Who’d have thought that a debut album released 10 years ago, with a lead single whose title was effectively just onomatopoeic syllables put together, would have spawned one of the sweatiest headline slots Sydney’s Metro Theatre would see this year? Definitely not me. But it’s exactly what Melbourne Indie-Pop-Punk quartet Kisschasy did.
Acting as main support not just for this show, but the entire tour, was Tasmania’s Luca Brasi. Admittedly, I knew very little about the band coming into the show. This soon changed. With a venue two thirds full, some times it would be hard to hit your peak, especially playing in support. I guess I wasn’t the only punter who was unfamiliar with their work. Other than four very vocal lads down front left of stage, the crowd was quite passive in their attendance, albeit polite. Which in all honesty, was quite disappointing; as the Luca Brasi lads absolutely tore The Metro stage a new one. Playing for 40 minutes, I picked up a distinct Bodyjar vibe, as I’m sure a couple others in attendance did too; as by the end of their set, the venue’s adrenaline had peaked and the crowd were really cutting some shapes of the d-floor. Luca Brasi were tight and acted perfectly as the main support for the night.
There are two main things I like about the half hour interlude between supports and headliner. The first is the soundtrack played on the PA, and The Metro were on point with American Slang era Gaslight Anthem being punished. The second is the banter between the punters. Speaking to a young couple, it became apparent that Kisschasy means a whole lot to many people and have played a role in many people’s lives. For this duo, they first met at a Kisschasy gig, and had their first dance as a married couple to the Kisschasy classic “Dinosaur”. The wonders of live music, hey?
Entering right on 10.15pm to The Rembrandts “I’ll Be There For You”, this jovial clap inducing track was a sweet indicator of what to expect from the rest of the night. Opening with their break out single “Do-Do’s & Whoa-Oh’s”, I’m pretty sure the band must have written the guide on how to instantly get the crowd on your side. While the excitement and enthusiasm was still on a high, the first truly intimate moment of the night came on “Morning”, with Darren Cordeux and just his guitar manning the stage. It was sweet, beautiful and earnest.
Speaking to the crowd about how much the band enjoys playing tracks off their debut LP United Paper People (which they were playing in full), the four piece moved into “Hearing Voices Tonight”, which saw the first en masse raising of phones from the crowd. Speaking praises of their fans for continually turning up to shows despite not releasing anything new since 2009, the band moved quickly into “Ione Skye”, a track dedicated and written about Ben Lee’s now wife. A bright, solid pop song, it had the crowd bellowing back every word in exact synchronicity with the vocals.
Closing the main set with the previously scarcely played track “Black Dress, it was a slow building anthem that would have been an ideal closer to the night, had it not been for the eight track encore to follow.
Back on stage within the minute, Cordeux joked with the crowd that the encore definitely wasn’t planned, and it definitely wasn’t written into the set list (you could smell the sarcasm through the BO from old mate I was standing next to).
Beginning the set again with “Dinosaur”, I looked across to the couple from earlier in the night, who were all dreamy-eyed and sharing the sweetest dance you’ll probably ever see at an indie-pop-punk gig.
Closing out the night with fan favourites “Spray On Pants” (that bass line sure is something) and “Opinions Won’t Keep You Warm At Night”, the band once again had the crowd in pure ecstasy, as the entire crowd sung along, and threw it back to their adolescent selves. For a band to be around for thirteen years and have fans as loyal as theirs, Kisschasy must have been something right. And just about everything they did on stage was done perfectly. So well done lads, it’s evident you love what you do and going out on a high like this would definitely have been worth it.
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