The Enmore Theatre was writhing with palpable excitement in anticipation of a repeat dosage of Canadian twin sensations Tegan & Sara. The girls have made a habit of gracing our shores recently with a visit only six months ago. With what was a mix of short fringes, tattoos and black skinny leg jeans, the overwhelmingly female crowd packed the auditorium early in the night to see locals The Jezabels get the ball rolling with an energetic set of unashamedly indie-vibed pop.

They seem to be able to express a high level of emotion in their performance without needing to be taken too seriously. Lead singer Haley M is resolute in her stance out front of her bandmates, before a restless Enmore crowd and at times croons then wails, punctuated at all times with a pretty, dreamy sensibility. With a sound that is full of reverb and lush soundscapes, The Jezabels lived up to expectations of a band playing a gig of such epic proportions, spawning a surprisingly vivacious sing-along to their latest single Disco Biscuit Love.

Brisbane’s An Horse stepped out on stage for soundcheck, humble and hands-on. They checked their levels, disappeared and were back in a flash to wow a crowd that would have quite happily done away with support acts, so desperate were they for the Canadian sister act. The duo of Kate Cooper and Damon Cox filled the theatre with thumping kick drum, staccato yet dreamy guitar with uplifting echoing vocals from Cooper’s pint sized frame. By the time they stepped on stage the crowd was almost at capacity.

Having previously supported Tegan & Sara on their U.S. tour and Death Cab For Cutie last year at home, An Horse appeared ultra confident. They didn’t play the startled animal caught in the headlights, instead joking with the crowd. “It’s my birthday today so all my equipment went missing this afternoon, it all went to Melbourne! You know one of those mystery flights! Luckily it’s here now though.”

Chants of happy birthday bubbled up throughout the crowd but they were quickly extinguished by the choppy sound of Cooper’s guitar, the opening of their most successful single Postcards – the tune from the Mercedes ad.

The sound of The Supremes filled the theatre, the house music ushering in speculative chatter, bouncing off the walls as the crowd swayed and fidgeted awaiting the night’s main event. Someone forgot to tell me to bring my screaming voice, as the crowd titillated at the sight of the silhouettes of Tegan and Sara on the darkened stage. The lights fade up to leave them standing alone with their guitars, in front of a light-headed almost woozy crowd opening with an acoustic version of Floorplan. With what was a hark back to old albums, the first half of the show drew some serious banter from the sisters. “Oh I just got a lugie on my mic, but why did everyone need to know that?” spouted Tegan.

“We were up in Brisbane the other day and we went to this karaoke bar and kinda sang a lot of Billy Idol and Bruce Springsteen, eek…so is everybody ready to sing like you’re at a karaoke bar – for those of age of course? At the end of this song we’re going to play a pop rock version of one of our early self-indulgent 35 minute tracks – don’t worry, it’s a shorter version!” With the opening chords the crowd screamed and proceeded to sing along to Hop A Plane, which gave way to Superstar from their debut 1999 record Under Feet Like Ours, re-dubbed Hardcore Superstar for the evening. The quintessential rock n’ roll toss of the bra onstage, something the siblings seem accustomed to, drew a cheekier side out of the girls. “Man why are you throwing your bra away! These are expensive…especially the ones with underwire!”

With a tight band supporting them, the two Cannucks seem to really enjoy playing to this sold out Sydney crowd, constantly remarking on how much they love touring here. Endearingly self-deprecating Sara forgets the lyrics to Like O, Like H and then upon announcing some new songs, offered the time as a chance to take a bathroom break. The two new songs seemed working pieces and were short and sharp, but resonated well with the crowd.

Helping to translate the sister’s storytelling from Canadian to Australian was An Horse’s Kate Cooper. The three took the chance to reminisce their nerd statuses at school, past boyfriends and Mickey Mouse sweaters. Nineteen sent the crowd into delirium and the two walked off stage to yet more screaming. With the encore Back In Your Head, the sister act summed up their performance: cheeky and lively performers who always bring more than great music to their shows.