Something With Numbers,Angelas Dish, Fifty Sixx @ TheAnnandale, Sydney (27/10/06)

Fri 3rd Nov, 2006 in Gig Reviews

Despite the peeling posters, beer soaked chairs and crappy lighting, there’s a reason why thousands flock to the seedy surrounds of The Annandale. The music.With queues spilling out of the toilet door and out of the ticket booth, Something with Numbers, a band hugged and handheld by Triple J, unsurprisingly, sold out their second gig on the Perfect Distraction Tour.


Honestly, I didn’t expect much. After hearing their national release of Apple of the Eye, a generic pop fused track, I went to the show more eager for one of the supports on the bill, Angela’s Dish. Vodka in one hand, my phone in the other, I waltzed cockily throughout the crowded, smoky pub. Little did I know, I’d leave with my head barely intact, rocking to the beat of the aforementioned song that originally lulled me to sleep.

The first attack came with Fifty Sixx. The opening supports on the bill and a local act that’ll spin your head around twice. As the band launched their weapons, those of us huddling at the front, were slaughtered at the first tap of the drums. Fifty Sixx were a phenomenal and dangerous live experience. They fired their songs without mercy, knocking out the 250 innocent victims who didn’t bother clapping for their entrance. The lead guitarist seemed to have convulsions at first, but before we could laugh, he jumped right down our throats with an amazing guitar rip which pushed the band on. It was a performance that threw bottles at your head, made you rethink your future as a nun and screamed directly at your brain.

This style of music was a cross between Shihad rock with Live-esque vocals lined with smears of melody. Maybe it was the passion of the lead singer that reached out and grabbed us by the hair, or maybe it was the alcohol kicking in, either way, it prompted sing-alongs and demanded the attention of the blasé rockers and the ditzy chicks in their heels and mini-skirts. Wrapping up a thoroughly enjoyable set with a softer acoustic number, Call That a Gun?, Fifty Sixx had conquered the Annandale.

It was then, the crowd began to swell in numbers, Angela’s Dish had their work already cut out, and people were still reeling from the first supports. Cockier in comparison to Fifty Sixx’s passion, The Dish had booty shaking pop that encouraged those aforementioned ditzy chicks to mosh like no tomorrow. These lads from the Central Coast have rubbed shoulders with bigger local acts: The Getaway Plan, Behind Crimson Eyes, After The Fall, Kisschasy and Gyroscope. Although they weren’t as blood pulsing as Fifty Sixx, they polished up nicely, had lines of devoted fans screaming “I don’t wanna diiiie…!”, jumped on top of the bar, and even managed to get a guy (tripping on God-knows-what) kicked out when he tried to crowd surf. Cheers to those boys!

By now the crowd began to surge. There was a hustle, a few spilt beers, and queues resumed at the toilet doors. The atmosphere in the Annandale felt like Christmas morning, minus the moment where everyone sang along to John Farnham’s You’re the Voice.

Now… as the lights dim… the crowd cheering ecstatically… the band was ready. If Fifty Sixx was the chips and Angela’s Dish, the beer nuts, Something with Numbers was the ice cold beer to wash it all down.
Pouncing onstage and ripping out with What is this? Something with Numbers was here! Immediately followed by Crowner of Kings, this band didn’t even need to talk up the audience. Just when you thought the night couldn’t get any better, Apple of the Eye thundered through the microphone! The Annandale floors shook with the moshing. Hordes screamed their lyrics back at them. Tumblers lay forgotten on the beer soaked floor. Beads of sweat gathered on the band members. Crazed fans rammed to the front. Those who were high-heeled suffered.

The band churned out track after track, serenading us with Zombie, shaking us with Double Dyed and Fairy Tale, pausing briefly before Goodbye Mickey Finn, so everyone could breathe, then threw us all back into the Perfect Distraction.

If you’ve listened to the album before, and you loved it, wait till you see these riots live. It will be one gig that will have your ears ringing for the next three days and your eye twitch may never recover.

The rest of the performance was a rapturous blur. Then it surpassed the breaking point with an exceptional, a brilliant, a fucking awesome drum solo, involving three of the band members beating away at our feeble crazed sanities!
It simply couldn’t get better…it simply couldn’t. After the ol’ let’s-pretend-we’re-finished trick, the boys reappeared for another four songs, ending with the first track on their new album, Spent.

A head roaring finish and the best show I have ever been to in my feeble life.
None of us anticipated the supports to slap us in the face with a squirming seal. Those individuals that came late were updated by friends; there was a scurry of purchases at the merchandise table and a round of last minute drinks.

Something with Numbers surpassed all expectations and Triple J are justified in their support. So here’s another drink to The Annandale, Triple J, Fifty Sixx, Angela’s Dish and of course…Something with Numbers!