Billed as an Australian exclusive, Anberlin promised a night of firsts. Promising early in the night that they would "play for two hours, [play] many B-sides, [play] many covers”. For the seventh time since 2005, Anberlin was adoring Sydney, but judging by the anticipation around this concert, it was as if they hadn't been to our shores for years.

Loud cheers sustained the entire three minute long, tension building introduction music in the final countdown to their emergence on stage. From the first line of set-opener "Dismantle.Repair.", the Enmore Theatre turned into a 2500 person sing-along. It's the loudest the venue's been in a long time. Confidence radiated from the Florida band. The whole stage was utilized with guitarists left, right and centre running back and forth with lead-singer Stephen Christian running from corner to corner the entire evening and never appearing out of breath. It was refreshing to see a band move out of their respective positions and enjoy the space they've been given. Heck, they were probably just happy to finally be able to move after the 15-hour flight.

The opening riff to "Change the World (Lost Ones)" was a trigger for cheers. Christian sprayed the crowd with bottles of water, as the crowd was undeniably sweating by the bucket-load. Anberlin was well structured and effective in recreating their heavy sound to the live stage. Naturally, it is the band who receive credit for the execution of their sound, but respect must be given to their live music/mixing team, who at times would have to control up to five guitars at once, which never overwhelmed the vocals.

Compassion was felt for the upper balcony, who were all in seats, and were unfortunate to not get the space to express the energy Anberlin was letting off on stage.

The usual concert format was tested around the middle of the set, when the night turned into something that resembled an MTV Unplugged performance. The drum kit was replaced with two free-standing drums at the front of the stage, the youthful energy of the rest of the band was exterminated as stools were placed around the stage. Stripped-back versions of "Haunting", "The Unwinding Cable Car", and "Alexithymia" cemented the night as a true one-off Anberlin experience.

The crowd had been singing to every song the entire evening, but when Stephen told the audience that they were about to play “a song every Australian can recognise”, the audience was at its loudest the entire set, and that is saying a lot. "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House, arguably Australia's second national anthem, was a touching inclusion. Later, we would hear a cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence", which was injected with Anberlin's recognisable sound and energy.

There was little interaction between songs with the audience, whether that was to fit more music into the two hours for the audience, I don't know. But when it came time for a two-question Q&A session, submitted via twitter, towards the end of the night, the audience took their chance to finally be able to talk with their friends. Whilst on paper it may've looked like a good idea, the 'session' seemed out of a place in the nights fluidity.

'An Evening with Anberlin' soon came to an end, but not before one last encore. With the band absent from stage, the crowd naturally took it upon themselves to voice what they wanted to hear. "(*Fin)" chants broke out until the lights dimmed and the smoke machines were turned back on. As the microphones and guitars were slowly engulfed in a cloud, the band members emerged one last time, and played an emotional rendition of the song. The crowd left overtly happy. You could have seen the band play the other six times in Sydney since 2005, but you learnt more of their talent from this one 'An Evening with...'.

Setlist:
Dismantle.Repair.
We Owe This to Ourselves
Paperthin Hymn
Pray Tell
Readyfuels
The Resistance
Never Take Friendship Personal
Change the World (Lost Ones)
Art of War
The Haunting
The Unwinding Cable Car
Alexithymia
Don't Dream It's Over (Crowded House cover)
Down
Breaking
Feel Good Drag
Reclusion
Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode cover)
A Day Late
Adelaide
Impossible
Take Me (As You Found Me)
A Heavy Hearted Work of Staggering Genius
Dance, Dance Christa Päffgen
Godspeed

Encore:
(*Fin)