Live Review: The Temper Trap, Mansionair, Charlotte OC

There was quite a decent turnout for English songstress Charlotte OC, who mesmerised us with ethereal numbers that showed off her incredible vocal range.

This reviewer has rarely seen an early crowd so silent and appreciative of a support act, her only fault being the lack of eye contact with the audience.

Sydneysiders Mansionair weren’t met with quite the same appreciation as Charlotte OC, but they tried their best to hold the audience’s attention. Closing their set with melodic single Hold Me Down peaked audience interest and ended their set on a high.

The eager, sold out crowd cheered as The Temper Trap assembled on stage, kicking off their set with a good old-fashioned jam that transitioned into Rabbit Hole.

They followed up this stellar start, playing against some more fantastic LED and strobe light work, with older favourites Love Lost and Trembling Hands, which got the crowd clapping and singing along.

The band opted to keep the night’s set upbeat and chose to treat us to a host of new tracks from their forthcoming third album, which according to singer Dougy Mandagi kept the set interesting for them. Notable new tracks included Burn and Summer’s Almost Gone, which were interspersed between percussive tracks Down River and Science Of Fear.

They absolutely rocked Drum Song, making it even better by adding in cover of The Clash’s Rock The Casbah, before exiting the stage much to the audience’s dismay. The crowd clapped and cheered until the band returned to stage, who seemed genuinely stoked with our response to their show.

They treated us to one last new song titled So Much Sky before taking the set down a notch to perform a tear-jerking rendition of Soldier On that really showcased the beauty of Mandagi’s falsetto. They ended their set on a high with crowd-pleaser Sweet Disposition, accompanied by band-led clapping and singalongs.

In the words of The Temper Trap, the Sydney crowd’s enthusiasm may have shat all over Melbourne, but they left us only with gold.