It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that a fun. show is exactly that; fun.
Touring nationally as part of the traveling circus that is Future Music Festival, fun. played The Palace Theatre as they stopped off in Melbourne whilst zig-zagging across the country to meet all of their festival and headlining requirements.
The upbeat three-piece were joined on the bill by Sydney’s Pluto Jonze; a band most notable for the single ‘Eject’, a song that received considerable airplay on Triple J last year.
They were a late call up and admitted onstage that they were only asked to play that day and had to hastily make their way down to Melbourne.
It was clear that much of the eclectic audience didn’t know the band, and while they clearly impressed some of the older crowd, in between songs the talking that was going on throughout their entire set became wholly evident.
Their final song, the aforementioned ‘Eject’, managed to get the attention of the entire venue and the band delivered it perfectly.
This final performance brought the talking to a standstill and the whole crowd seemed to enjoy it whether they’d heard the song before or not, with loud and poignant applause and whistles greeting the group as they walked off stage.
There was a good half-hour between the support and the main act themselves. The Palace filled up a little more, but it never surpassed about three-quarters full for the evening.
Those that did turn up were a veritable mixed bag of attendees, ranging from the very young and excitable (many of whom were possible sporting fake IDs just to get in) older couples, aged men rocking the jeans and runners combo; basically anything you can think of. Straight, gay, shy, flamboyant, boisterous, even those who seemed slightly embarrassed to be at a pop gig, the crowd had it all.
This was one of those magical gigs where people, after one song, had no inhibitions and didn’t care what they look like, how they dance, who’s watching and just (and rather appropriately) have fun.
When it was time for the main act to arrive onstage, the house lights customarily dimmed and the three-piece, joined by three more touring members, walked out in darkness to rather grand opening music and rapturous screams of applause.
The manic reaction subsided for the band to launch into their first song ‘Out On The Town which is admittedly one of their best numbers, though it’s billed as a bonus track and thus is an unusual choice of song to open with, however in this instance it paid off as the whole crowd sang along enthusiastically.
The band waited a couple of tracks before formally acknowledging their adoring crowd. Lead singer, Nate Ruess – who did most of the talking – was greeted with raucous screams in response to pretty much anything he said.
One of the best pieces of banter also involved guitarist Jack Antonoff, who was fond of playing a game with audiences called ‘Festival or first of all’.
Given how a crowd speaking at once isn’t very articulate, combine this with the Australian accent, Antonoff reasoned that it was near impossible to tell the difference between an audience saying either word.
This theory was of course promptly tested. The verdict? He was indeed right.
With only two albums to their name, and being aware that the vast majority of their success has come since Some Nights was released, the band weren’t afraid to recognise that fact in their choice of setlist.
Playing every one of the ten songs on the album and rarely delving into their debut, Aim And Ignite.
While there are some great tunes on their first offering, it is always nice to see a band that knows what the crowd wants to hear and not be afraid to deliver it.
New single ‘Carry On’ was received just as well as some of the bigger hits. ‘One Foot’ prompted some of the best gig dancing ever seen, while the long and auto-tune-heavy album closer ‘Stars’ brought about a reflective sing-along.
Those familiar with Some Nights would know that auto-tune is used in short bursts throughout parts of the album, not due to the lack of ability of Nate Ruess as a singer but to add variety. Live it was not present, and the gig didn’t miss it as Ruess’ amazing vocal ability more than made up for it.
Needless to say, the biggest cheers of the evening were reserved for regular set closer ‘We Are Young’ and encore closer ‘Some Nights’; yet a highlight that nearly topped both of them was their take on The Rolling Stones’ ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’.
A cover that went down surprisingly well despite the amount of youngsters present.
Fun. sure know how to put on a show and were clearly amazed at the energy being thrown back at them by an adoring crowd who had been given their money’s worth several times over.
