A fresh Autumn evening and Melbourne Park was an absolute pumping hive of activity on Saturday night. Geelong vs Melbourne at the G, Rod Laver hosting Niall Horan with thousands of screaming girls under the age of 20, and then there was my crowd headed around to Margaret Court Arena to see British rockers, Nothing But Thieves. The band who hails from Essex are currently blowing away Australian audiences with their Welcome To The DCC World Tour to promote their latest album, Dead Club City. Admittedly I was flying a little blind going into this gig, as the band had only recently appeared on my radar, but it’s these gigs that I honestly get the most excited about.
I love a good people watching session to check out a band’s fan base and apart from the general age group of 30+, it was also apparent that the parents who hadn’t been lumped with chaperoning their kids to Niall Horan, had brought them across the road for a real music education. It was so great to see parents with young kids in the crowd, with everyone in the fam appearing to be as equally as excited for the night ahead. The support act for the night were Sydney based youngsters The Moving Stills. They worked through their high energy set list which included Westside, Volcano, and a killer cover version of Ladyhawke’s My Delirium. These guys had a really cool sound with great vocal harmonies, and the crowd really seemed to be digging them before it was time for them to hit the road. It was now time for a pit stop to grab another drink or 2, because the arrival of Nothing But Thieves was looming close by.
Sure enough we were plunged into darkness, which sent a jolt of excitement through the crowd and as ABBA’S Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) blasted through the speakers, and everyone couldn’t help but sing along, summoning the band to the stage. With the stage now lit up in red strobe lights, Nothing But Thieves entered and kicked the night off with Welcome to the DCC. The whole arena were up singing and dancing along, and the energy was undeniably electric. Is Everybody Going Crazy, Broken Machine and Real Love Song kept up this momentum, and they completely had the audience eating out of the palm of their hands. By this stage I was very acutely aware that lead singer, Conor Mason has some serious fucking pipes on him, and his falsetto is breath-taking.
Mason’s interaction and banter between songs was relatively minimal, but he did jokingly brag that they have LOTS of songs now since they have four albums out in the world. Sorry took things down a notch, but when Mason handed over lead vocals to the crowd for the chorus, my skin was crawling with goosebumps. We were then asked the big question Do You Love Me Yet, but it was pretty bloody obvious that what this crowd were feeling for their band was beyond love. The audience kept getting their minds blown throughout the set, and an absolutely killer instrumental medley arrangement of Ce N’est Rien/Gods/Number 13 was no exception.
Lover, Please Stay had Mason’s vocals soaring throughout the arena and my jaw was dragging on the floor at his vocal ability that most would kill for. It was at this point that I looked around the arena at the completely enraptured crowd and realised that these weren’t merely just fans, but these were disciples. These were people who are entirely devoted and moved by this band and their music. Everyone was completely entranced, singing and dancing to every single song with the pure look of adoration on their faces telling the story. In my thousand years of being on this earth and having been to hundreds of gigs of all sizes, this was definitely up there with one of the most loyal, dedicated, passionate and not to mention most deafening fan bases that I’ve ever encountered. This alone, is a true testament of this band’s music.
Trip Switch picked up the pace again, and during Futureproof the band left a huge suspenseful break in the song which sent everyone wild before the beat dropped again. Pop the Balloon rounded out the night before Nothing But Thieves quickly departed the stage leaving the audience absolutely ravenous, demanding an encore. To prevent any bloodshed, the band promptly returned and fired out Oh No He Said What and Amsterdam. This is exactly what the doctor ordered for this audience, and Conor Mason decided to feed our Melbournian egos by telling us this night was one of the funnest nights they’ve ever had on stage. Overcome would be the last epic song before they said good night for good, and the crowd finally seemed satisfied with this.
Nothing But Thieves sure know how to put on a bloody good show, and their music clearly appeals to a diverse range of dedicated fans. The energy and passion with which they play is evident in their stage presence, and their timeless rock sound has a way of settling into your bones. You know a band has magical powers when they have the ability to make everyone carefree about the logistical cluster fuck of leaving the show with 2 other big events simultaneously, because their fans were simply floating home on cloud 9.
Photos by Adam Portelli.
With special thanks to Dallas Does PR and Untitled Group for the media access.
