Lime Cordiale are known to put on a raucous show, so sold-out seated nights at the Enmore Theatre were always dubious. But this weekend put the theory to the test as a sea of Cordiale quenchers flooded the Sydney venue to catch Oli and Louis Leimbach and their band do what they do best.
The boys always enlist the company of top shelf opening acts and the bill was no different with Budjerah and Mia Rodriguez warming up the stage. Both acts are still green to the scene but commanded the audience like they could do it in their sleep. In fact, Sunday night’s show was Mia’s second-ever live performance which was next to unbelievable.
With the audience already struggling to stay parked in their chairs, the Lime Cordiale crew graced the stage to thunderous applause and a flashy light show. They kicked off with “No Plans To Make Plans” and followed with hit after hit after hit – not a single album filler in sight.
It really reminded you of just how successful this band has been in the past two to three years with singles that stand out from each other. They cohesively create the Lime Cordiale surf psych-pop that Australia has come to love.
It turns out that the band has some pretty phenomenal fans from abroad as well. The band foreshadowed that they’d been in the studio recently with a big artist name… “You might know him as a legendary UK actor, but tonight he’s a musician. Please welcome Idris Elba!”
The one and only Idris Elba of The Wire, Luther, Thor, The Suicide Squad and endless more titles joined the Northern Beaches band on stage for an unreleased track that sees Idris rap. The crowd went mental, with one punter even risking the COVID marshal’s wrath to offer his own shoe for Idris to perform a shoey. He declined.
It was possibly the most unexpected collaboration but checks out with Idris in town to shoot George Miller’s upcoming film Three Thousand Years of Longing alongside Tilda Swinton and to allegedly star in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder.
The night closed with the crowd entirely on their feet as the band played “Robbery” and “Inappropriate Behaviour” as their encores. The evening of surprises (including the iconic use of tenor sax, clarinet and kazoo) was an unforgettable event and one likely to go down in the band’s personal highlights of nights.
FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
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Check out more of the photos of the night HERE
Image credit: Bruce Baker.
