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Mike Skinner couldn’t thank us enough times for all our support over the years – it really did sound as if this was the last Australian tour – a thought that at times was enough to make the fans a little melancholy, but not for too long, as the music and stage antics soon took over. One of the first things Skinner did as the opening song, Don’t Mug Yourself, drew to a close was ask for a “slush puppy” (for anyone who has not had the pleasure of attending a gig at Metro City, the bars come equipped with awesome frozen daiquiri machines.) A few songs later, he piped up again, “Seriously, can someone get me one of those slush puppies? Or do you call them slurpies here? We call them slush puppies in England.” Of course, we call them slushies here too; but when he first asked for a drink everyone must have thought the bar staff would be attentively listening and would get on to it. Apparently not… Skinner did eventually get his drink, which he kindly swapped for a half cup of beer that the audience member wasn’t quite sure how to catch; hopefully the possibility of having Mike Skinner’s saliva on him was enough to compensate for being covered in sticky, smelly beer.

The Streets brought with them, their own signature brand of crowd involvement – including making everyone “get low” and parting the fans for a “go Moses” crowd-surf, as well as an attempt to get a new dance move popular; quite simply to jump up and down four times fast, making your feet touch your bum – which looked pretty cool when Skinner did it – but on the packed floor of Metro City it was not exactly practical. Even for those who had room to jump like that, un-sticking their feet from Metro’s carpet between jumps was near-on impossible!

One of the many delectable music treats included a fun and unexpected Cover of The Prodigy’s Out of Space – a nice touch, considering a lot of the crowd would still be buzzing from their performance at this year’s Big Day Out. With the excitement of the crowd and Skinner’s high-energy rampage, it was hard to be moved by the some of the usually captivating and poignant songs like Never went to Church and Dry Your Eyes Mate. Never the less, they were still amazing performances that some people will surely remember as their favourite part of the evening.

Looking around, you could see many punters had prepared in advance; assuring they were suitably “mashed” before the show began – sometimes it’s good to get into the right headspace for a gig – it was particularly noticeable when the first chords of Weak Become Heroes were struck and all hands went up, many clutching water bottles as if their lives depended on it. It was an amazing moment, as the whole crowd was sucked towards the stage in an unintended mimicry of the lyrics “…we all smile, we all sing…”

Perhaps the most lovable thing about Skinner is his mischievous humour. He managed to spend most of the show heckling the girls in the VIP area – “Just because you’re hot, it doesn’t mean you can’t dance!” which is nice for us peasants on the floor to hear once in a while. Towards the end of the evening he stopped, mid-song and stuck his nose out into the crowd, saying, “Hey, who’s smoking weed? Then, most likely to prevent getting someone in trouble, “No! Wait! Don’t tell me, because then all these people will know and I want you to be able to enjoy it all yourself!”

Of course, the evening finished with their most commercially successful hit Fit But You Know It; a song guaranteed to get the crowd particularly riled up, and sent us out into the night exhilarated and ready to party. If we’re lucky, we might get one last show in a couple of years, if they tour upcoming final album, Computers and Blues – it seems unlikely, but we can always dream.

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