Live Review: Yeasayer, Oliver Tank & Fishing

A solid early crowd filled the room at The Metro for warm-up act Fishing, who drew a decidedly hipster audience for their electro/hip hop sampling. The mish mash of disjointed beats, samples and rapping was jarring to the ears, yet their small but well-formed fanbase squealed with delight at every tune.

In stark contrast, the gentle-natured Oliver Tank's set was serene and sensual with minimal effects and sample drumbeats layered with his ethereal vocals. Tracks like Up All Night and Embrace were simply magical, but the addition of the electric guitar through the latter half of the set didn't really add anything to the beautifully simplistic songs.

A full house and a much more mixed crowd greeted New York's Yeasayer to the stage to the repetitive sample of “Sydney, Sydney, Sydney” as singer Chris Keating expressed his delight at being back in the city for the fourth time. Opener, Blue Paper, from new album, Fragrant World, got everyone bopping up and down to bass player Ira Wolf Tuton's sultry vocals.

Keating then took to the mic and the set really got into the swing of things with hit, Henrietta, creating some spine-tingling three-way melodies during the chorus. Keating's stage presence was truly captivating as he flailed around with flamboyant gestures and jazz hands that looked like they'd been borrowed straight from a gospel singer. More new tracks followed interspersed with older numbers like Madder Red, ONE and closer, Ambling Alp, the latter two possibly getting the biggest reception of the night prompting a mass singalong.

What really made the set was that every song received a brand new treatment, many to the extent that it took a few bars to recognise what they were, which really added a new level and made seeing them live a real treat.

After a short break, the band were straight back into it with Devil And The Deed and Fingers Never Bleed before getting back to some more classics with Tightrope and Wait For The Summer to finish. A great performance and something new with every track, even for the most die-hard fans.