Local Sydneysider Cam Nacson opened the show for Because They Can at The Lair, instantly hyping up the teenage crowd with his soft voice and acoustic guitar.
Nacson easily alternated between talking and joking with the crowd and playing his mellow guitar originals and upbeat piano ballads.
The following set from five-piece rockers Breakaway served up a huge contrast to the opening act. With a heavier, louder set incorporating strained vocals and well-thought out guitar noise, at times the songs sounded like remixes of an early My Chemical Romance album.
Taking up the acoustic guitar for just one song, the crowd called the lead singer an ‘Ed Sheeran look-alike’, before they finished off the set with new song ‘The Greatest’ from an upcoming EP.
Excited chatter began to fill the room as more people drifted into the venue. As a result, Because They Can were chanted and hysterically screamed onto the stage by a couple of hundred girls.
Opening with the title track from their new EP, “Alive”, they had the crowd singing along from the very first line. They then clapped their way energetically through an energetic version of “Over It”.
Guitarist Jackson Williams won the crowd over with a terrific guitar solo in “It’s Not About You”, before the Sydney group churned out a cover of Foster The People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” and displayed an entertaining stage presence in their banter with the crowd.
Lead singer Eddie Kemp took up the piano for the more nostalgic and quiet “I Want You”. This subdued moment lead into an intense drum solo by James Miller, which left the crowd screaming for more.
“This is our excuse to make lots of noise and don’t care that we sound bad,” they joked, before kicking off the noisy, pop-rock anthem “Open Your Eyes”.
A standout moment of the night was Kemp picking up the microphone stand and simply stepping down into the audience, where he performed older song “Who You Are” amidst shocked, appreciative fans and camera phones in the middle of the mosh pit.
Swapping to an acoustic guitar, and the crowd was hushed as Kemp strummed out an emotional song included on the EP at the last minute. Eventually the rest of the band joined in and powered the song up to an amazing climax built from choppy guitars and smooth melodies.
Mixing up one of their older releases, Because They Can then played crowd-favourite “Rockstar”, which had the whole room enjoying the hook-filled tune and its impressive guitar solos.
Called back for an encore, the audience swayed along to “Salt”, before Kemp swapped to the acoustic again, introducing their last song, “Pretty Boy,” as “being about Jed,” the bass guitarist.
Both the band and the crowd went full-tilt crazy in the last song, with the Sydney pop-rockers completely coated with pink and green silly string by the end of the set.
A colourful end to a colourful night.
