sonicanimation @ Metro, Sydney09/09/05

Tue 13th Sep, 2005 in Gig Reviews

Veteran festival favourites sonicanimation have decided to call it a day on their eclectic brand of dance-rock. Their Bugger Off tour is the final time they’ll perform, with the possible exception of a summer festival tour (Big Day Out guys?).

The show kicked off in style at the Metro, drawing in an almost sellout crowd featuring an odd mix of ravers and rockers. Huge support over the years from Triple J helped forge their very own niche in the grunge/indie playlists that dominated the 90s. The dynamic duo of Rupert Keiller and Adrian Cartwright seem to prefer it this way, and it shows as they act in up on stage like you would expect any self-respecting rock group to.

Playing the bulk of the material from the new eleven-year retrospective compilation imaginatively titled 11, the sonic boys handed out doses of pounding dance rock in lavish quantities. And the crowd lapped up every bit, turning the Metro into one giant house party. Lighter tracks like Get Up and This Is Not A Love Song had people tapping their toes and showing their groove, but it was the heavier anti-dance tracks like E-Ville, Super Showbiz Star and Love Lies Bleeding that really had the place pumping. At the front of the top bar was a guy head-banging like mad, such was the intensity of the throbbing bass, drums and keyboard produced distorted guitar.

Probably their best known track, the crossover hit Theophilus Thistler, brought out everyones favourite furry creatures Robert Roley and Theophilus Thistler and everyone went crazy, partly because they were trying to sing along. Or it was just the sheer pleasurable recognition of the very Aussie satirical cheekiness that is blended into all of their music. New single Love Puppet is a fine example of this and was performed with glee.

The utterly hilarious I’m A DJ and the wacky funked-up Didley Squat were definite highlights of the night that had everyone happily woo-hooing in appreciation. The live drums added a raw edge to the sound rarely seen in any kind of Aussie dance music, more in the realm of international acts like The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers.

Front man Rupert is an entertaining singer and gave the audience a lot of jokes, in between bouncing from one side of the stage to the next. Adrian was safe behind the keyboards and playing with a huge grin.

After a thudding hour and quarter set, repeated pleas for an encore went unanswered, as sonicanimation were most likely exhausted after such an energetic show. It’s a pity that the guys have decided to split and go their own way, but at least they left us not only with some fantastic studio output, but they showed us how dance music can rock and not just sound like silly doof doof tunes.

So, who’s going to step up and fill the void?