps around each other on stage. His vocals carried beautifully over the crowd, yet never overpowering the instrumental melodies. The sound was incredible. It was one of the most energetic crowds I’ve seen in a long while — more so than any I have seen at other shows over the most recent summer festival circuit. There were people on shoulders everywhere, and it’s no wonder why the Jungle Giants have become such a staple of the Aussie music festival scene, among the likes of Confidence Man, ushering in a new era of uniquely Australian dance music.
Most impressively, one would almost never be able to tell that Hale was in a car accident — no more than a month ago — if it wasn’t for the fact that he’d replaced his usual guitar for a single bandage on his right hand. He played it off extraordinarily, expertly commanding the room.
Hale spoke to the cathartic experience of writing the titular song of the ‘Hold My Hand Tour’, and it’s clear how much it meant for him to be able to play it for us. The crowd couldn’t stop jumping — courtesy of the catchy melodies, thumping bass and unstoppable rhythm.
Unfortunately for fans of their early Indie Rock era, only one song is played from their pre- ‘Quiet Ferocity’ discography — ‘She’s a Riot’. ‘Speakerzoid’ was neglected entirely, and I was left crying for the indie sleaze era of my teenhood. It was clearly not popular anymore. This spoke to the huge commercial success of their other two albums, which most of the set comes from.
And yet, the band remained ever humble. You could see how much it meant to them that the crowd was there, that we were singing along to their songs, that they were playing to a sold-out crowd. There was a deep and genuine connection between the band and the crowd, each seemingly equally grateful for each other.
And I feel the same for the friends that I was there with, for each of the bands I had the privilege to see that night, and every other night, in a city as beautiful and lively as Sydney. Of course, there is very real criticism to be had of the lack of government funding going toward arts and culture, in NSW and around the country. But anyone who tells you that Sydney nightlife is dead hasn’t looked hard enough. There are beautiful pockets of creativity and community everywhere, you just need to know where to look.
