Some Nights, the second album from fun., has really catapulted the indie pop-rock trio from New York into the willing ears of Australian listeners.
The sold out show at the Enmore Theatre, a prelude to their appearance at Future Music Festival, is proof of that. When the doors opened it was a mad rush for the barrier as fans of all ages crammed into the theatre.
The local support act of Pluto Jonze entertained the crowd with his unique, genre-fusing style of music, flawlessly combining electro/synth elements with both acoustic and electric guitar.
The crowd goes nuts as his set closes with his newest single ‘Eject’ and the quirky Pluto Jonze freaks out and goes completely insane on the theremin; a truly unique instrument which he really makes his own.
As the lights dim and fun. takes the stage the screams almost drown out the opening of ‘Out On The Town’. The horn-heavy ‘One Foot’ follows and lead singer Nate Ruess dances and bounces around on stage with the energy of a child on a sugar high, grinning like the Chesire Cat the entire time.
Ruess then encourages the crowd to help out with the harmonizing in ‘At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)’.
The set list is a good mix of songs from both Some Nights and the somewhat lesser-known Aim and Ignite. There’s even a remarkable cover of the Rolling Stones ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’, which is so flawless and tight that if you didn’t know any better, you’d think it was their own song.
As ‘It Gets Better’ – arguably the band’s most rock-heavy song – starts up, guitarist Jack Antonoff shreds like a madman, pumping out the riffs and chords seemingly effortlessly. He looks so at home with a guitar in front of him that he would look almost odd without one.
The much more reserved Andrew Dost looks almost shy as he sits behind his keyboard, but it all adds to the charismatic charm of the band.
The trio work so well together, especially with the addition of touring members Will Noon, Nate Harold, and Emily Moore, adding so much more to the electrifying performance. They all play off each other flawlessly – a cheeky grin here, a sly wink there; Antonoff even joins in on the drumkit for one song. A pun here is unavoidable; they look like they’re having a lot of fun.
With such a high-energy first half of songs, a welcome change of pace comes as things slow down as Dost starts to key out a truly beautiful and contradictory smile-on-your-face yet tear-inducing melody that is ‘The Gambler’.
Ruess’ raw, emotional lyrics tug on the heartstrings and a few crying fans are spotted once the melodic anthem ‘Carry On’ starts.
The biggest roar of the night comes as an all-too familiar drum beat echoes out of the darkness and the thunderous applause and screams threaten to blow the fucking roof off.
It can only be ‘We Are Young’, which recently won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year. The power-pop rock anthem is by far the highlight of the night and Nate Ruess sports his boyish grin as he splits the crowd in two, giving each half their own part of the song to sing.
It’s almost time to go as the encore performance of ‘Some Nights’ and ‘Stars’ comes around. The former is where the band looked to be at their best, putting everything they had into the performance, much to the delight of the raucous fans.
Fun. are only going to be getting bigger and better in the coming years. Their performance was simply amazing; they just never let up and gave it absolutely everything.
At the level these guys are performing at in terms of quality, it’s no surprise it was a sold out show.
