Live Review: Bluejuice, Loon Lake, The Cairos

Rows and rows of screaming youngsters packed out the Metro as soon as the doors opened on Friday night, desperate to get a good spot for when The Cairos took to the stage. The Brisbane four-piece started their set wearing mismatching wigs and looking less than polished; however the ecstatic crowd didn't seem to mind as they bopped along to tracks inspired by the sounds of The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys, including Shame and We All Buy Stars.

Following a brief interval, Loon Lake took the stage, also wearing wigs and masks (we obviously missed the wig memo). The Melbourne collective looked heavy on the guitars and the benefit of so many strings was unclear for most of the set. However, a couple of epic breakdowns and some serious noodling later on cleared up any questions. Their lead singer held the charisma of the band as they strolled through tracks from new EP, Not Just Friends, culminating with a mass hand-swaying singalong for hit, Bad To Me.

Sydney stalwarts, Bluejuice, are renowned for their fun-filled, energetic live performances – and this gig was no exception. Bouncing on stage dressed in illuminated fluoro-patterned outfits, the band made it clear from the outset that this was going to be a full-throttle set.

Can't Keep Up started proceedings, sending the backing singers off into a bout of frenzied dancing and jangling fluoro-tinged tambourines while the crowd jumped around like space hoppers. As usual, singer Jake Stone stole the stage, clambering up onto a huge speaker and crowd surfing while fellow singer, Stavros Yiannoukas, was left to keep the vocals together on stage. Notable hits of the night included the classic Vitriol, Act Yr Age and the energetic Broken Leg. The crowd were split into two to sing along to On My Own, while the hilarious karaoke-inspired video ran in the background.

A brief encore of just two songs finished the set, one of which was a great cover of KWS' '90s classic, Please Don't Go, that was sadly lost on the young crowd. All in all, a very fun and entertaining gig that just reinforced Bluejuice's position as one of Australia's greatest live bands.