“Fifty minutes ago I was at home, cleaning up my room, now I’m standing in front of a thousand people,” Deep Sea Arcade singer Nic McKenzie tells the crowd, clearly in a state of near disbelief at the heights his group have reached.
He then whips out a camera phone. “I want to get a photo of you all. Everyone act like zombies!”
The Sydney quintet are playing their biggest shows to date this tour and there’s a real unaffected sense of celebration to the show, with both the band and audience clearly revelling in the sense that they’ve gone up a level and are no longer a charming little indie pop band; but genuine draw cards in their own right.
Earlier, prolific Blue Mountains duo Fishing had the first support slot and played to a hugely enthusiastic crowd mainly made up of all ages punters who had got there early and were thriving on the giddiness of kids at their first ever big gig.
The lush, deeply felt electronica of Caribou and the fizzy, propulsive feel of Fuck Buttons are touchstones to the pair, but there’s something almost unique in Fishing’s approach, which is somehow feels both introspective and genuinely involving, crowd-pleasing without ever being obvious.
Their set is also notable for featuring perhaps the most lackadaisical stage invasion the Metro has seen as a young fan jumps the barrier, has a bit of a dance and is eventually shepherded off stage by a security guard who looks barely bothered.
Where Fishing look to indietronica for inspiration, The Preatures are unabashed traditionalists, their boisterous rock drawing on the likes of Led Zeppelin and the blues rock tradition, nodding to a more subdued supper club style at times.
The set goes up a notch with the songs featuring Gideon Bensen in vocals, his great Southern rock howl an energetic contrast to mid-tempo songs like ‘Threat’ and the more atmospheric style of co-vocalist Isabella Manfredi.
The two singers join forces to great affect on new song ‘Drive Away’ however, and there’s a real confidence about them and nothing small-time about their songs or their ambitions.
After an agonising wait for the headliners featuring some interminable technical set-up and, apparently, the singer doing some late night house cleaning, Deep Sea Arcade instantly prove to be worth the wait as they get an ecstatic response to first song, the pristine jangle-pop rush of ‘Seen No Right’.
As with many of their songs, it brings to mind the neo-psychadelic euphoria of The Stone Roses, though swapping that band’s floating detached vocals for energised, gleeful pop hooks.
Their penchant for classic pop smarts is also seen on the sweeping ‘Granite City’, while they cover some heavier, Stones-influenced territory on ‘If The Devil Won’t Take You’ – which also showcases their knack for winning harmonies.
A slick cover of ‘Let Forever Be’ – the memorable (if grammatically challenged) collaboration between The Chemical Brothers and Noel Gallagher – also makes an appearance, its hypnotic drum loop and wide-screen psychedelia proving a good fit for Deep Sea Arcade’s accessible take on psych rock.
There’s a swagger to Deep Sea Arcade these days and with slick renditions of ‘Girls’ and the pounding ‘Black Cat’, do nothing to halt the momentum of this show. Their best songs remain the pure pop cuts however, and ‘Don’t Be Sorry’ is another blissed- out earworm.
Beyond their undoubted chops as players and songwriters, perhaps the most memorable part of this show was the band’s obvious glee and sheer gratefulness at having made it to the big time.
McKenzie might still be pinching himself that he gets to play to a thousand people, but now he’s got the zombie photos as proof.
