Black Kids @ The GaelicTheatre, Sydney (20/01/09)

Wed 21st Jan, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Exuberance is Black Kids’ stock-in-trade, and it was evident from the first moments of this seething, sweaty Big Day Out sideshow. Not bothering to pad out their set with B-sides or underdone new songs, as many bands with a single album to their credit are wont to do, they instead ploughed through the winningly upbeat Partie Traumatic record and a pair of well-chosen covers. It was a likeable, smash-and-grab style performance.

Hit the Heartbreaks sped along with irrepressible, infectious energy, while Look at Me (When I Rock Wichoo) and I’m Making Eyes With You benefitted from the five-piece’s full sound and giddy enthusiasm. Their songs are a better enjoyed in a live setting than on repeat play at home, where their essential sameness can be a drawback. But any lack of depth is more than compensated for tonight, and they inarguably have one great song in I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You, a rollicking pop tune undercut by jealousy.

Their standout single ends their set proper, and marks the first time all night they’ve paused to draw breath. The only lapse in energy came during the first cover, The Magnetic Fields’ glorious Strange Powers, whose sardonic lyrical genius was largely met with blank stares from a crowd that was rarely seen neither dancing nor singing along.

Any lost momentum is well and truly regained in the encore version of
Jonathon Richman’s I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar, one of those songs which seems too simple and silly to warrant repeat listens, but is nonetheless lodged in your head for days halfway through the first chorus. The triumphant finish comes in the form of Hurricane Jane, which again uses the downbeat lyrics/upbeat music trick to great effect.

While the stage banter was largely of the “We Love You Sydney!” and “Hey, who’s going to the Big Day Out?’ variety, affable frontman Reggie Youngblood’s every utterance is met with hearty cheers. And why not? There’s something about his band’s freewheeling sense of fun that is not just infectious, but also totally inclusive. This was one partie you definitely didn’t want to miss out on.