Live Review: Gang Of Youths

Gang Of Youths 'secret' show at the newly re-opened Lansdowne Hotel seemed to be the go-to for anyone in Sydney that didn't venture on up to Splendour In The Grass, with the line for the free show snaking around the block.

It's a different Gang Of Youths show though; a somewhat acoustic gig with just frontman David Le'aupepe and lead guitarist Joji Malani appearing without the rest of the band.

They open with Kansas, an instant crowd-pleaser from their debut album, The Positions. "It's good to be home," shares Le'aupepe. It truly is a home for the group, Le'aupepe later telling that he was born just three blocks away from the venue and grew up four suburbs over.

The evening is in celebration of their yet to be released album Go Farther In Lightness, and they share the new track Fear And Trembling. Le'aupepe takes his time between each song, explaining their meaning and significance in his life. While these often cover deep topics, Le'aupepe makes sure to keep the evening balanced with humorous stories too, regaling us with one in particular about how no matter where the band plays in Europe or the US, there is always a group of drunk Australians down the front yelling at them to "play Magnolia".

They play Keep Me In The Open for the first time on Australian soil. It's here that the crowd start to get rowdy, and not in the right way, with a few amongst the audience hushing the loud and obnoxious ones, sadly with minimal success.

They press on for a few more tracks, and Le'aupepe shares the story behind Do Not Let Your Spirit Wane and implores on the crowd that "this life is short and temporary. Do not waste your life, my friends."

It's not long before the final song arrives, a touching rendition of Persevere, performed with friend of the band David Andrew on piano. They walk off to loud cheers and re-emerge soon after. Le'aupepe jokes that they normally choose not to partake in the encore walk off and reappearance routine but in this instance his parents are at the show and he wanted them to see him look cool.

A crowd member calls out for a John Williamson song and they indulge with a bar of True Blue, before an impromptu rendition of Waltzing Matilda breaks out. It dies out and they burst into Strange Diseases and finally the conversational noise from the crowd subsides, with them joining in for the singalong. They close, of course, with Magnolia. The floor bounces, the room is filled with voices in unison and they walk off to a triumphant cheer.