Last Friday night, The Middle East played a sold out performance at the Metro in Sydney, in support of their debut album I Want That You Are Always Happy. With a beer as my only friend, I was anxious for the show to begin so I wouldn’t have to continue checking my phone for non-existent emails to seem mildly important.

First up was Grand Salvo, a man also known as Paddy Mann. Taking on the Metro on his own with just an acoustic guitar to back him, Grand Salvo played sweet and gentle melodies. It was a shame that the majority of the crowd who had arrived early was too busy chatting amongst themselves, because his beautiful and unique voice that was occasionally lost in the noise deserved attention.

Leader Cheetah finally commanded the crowd, who were enticed by their Americana sound, with acoustic guitars and Neil Finn-esque vocals crashed together with surf guitars and pounding drums. Drummer, Joel Crannitch, was amazing to watch, as he played with such energy. While playing a solid set however, for some reason Leader Cheetah just didn’t do anything for me.

When The Middle East took the stage, they did not fail to impress.

Not content with just reproducing their releases, the band's live show was a much heavier interpretation of their songs that did not detract from the originals, but rather enhanced their intensity. Taking advantage of the size of the Metro, The Middle East found the perfect middle ground of providing a much fuller sound that would have been overkill in a much smaller venue, while still managing to harness an atmosphere and intimacy that would have been lost in a larger venue.

What hits you when you see The Middle East is the sheer amount of different things they have going on all at once. Incredible vocal harmonies that switched back and forth between members on songs such as “Darker Side” were combined with acoustic guitar and banjo, light drumming, piercing guitars and echoing synth that faded out until all you could hear was speaker noise as the crowd stood mesmerised. The following behind the band was clear, as the audience lapped up songs from both their debut EP and album, not just their latest single releases, such as “Jesus Came To My Birthday Party”, and “Land of the Bloody Unknown”. “Ninth Avenue Reverie” even got a few people to bring out their lighters and sway to its soft acoustics.

For their encore, The Middle East finally gave the crowd what they had been waiting for (and occasionally shouting for): “Blood”. It is hard to do this song justice in words, it was even more amazing live than on the EP. To finish off, Leader Cheetah joined The Middle East on stage to perform together, in a less serious, more light-hearted atmosphere, that most people stuck around to hear.

So good.