The past 12 months has seen The Presets use sophomore LP Apocalypso to blaze a trail of destruction through numerous parts of Australia and its recording industry. ARIA awards, TV advertisements, commercial radio airplay and triple platinum sales just a few of the conquests successfully achieved by the duo. In the wake of the aforementioned destruction one burgeoning army has gathered steam, hordes of little Preset-addicted kiddies, and they converged on Festival Hall for a school night assault.

While past Presets hoedowns have been over 18s affairs such as those at The Forum and Prince, the all ages tag appears to have effectively doubled the ticket sales over this run of dates. As Van She kicked things off as the first of the top shelf support acts, a decent swarm had gathered in the ever sought after front and centre positions of the dance-floor.

The early birds were highly receptive, bouncing their way through Changes and It Could Be The Same, the latter marking a rare occasion where bassist Matt Van Schie takes the reins on vocals. Busting through tracks predominantly off debut album V, said bass player is a daunting image on stage, standing roughly a foot taller than his band mates with a kind of awkward swagger. A slightly remixed version of Strangers had a nice edge to it, with deserved props going to Tomek Archer who kept his part on the drums together in a very tight performance throughout the set. Sticking with a winning formula, Van She finished off with old favourite Kelly, some minimal down lighting used very effectively before a cracking outro.

All cylinders were pumping nicely thus far and Architecture in Helsinki, another headline status act themselves, were just the tonic to really put everyone in the mood for the main event. After a slip-up that appeared to see vocalist Cameron Bird’s microphone turned off for the opening lyrics of the set, a rousing rendition of Hold Music immediately showed the support tag wasn’t going to slow the pop heroes. With a saxophone combination prancing on stage mid-song, AiH were already showing off their ability to emit an infectious groove that just makes you want to boogie down. All the while at floor level, security had begun the first of numerous feeble attempts at stopping punters from getting up on each other’s shoulders.

Between tracks, Bird was quick to let everyone know of his excitement at playing the infamous Festival Hall – ‘My mum came to see Tina Turner here in 1972! While an interesting throwback, the reference may have gone over the heads of many in attendance whose parents may have still been in nappies in ‘72. Unfortunately, despite the brilliant performance occurring on stage, the kiddies began to grow impatient. Enter rude punk on shoulders between songs – ‘PRESETS! PRESETS! PRESETS!’

Fortunately, quality shone through and AiH launched into their best offering for the night with That Beep, Bird tweaking his vocals sporadically in the closing refrain to great effect. The disrespect though, only grew from there, with the chants for the headline act growing louder between tracks so much so AiH girl Kellie Sutherland even joined in for a few fist pumping moments. After reassuring all that it was only a matter of time before the flavour of the moment would arrive, Do The Whirlwind and Heart It Races brought their tenure to a close. Though not before a parting shot from chirpy front man Bird – ‘Up next is Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton!’

Half an hour later and general admission was looking every bit of at capacity, with the masses crammed in that tight you could throw a tissue and cover the heads of 20 people. As the pre-recorded intro for opener Talk Like That first bellowed through the speakers it was a pleasure to immediately notice an elaborate light show was still high on the priority list for The Presets. A far cry from the black curtain with coloured bulbs scattered through it circa 2006, Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes entered amongst a sea of metre high neon light bars protruding from the stage like icicles, very reminiscent of Battles’ Tonto film clip of a few years back. Casting aside any doubts about being able to work such a big venue, Hamilton pumped out the openers in an effort proving he was made for it, working the crowd into a lather for the sing-a-long bridge of Yippiyo-Ay.

The first change of pace and visit to Beams material came at the same time, with Girl and the Sea providing a reprieve for those moshing, that’s right, moshing at the front. Ares provided an unexpected highlight, the icicle lights wavering perfectly in synch with Moyes tapping along the glockenspiel. Latest single If I Know You provided the last of the more reserved tunes, as the concluding breakdown had a surprising kick in its live form, paving the way into a remixed version of Are You The One? While you may wonder why to change a song that is so perfect in its original form, the remix proved near as tasty and certainly trumped the one heard on the BMW ad! Special mention must be inserted here for two additional performers on the night, Nathan Buckley and ‘mixing desk guy’. Let’s just say Bucks was best on ground in the dancing department, while ‘mixing desk guy’ looked to be a hot favourite for the Brownlow at the end of the year.

First ever single from 2003 Beat On / Beat Off was again slightly reworked as Hamilton, still sharply dressed in a white suit jacket, got some chipmunk vocals into play. With energy levels at an all-night low as the small hand crept past the bedtime of many in the building, My People was met with a tired yet excited roar. Moyes encouraged all sections of the crowd to blurt the all too familiar response to Hamilton’s cries as he belted the skins into submission. As if it were ever going to be the final track of the night, the screams and applause were more than enough to see them back on stage within seconds, with Hamilton appearing genuinely overwhelmed – ‘As if being in this band wasn’t already fun enough, then you guys do this…’

The duo propped behind the Korgs for one final fling, with Anywhere and as standard closer I Go Hard, I Go Home providing one last chance to do just that. For anyone who was making a return journey to see the Sydney product after last year’s outstanding Forum dates, you had to wonder. How can they top such a brilliant show? The answer, unbelievably enough, was easily. Fame doesn’t appear to have encouraged The Presets to rest on their laurels, mild changes to their live performance, a souped up light show and a genuine enthusiasm is only making them better. That bodes very well for album number three, and for Bucks and the kiddies, of course.

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