There have been few Australian bands that have been able to surpass their competition and break the mould of Aussie indie rock, but Last Dinosaurs are clearly one of them.
Being the sole opener for Bloc Party’s only headline 2012 show in Australia, and having just announced a headlining UK tour, it’s clear that the Brisbane four-piece are heading places.
With masses of Australian music fans packed into Adelaide’s Governor Hindmarsh, dancing and jumping to every beat of the night, it was surprising that the venue was still left standing.
Twinsy, the first opening act, were a rare act. It was just their sixth show of their entire career, but their crowd behaved as though they have been loyal fans for years. The duo, consisting of two famous faces – Yacht Club DJs Guy Chappel, and Hunting Grounds’ Michael Belsar – managed to produce an unbelievable orchestra of sound. Their show was rife with mash-ups, crowd surfing, and high-energy indie/dance rock, and they no doubt managed to grab more than a couple of new fans.
It seems that main openers Jungle Giants have been very prolific in the last twelve months, tagging along with bands such as Boy & Bear and San Cisco on their headline national tours. This time around, their crowd was as boisterous as ever, singing along and dancing to every word of every song. The quartet managed to be as active as possible on stage, all while seldom missing a note or a beat.
It may have been out of boredom, or just pure excitement, but headliners Last Dinosaurs decided to come on ten minutes before their arranged time.
Opening with “Sunday Night” to a crowd eager to dance until their legs collapsed, the indie rockers fed off their fans’ overflowing excitement. Unsurprisingly, this continued right up until the beginning of “I Can’t Help You”, where the band suddenly stopped playing and announced “well, it looks like our bass amp died, so go and grab some drinks and we’ll play as soon as we can fix it”.
With the second try of the song much more successful, the show was ready to continue with songs such as “Andy” and a surprising cover of Modjo’s “Lady (Hear Me Tonight)”.
The final parts of the set, including the ever desired encore, included their two biggest songs: “Zoom”, followed by “Honolulu”. Right at the end of their encore, nearly every member of each band, as well as a few lucky fans, managed to get on stage and party next to the band – a perfect way to sum up the energy-filled night.
