Tegan and Sara Quin, the dynamic twin sister duo from Canada, played a sold out show at Melbourne’s Palace on January 9th as part of their umpteenth show following the 2007 studio release, The Con.

With little room for error in a near-perfect performance, “tee and es” put on quite the show – which was fully stocked with the usually hilarious in-between-songs banter, a general sense of a sibling rivalry, the reinvention of old tracks and new, and even a cover song!

To start off this night of fabulous indie rock, I walked into The Palace to hear the poppy-rock riffs of Newtown’s own, The Jezabels. This foursome proved that the “buzz” surrounding the Byron-bred musos is happening for a reason. The haunting hi-lo vocal work of lead singer Hayley M, mixed in with the piano playing and back-up singing of Heather S sets the mood for an Arcade Fire meets Nick Cave – like experience. Definitely a band worth checking out!

Next up came Tegan and Sara’s good mates and frequent Australian touring companions, An Horse. Coming straight out of Brisbane, Kate Cooper and Damon Cox are an eclectic duo, creating unique sounds with electric guitar, drums, and two layering vocals. This boy/girl creation is probably too often compared to The White Stripes, for good reason. As my first time experiencing their overly-anticipated performance, I was definitely not disappointed.

And the clock ticked on… as the mainly female crowd grew edgy and impatient, waiting for the beloved Tegan and Sara to grace the stage. I managed to push my small self to the front of the crowd and held my ground as the twins finally appeared along with Ted Gowans on guitar and keyboard, Shaun Huberts on bass, and Johnny Andrews on drums.

The jam-packed set opened up with Dark Come Soon from The Con, followed by You Wouldn’t Like Me and Walking With A Ghost from their second to latest hit album, So Jealous. Each song was played with flawless perfection, as the girls moved quickly from one guitar transition to the next and flew right into the next tune while barely taking a break to breathe.

For those old school fogie “tee and es” fans out there, like myself, the twins pulled a track out of the woodwork from their very first album, Under Feet Like Ours, which was released in 1999 when the girls were at a ripe age of 18 years old. Adding a fresh, new electronic sound on keys, the song Superstar, was barely recognisable until the oh-so-familiar line “Do you wanna be a hardcore superstar, by far?” was finally revealed.

It was one oldie followed by yet another – Living Room, from the 2002 release If It Was You. Looking around to see that the majority of the crowd sat stone-faced as the band performed one of Tegan and Sara’s first ever hit songs was even further proof that the mainstream popularity of these girls has exploded within the past five years at most. If this was back in good ol’ 2002, the girls would’ve been seated on two chairs, acoustic guitars-in-hand, while the entire crowd sat silently through their folky set. But times change, and so do people…and Tegan and Sara deserve the fame they’re now experiencing.

The audience continued to be enthralled by the mastery of electronic keys, monstrous vocal harmonies, booming drums, and dueling guitar riffs, as Tegan and Sara continued to play nearly all of the hit tracks from their last two albums, including Like O, Like H, I Know, I Know, I Know, Knife Going In, Nineteen, and Speak Slow.

While stopping occasionally to explain the reasoning behind some of the songs, the twins told stories about rotten potatoes, their love of Australia and An Horse, and of course some honest stories of jealousy, heartbreak, and loneliness. To reveal a little personal info, as they tend to do so comfortably, Sara described her emotions behind the tune, So Jealous, saying that it’s simply about how she was so incredibly jealous at one point in her life that she actually wanted to stab somebody…with her mind! This is yet another hilarious quirk in their strangely unique personas.

Tegan then moved onto the keyboard to perform Burn Your Life Down and Call It Off, which put the crowd into a teary-eyed trance as she belted out ‘Call, break it off…Call, break my own heart,’ after explaining that this was her one attempt at writing a slow song. The night ended with no less than a bang, as the whole band broke into The Con, and the entire crowd sang along to their perfect vocal melodies.

After a few minutes of chants and screams, the band came back to encore with Relief Next To Me, which started some hand clapping that echoed throughout The Palace. Sara then told the crowd that Bruce Springsteen is her favourite artist of all time, and the fivesome moved into a rendition of the American singer-songwriter’s hit song, Dancing In The Dark. The final song sadly had to come. Sara sang Back in Your Head to the bouncy crowd and then the twins took their final bow.

Proving to me that they have grown much wiser and more mature over the years, Tegan and Sara still have a way with words, a catchy sense of humour and wit, and an honest and unique talent for writing incredible songs.

Going down in history, this Tegan and Sara show will be one that I will never forget and will always remember as the obvious shift into a new era – Tegan and Sara are officially huge. Their cult-like following will continue to grow, especially through the anticipated release of their next album this fall. There are no more intimate Tegan and Sara shows in coffee shops or record stores. They’re at superstar status, whether or not they truly want to be. Either way, there’s no doubt that the absolute talent and down-to-earth nature will always remain.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE