Live Review: Evermore, Lakyn Heperi, Ruby Frost, This Sanctuary

There is a growing trend of popular bands playing smaller venues in Sydney; something we should all be excited about because it means that we can see some of our favorite musicians more intimately and perhaps even schmooze with them before or after their set (oh happy days!). The Standard is one of such venues and last night offered up Kiwi legends Evermore.

Thinking that the first bands wouldn't begin to play until at least 8:30, this schmuck strolled into the venue to catch the last 10 seconds of local Sydney band, This Sanctuary, whose lead singer was perched on top of an amp singing (screaming?) into a siren red megaphone on my arrival. My apologies to the band, they looked like they would have been very entertaining.

The second support act was Ruby Frost who graced the stage with her male counterpart, drummer, Jimmy Mac. Two years ago I had the good fortune of seeing Ruby Frost play the infamous Viper Room on a tour of Los Angeles where the lovely lady stole the hearts of the 10 people that had come to watch. Tonight they played to a bigger, yet less enthusiastic crowd, because, lets face it, Hollywood locals are just that little bit crazier. 

With so many keyboards, switches, buttons and knobs the singer didn't have one spare limb to move to her spacey synth-pop tunes, but freed one hand for the popular track Moonlight Shining, swaying it around in the air with liberation. Closing the set with her 2011 hit Odyssey, Frost thanked the growing crowd and exited, not to be seen again for the rest of the night.

The third support act Lakyn Heperi, unaware of the artist by name, my ignorance subsided when the 19-year-old The Voice contestant took to the stage solo, acoustic guitar in hand and smiled that killer smile. Girls exclaimed “He's on!” rushing to the front of the stage and for the first time in my experiences of gigs at The Standard, I was unable to politely find my way to the front for a photo opp.

Wooing the young crowd with his soulful voice, Heperi bared his soul singing his original and heartfelt songs, proving to the room that he may very well be the next Angus Stone. Asking the audience to guess his next song, Heperi played an acoustic and stripped back cover of Call Me Maybe that had everyone quite amused. The singer humbly thanked Evermore for having him on the tour and departed, leaving behind and audience of girls who now resembled the hearts-for-eyes emoticon.

After a half hour interval, I returned to the room to find that I probably shouldn't have given up my spot. Ready and rearing were a crowd, tightly packed, at the front of the stage, bouncing and squealing in anticipation of the headliners. The most impressive of these people would have to have been the guy on crutches jumping with excitement and one die hard sightless fan that found his way to the centre front of the stage and waited patiently to hear the pop rock sounds of Evermore.

The Hume brothers strutted their way through the crowd, smiling at fans who giggled as they passed by. Adorning the stage in checks, stripes and on-trend block colours, the smartly dressed group bee-lined to their positions, cozied up to their microphones and harmonised their way into the first song.

It's easy to forget how many hits Evermore have produced, they're one of those bands that have had so much airtime that you'll know every word to their song. This became apparent to me when they ripped into their second song, It's Too Late, a tune that had everyone jumping and fist pumping with enthusiasm in recognition of a song that shaped our summer some two odd years ago.

Almost paralleling the excitement of the audience, the band was in a stellar mood, with keyboardist Peter gushing, “It really is so great to be back on the road!”, while lead singer Jon promised the crowd that, “Next time it won't be so long”, between tours.

The boys got into their new release Follow The Sun to which most of the crowd already knew the lyrics. The impressive drumming from Dan had the collective moving in closer to the stage and dancing in what seemed to be slow motion. I began to expect coloured powder to fly through the air and a camera to pan across the room as we mimicked the film clip.

The band consistently delivered songs the crowd came hoping to hear, playing Light Surrounding You, Hey Boys, Hey Girls, and finishing their set of epic empowering youth anthems that they've come to be known for, with one of their first hits Running. Leaving their fans satisfied and energised, the band waved goodbye and the crowd dispersed content that they got to sing along to almost every song.