Irish indie rockers, The Thrills – or the heavily accented “Trills” as they would be known by the end of the evening – rocked the Hi Fi Bar on Friday night. The quintet’s Australian tour had somewhat of a “about time” feel about it, and seemed a little randomly placed considering the boys’ last album came out a year ago, they didn’t try to promote it at all on the night and they had no new material to throw into their swag. In fact, this tour was their first in six months, according to front man. Regardless, the boys now how to deliver and gave fans a treat.
First to the stage were Sydney-siders, Sparkadia, for whom the quickly filling Hi Fi had to wait close to an hour and a half for after doors, proving that The Thrills should have given another band a spot. It isn’t hard to see why this band is gaining attention all around town, with their catchy tunes and Alex Burnett’s undeniably spooky voice. It’s Burnett’s vocal style that makes this band stand out so much, as he avoids sounding like he is singing in full voice during verses and then lets out flawlessly pitched howls and wails in every chorus. Opener Sleeping Lions had an Interpol sound, only less monotone, whilst the jaunty Help Yourself had early comers bopping their heads along in approval. You could tell by the final applause that many of the early comers had “jumped on board,” with Sparkadia as Burnett had asked them to do.
It was easy to tell that The Thrills were happy to be on the road again as they walked out as a smile-laden collective. The tall Conor Deasy thanked the audience before he’d even begun and the five of them bounced straight into the harmonised “oh-whaos” of The Midnight Choir. A favourite for fans, Big Sur was next up and should have been incredible except that Deasy’s vocals could hardly be distinguished and there didn’t seem to be enough energy to surpass this fact. Rosebud and Restaurant continued in the same manner and it wasn’t until the massive harmonies of “you’re not that far” in Santa Cruz that the band finally found their feet and started sounding the way they should – super upbeat and tight.
The laidback, acoustic You Can’t Fool Old Friends With Limousines from Let’s Bottle Bohemia was next – a song The Thrills hadn’t played in three years – and continued with the improved sound. This wasn’t the only rarity for the set either, with Faded Beauty Queens getting a spot on the set list despite hardly ever being played. From this stage it seemed like The Thrills has entered a pattern of slow-song, fast-song, slow-song just to make sure everyone was happy. Not For All The Love In The World and Deck Chairs and Cigarettes were the following subdued numbers, with the latter being played despite Deasy not liking the song for sounding “too much like Mariah Carey”, and Saturday Night and Nothing Changes made sure the rock side was still prime.
The climax of the night was when both and band and the crowd got involved in the finale to the main set, with the flawless “on and on and on” harmonies of the “song about Irish Catholic guilt”, Gatecrashing. Asking for requests may have not been the brightest move for Deasy, as he was met by a jumble of unintelligible roars, but finally accepting One Horse Town to finish up was a good suggestion from somebody in the front row, with the band choosing to really ham up the country track.
The requesting business continued for the encore, with the band playing “what they knew” of Don’t Steal Our Son and stopping after about one minute before responding to the next blast of requests with Say It Aint So, a track that Deasy seemed rather taken by after discovering it was listed as a song on George Bush’s ipod. Finally, the intense screams for “Corey” were acknowledged and Whatever Happened To Corey Haim finished up.
