Four great Aussie bands were on the Metro bill on Saturday night, yet it
seemed the older crowd of 18+ punters were a little spoiled for choice
in terms of pre-gig entertainment. As such, many decided to rock up
fashionably late. It was their loss however, because they missed a
corker of a set from Sydney youngsters Guineafowl.

The six-piece
were squashed onto the Metro’s stage amongst a stack of musical
equipment, including a second drum kit. The small crowd of people on hand
visibly enjoyed the set of shiny indie pop songs, bopping along and
feeding off the enthusiasm you could almost taste from the band members.
From the golden, light-hearted optimism of “Little Fingers”, to early
U2-inspired guitar rock “In Our Circles”, and hints at sixties surf
music, the band pulled out ace after ace with the pinnacle of the set
being the single, “Botanist”. The catchy indie rock song received woops
of recognition, some premature cheers and like the rest of their short,
punchy set, left us all basking in a warm afterglow of sonic goodness.
Lovely.

Cabins were up next and their music was far less
immediate than the preceding group. Instead, it was a slow-burning
affair of tripped out psychedelics and unconventional song structures.
They played the freewheeling layer-fest “Foes and Thieves”, the
Cream-meets-a-heavy twist, “Mary”, and “Catcher In The Rye”, a J.D.
Salinger inspired rock/psyche pastiche. At times, the music would drone
on a little and be a tad too repetitive for this reviewer. Perhaps it’s
also most telling that the group’s cover of Edwyn Collins’ “A Girl Like
You” received the loudest cheers of their set, and even saw a few brave souls
busting a groove (people noticeably still or absent during their other
numbers).

The final support act were Richard In Your Mind, and if
the first two acts were on opposing ends of the spectrum (the first with
catchy and immediate pop/rock, and the other with slow-burning psychedelic
jams), then these guys sat somewhere safely between the two. Sure, they
liked to dabble in layered sounds that hinted at the sixties, but their
music was a lot less taxing and far more likeable.

With a woop, Richard Cartwrightbounded onto the stage while his band (including
percussionist, Brent Griffin (SPOD) who, in op-shop chic, looked a lot
like comedian David O’ Doherty) were a little more sedate in their
choice of entrance. Cartwright himself seems to have a bit of a
Berkfinger (AKA Simon Berckelman from The Philly Jays) thing about him.
I’m not sure if it’s the curly hair and glasses, the flannel shirt,
high-pitched vocals or apparent nerdiness, but I couldn’t shake the image
from my head.

“Birds” boasted some calls from its namesake, and
combined this with a beat not dissimilar to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’
“Phenomena”. “I Will” had a fifties bubblegum pop vibe, and “Make It
Chill” had a catchy bass riff and a speaker stack full of reverb - it was
such a cacophony of noise. “Tiny Colossus Face” meanwhile, was a big ol’
rock number, the sorta thing that made the band a good choice of
warm-up guys for You Am I.

At 11:00 the Metro was at near capacity,  and it was time for the headliners to take the stage to the
Annie soundtrack, specifically “It’s The Hard Knock Life”. As the
song finished, the curtains opened and the group launched into three new
tracks: “Crime,” “We Hardly Knew You” and “Kicking The Balustrade”. The
three sedate rock numbers are not what the group are typically
synonymous with, although they did boast some catchy riffs. I can
imagine the photographers would’ve been a little less than impressed
with the muted choice of set openers but never mind.

It was soon
time for the You Am I of old, at least in the form of Mr. Rogers taking
to the mic to make some absolutely hilarious quips. Seriously, who else
would say they use a small guitar to extenuate the size of their nose?
Okay, so said song was new single “Shuck”, but we’ll forgive Mr. Rogers
because he played the song with such a passion, and he did his best
impersonation of another big-nosed guitar hero, Pete Townshend. Timmy
was doing windmills and jumping around like
he
was that young man who
hoped he died before he got old.

Tim thought the whole affair
was very funny and kept the self-deprecating humour coming, calling the
band a bunch of forty year old farts. Basically, if he wasn’t being the
cheeky bugger egging on the audience and pulling out all the stops in
terms of showmanship, then he was playing the joker towards his band
mates, making them laugh and having a crack at their own expense.

Guitarist,
Davey Laneeven got in on Rogers’ circus action. In “Someone Else’s
Home” they giggled like schoolboys. Perhaps they were sharing a joke
about being able to enjoy themselves after having endured so much over
the past decade? Or was it another in-joke from the tour? Either way,
the friendship and camaraderie of the pair shone through, and Mr. Rogers
declared, “Let’s dance!”

Lanie Lane would make the first of two
guest appearances of the night, providing vocals on “Lie And Face The
Sun”, and later on in “Trigger Finger”. The latter saw Rogers return to the
stage without his James Dean combo of leather jacket and white t-shirt, and instead donned the top of a gold lamé suit as he gushed on his knees.
Hilarious.

The frantic rock bases were covered with “Pinpricks”
and “Get Up”. The latter track had the crowd singing along and
recapturing the energy and spirit of their lost youth. In a similar way,
“Purple Sneakers" had us all dancing like it was 1995, with the oldies
fighting back the tears twinkling away in their eyes. In short, it was a
tremendously fun finale and an excellent choice of set closer, assuring us
all that the group have the rock chops to rival a group of rowdy, young
upstarts.

With the crowd’s appetites for rock destruction not
completely sated, it was time for the encore, including old leather “Minor Byrd” and “Mr. Milk”, with obligatory claps, jumps, kisses, calls
and responses to the woo hoos. Leaving no rock stone unturned, the group
played “The Piano Up The Tree”, including plenty of power chords that
Rogers clearly got via osmosis after listening to all those records by
The Who and other rock greats.

Tonight, You Am I were consummate
professionals, and made this reviewer think they were like Australia’s
(far younger) answer to The Rolling Stones. Here were a group of
experienced musicians putting on a rock show that would’ve blown their
younger contemporaries off the stage. They managed to combine cuts from
their new offering with a bunch of old favourites, all the while ensuring
everyone had a rollicking good time. Tim Rogers oozes rock star cool,
something you can’t learn or impersonate like the knight, Sir. Jagger
himself, and with his band of merry men they were able to play,
entertain, joke and laugh their way through a great set. Nice.