Kele, Strange Talk @ The MetroTheatre, Sydney (3/8/11)

Fri 5th Aug, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Amazing crowd, amazing artists, amazing venue – what more could one ask for in a gig? My experience at the Metro Theatre last night was definitely one to remember, consisting of a 40-minute set by Melbourne quartet Strange Talk, and hour-long performance by the night’s main attraction, London lad Kele Okereke (of Bloc Party acclaim).

Doors opened a little after 8:00pm to an already impressive line twisting around the side of the building, which sported, quite unusually, punters from all walks of musical taste. Then, following a brief wait, during which the size of the crowd grew considerably, our supporting band adorned the stage.

Strange Talk, despite having quite an underwhelming start to their set, were brilliant. Plainly said, their music was a perfect accompaniment to Kele and quite effectively excited the crowd that was present. Their musical sound is upbeat, bubbly, and full of energy; similar to the sounds of artists Phoenix, Cut Copy and Passion Pit. Their most noteworthy song, Climbing Walls, was suitably dancey, encouraging even those sitting down to bust a move in their seats. Other highlights of their set comprised of tunes of their debut EP, including Eskimo Boy – a delightful romp, Is It Real? – a tune featuring majestic vocals, and We Can Pretend – a song the crowd seemed to thoroughly enjoy. The conclusion of their set was abrupt, and left me wanting more – I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more attention aimed at these guys in upcoming months, all of which will be much deserved.

The interim of half an hour between Strange Talk and Kele went by quickly, with people pouring into the smallish theatre room, filling it completely. Seating was full, the floor was full, the bar was full, even the stairs were filled with people. Despite the squeeze when attempting to move about, the atmosphere it created was terribly exciting.

At 8:45pm, Kele’s band, and Kele himself appeared on stage to louder-than-life cheering and excitable fans already sitting on each others shoulders. The first song of his hour was Walk Tall, the first track off his 2010 album The Boxer. This is where the amazing power of the crowd comes into the experience – not ten seconds after the song began, the crowd were chanting along with him. And not some of the crowd – the entire crowd. There’s nothing quite as exciting as knowing everybody around you is just as big a fan and just as excited to be there. As the song reached it’s climax, the crowds chanting changed into cheering as loud as the song itself. Following songs On The Lam, Everything You Wanted (which included a crowd clap-along), and Unholy Thoughts (during which Kele brought out his own guitar to play), one crowd-member gifted him with a hat, and he declared Sydney as being better than Melbourne (“because, as we all know, that’s all that really matters”). Next on the set list, a few Bloc Party tunes: Blue Light, followed by The Prayer. The final Bloc Party hit, One More Chance, was performed immediately following a little escapade off of one of the speakers, in which a stumble turned into a roly poly. Needless to say, it was another crowd favourite.

During a short period of “checking whether Kele broke Lucy’s [backing vocals and keyboardist] keyboard”, a chat ensued, in which a minute-long excitement build-up to the dance-hit Tenderoni ensued. What can I say about Tenderoni? Anything negative? Definitely not. It was purely genius. There are songs in which one can not be sure whether the artist has been “helped” digitally unless you hear them live. What is spectacular about Kele is that in 100% of cases, his live renditions match up beautifully with the album/single recordings. This is the first song of the night in which the crowd went absolutely mental – there were people jumping around, dancing wildly (even in their seats), and a lot of people trying to sing along. It was amazing. The final of the initial set, Rise, was accompanied by another clap-along as well as crowd chanting – a wonderful conclusion.

However, it didn’t end there – Kele and his band returned for a four-song encore, which included Ready 2 Go, a single featuring the vocals of Kele from French artist Martin Solveig’s 2011 album Smash.

To describe the overall experience? All I can really say is that if you didn’t go (or didn’t see him at Splendour in the Grass), you missed out on something spectacular, and I feel bad for you.