
As our wrists were stamped and we toddled up the stairs of Sydney’s Metro Theatre, we had ample time to swallow a beer before settling in to see who the UK’s NME magazine have dubbed as “the hottest new band in the world”. An easy claim to live up to, right? It seems that our brothers across the pond (no pun intended) have finally begun to sit up and take notice of the fresh crop of Australian bands that we’ve been sneakily keeping to ourselves these past few years. Oops. With their musical brothers in Tame Impala seeing immense success abroad, it was only a matter of time before Pond's unique blend of psychedelic rock would experience equal praise.
Playfully flinging Frisbees about, the band strolled onto the stage and burst into “Leisure Pony” almost as quickly as the crowd slipped into a dream. For just under the next hour, the Metro Theatre was under the hypnotic command of the five lads from the West Coast, the floor vibrating with their energy. It would appear that when they’re not “smoking weed and talking shit”, Pond have been busy crafting one hell of a live show.
In all his pintsized glory, Nick “Paisley Adams” Allbrook - the band’s cherub-faced frontman - led the melting pot of a set, each song blazing its way into the next. From the garage-pop riffs of "Fantastic Explosion Of Time" to the drawling late '60s rock vibes of "You Broke My Cool", the crowd were lulled into an intoxicating haze, one that couldn’t entirely be attributed to the wafting ‘smoke’ making its way around the venue. As Allbrook’s stick-like legs flung his equally tiny body about the stage (and into the crowd where the singer’s small frame was momentarily lost under a sea of bodies) we realised that Allbrook has well and truly got the moves like Jagger. No, really.
While Allbrook rocked a sweet falsetto and one of the more unique stage presences we’ve seen in recent years, Joseph Ryan, Jay Watson and Jamie Terry pumped out some truly mind-bending instrumentals, in amongst fan favourite "Moth Wings" and the raucous new creation "Giant Tortoise".
While Melbourne and Perth found themselves deprived of an encore, as “Annie Orangetree” - an oldie from their sophomore effort - came to a close, the Sydney crowd witnessed one of the world’s fastest encore turnarounds, barely having time to round out their applause and regain their focus before the rockers returned to belt out two more numbers before bidding adieu.
If it’s a scientific fact that rock attained perfection in 1974, then Pond are well and truly sticking it the lab coats among us. Right on, brother.
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Be sure to have a squiz at our Pond photo gallery from their Melbourne show at The Corner Hotel here.
If you missed out on the band's shows this month, you can catch them at next year's St Jerome's Laneway Festival when it rolls into town in February, boasting the likes of Bat For Lashes, Real Estate, The Rubens, Japandroids, Yeasayer and more.