The Temper Trap brought their headline tour for their self-titled second album to Melbourne’s iconic Festival Hall for a midweek gig on ANZAC Day Eve.
The Melbourne locals (now based in London) enjoyed playing to a nearly sold-out venue of around 5,000 people, a very good return given how few Australian bands play shows at Festival Hall, not including support slots.
Anyone who has been near a radio or watched films and television would no doubt have heard the band’s music, even if, for some reason, you were consciously trying to avoid it.
Debut album Conditions was a worldwide hit with listeners falling in love with their indie-rock-come-pop sound that melded soaring choruses with an array of melodies to create a set of songs that never shied away from being catchy.
Now the band is enjoying some of the biggest crowds of their career. A support slot on Coldplay’s sold-out Australian tour in November last year gave them a first hand lesson in how to make a venue filled with thousands feel intimate, by none other than masterful frontman Chris Martin.
The Temper Trap’s legions of fans are nearly as loyal as Coldplay’s and their enthusiasm as the band walked onstage to begin their set was palpable.
Their set featured many of the songs expected of them, including ‘Love Lost’, ‘Down River’, ‘Fader’, ‘Rabbit Hole’, ‘Trembling Hands’, and of course ‘Sweet Disposition’; all were well-received.
It was the omissions that were more surprising tonight. None more than the gaping hole left by the absence of ‘Need Your Love’, the lead single off their new album.
While the songs were delivered expertly and with superb musicianship, the band struggled to engage the entire audience, with parts of the crowd audibly distracted and talking both in between and during songs.
Given the undeniable style in which the five-piece were going about their business, it was indeed a mystery as to why sections of the audience weren’t as entrenched in the experience as you would expect them to be.
While the band’s set list was perhaps a little off, the band sounded incredibly tight, with band members looking right at home as they tore through their allotted material.
Singer Dougie Mandagi sounded just as amazing and precise as he does on their recordings. He possesses a voice that sounds like it is possibly manufactured in the studio and could not possibly be as good live. It is however, just as good – if not better due to it sounding less subdued in the flesh.
Bassist Johnathon Aherne was particularly popular with members of the crowd, many of whom repeatedly stated how much he was getting into the gig, as he appeared to be visibly enjoying himself.
As part of a brief two-song encore, the band closed with ‘Sweet Disposition’, which garnered an amazing response when the crowd heard that oh-so-familiar opening guitar riff.
The entire song received the best reaction of the night and was an indisputable highlight and certainly a great way to finish off an evening that was enjoyable, if not quite as engaging as it should have been.
