The Panics, Georgia Fair,Avalanche City @ ANU Bar,Canberra (21/9/11)

Fri 23rd Sep, 2011 in Gig Reviews

As I get older, I have less tolerance for gigs on a school night. The enthusiastic mosher in me is gone, replaced with a tired, grumpy 23-year-old who is well aware that functioning with less than seven hours sleep is sketchy at best. So it takes a special band for me to get excited about a weeknight gig. Thankfully The Panics are that band. The Aria winners are currently touring to plug their fourth album, Rain on the Humming Wire and Wednesday night’s ANU gig was every bit as chilled out, dreamy and polished as we’ve come to expect from the five piece.

Opening the night for the early-birds was Auckland’s Avalanche City. Once just a solo act, the folk band now boasts a group of amazingly talented musicians as well. The super hit Love Love Love was the highlight of their energetic set, with the band impressing an audience who were at first far more focused on pre-gig drinks.

For a support act, the crowd that had gathered for second band Georgia Fair was massive. The two-piece were backed by a band and they commanded the stage like professionals. Having their songs featured on TV isn’t the only thing Georgia Fair have in common with The Panics, their mellow tunes and floppy hair reminiscent of a younger version of the main event. Famous because of a Big M ad, the blissful Picture Frames was a delight, while this year’s Marianne was pretty near perfect.

A short while later the crowd had grown and the air was thick with the kind of anticipation that happens when you know a gig’s going to be good. Lead by front man Jae Laffer, The Panics took their places on stage amidst the usual catcalls and whistles. Not wasting any time, they greeted their overjoyed fans before hitting the ground running with One Way Street, a track off the new album. This was followed by Ruins, a sing-a-long favourite from the band’s pièce de résistance, 2007’s Cruel Guards. They dove way back into their bag of tricks with 2005’s Sleeps Like A Curse, although it wasn’t long before it was all about the present with the newer Not Quite Home . The Panics are the kings of live shows, gifted with the ability to utterly transfix an audience one minute and have them in fits of hysterical excitement the next. Said hysterical excitement occurred when the band played what is without a doubt their most well-known number, Don’t Fight It. The moment was so beautiful that not even the guy behind me, telling his friend how he knew the song from Underbelly, could ruin it. The set may have reached its peak there, but what came next was spectacular all the same. Old favourite Cruel Guards and new single Majesty were equally as impressive, while a lovely solo tune from Laffer, In Your Head created a hushed, almost awed atmosphere. If Don’t Fight It gets the gold, then Get Us Home definitely gets the silver, and this is what they ended their amazing show with.

Because of their earlier success, The Panics give me a wonderful sense of nostalgia, their songs reminding me of my angsty teen self, who probably over-identified with their lyrics. So it’s nice to see that years later, they’ve still got it.

Was the gig worth working the next day on less than my required hours of sleep? Absolutely.