You Am I are in the midst of their ‘Strung Up’ tour, featuring a string quartet that adds an extra layer to their performance. The aptly named “Electric Eel Orchestra” joined You Am I at The Tivoli in Brisbane on Thursday, 22 October. The tour celebrates 30 years of their ARIA award-winning album, Hourly, Daily.
The Tivoli Theatre was set up for a seated audience, which could be interpreted as a way to elevate the overall feel of the show, or a simple request that the crowd stay settled and not distract the quartet by moshing and dancing. The set started with “Daemons” from 2015’s Porridge & Hotsauce, before kicking straight into “Berlin Chair.” It was a big change to hear it this early when it’s usually pulled out to finish a set, or as part of an encore, and a big change to hear it with strings.
While it was easy to imagine how the strings would fit into some of their songs before the show – for example, taking over the trumpet part in “Tuesday”, as well as “Heavy Comfort” and “Hourly, Daily” that both already feature strings – the way they were incorporated into “The Ocean”, a song from their 2010 self-titled album was a surprise. “The Ocean” features a grinding bass line and guitar riff, and the addition of the strings – especially the violins – took it to another level. Everything came together perfectly for this song and it was easily the highlight of the night.
In addition to the strings, drummer Russell “Rusty” Hopkinson played other percussion instruments including a glockenspiel, xylophone, and tambourine. Bassist Andy Kent assisted on drums while Rusty played xylophone on “Heavy Comfort” and pretended to hit him in the head with his drumsticks. “Heavy Heart” made the crowd break out in a collective “awwwww” as it started, and lead singer Tim Rogers gave it a fresh twist with some altered lyrics. After “I don’t dress so sharp,” he said “BULLSHIT!” and sang “Been watching so much TV, I think most of it’s beneath me…”
Rogers shared that half of the quartet had been struck down with a virus, and they had to scramble for last-minute replacements. Unfortunately, it sounded as though Rogers himself had a touch of something as his voice was noticeably croaky when he spoke to the crowd and slightly off-key in some of the songs that required him to sing slowly, and in a higher register. This didn’t derail the show or result in a poor overall performance, but it was clear Rogers didn’t feel it was up to his high standards.
Despite the croakiness, Rogers regaled us with stories – some true, some questionable – between songs. For instance, did you know he wrote “Damage” with Sting? For a Bond movie? He even sang “Goldfingeeeeerrrr” at the end to make it believable. Rogers also told us about never quite feeling as though the band had made it, after playing “toilets” in the US and Europe early in their career, and enjoying it all, especially cheap American cocaine products. That story got a big laugh from the crowd, as did the string quartet playing the “Fawlty Towers” theme song at the start of the encore.
The band finished the show with a cover of “10538 Overture” by Electric Light Orchestra and “How Much is Enough.” Even though two of the string quartet hadn’t practiced with the other members or the rest of the band before Thursday, if Rogers hadn’t told us about it, we wouldn’t have known. The quartet sounded note-perfect and the extra instrumentation complemented You Am I‘s songs perfectly.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
The tour concludes at the Melbourne Recital Hall on the 5th and 6th of November. Ticket can be found HERE.
Reviewer attended 22nd October 2026
