Everything Everything at the Metro Theatre 27.7.13 - Live Review
- genevavalek
- Jul 26, 2013
- 2 min read
Late July is perhaps the coldest part of the year – in Sydney, it’s also a time where there is an act worth seeing almost every night. Amidst the flow of Splendour sideshows, it was the turn of eclectic Manchester four piece, Everything Everything to exemplify their niche for tuneful maximalism within the fittingly vibrant, yet intimate setting that is the Metro Theatre.
The solo project of Jim Finn (Art vs. Science), namely Vydamo, a structured unit, on the cusp of releasing their debut LP, entitled “Becoming Human”. How refreshing it is to see a band who are fully aware that they needn’t take everything too seriously. Presenting an uplifting sound: piano-fuelled-power-pop glazed over with casually resonant guitars, a glint of synth every now and again – as seen in “Living In The Sunshine” created a relatively polished sound. Although, each song did mirror the last. There was little variance sonically. Despite this, as performers. Vydamo are evidently optimistic, and display a vigour about their instrument which will attract an audience who, like them, love “living in the sunshine”.
In a victorious instant Everything Everything appeared on stage with a humble ease. The manner in which they progressed through their setlist was remarkable: intelligent, concentrated around extracting the entirety of their complex, visceral sound and propelling it into the pits of the stomachs of all who were in front of them. And we felt it. Every detached pulse. Cohesively, certainly.
Excellent skill in percussion was observed throughout the whole of the performance, though was especially seen in “MY KZ, UR BF”, the band’s debut single of 2010. Drummer Michael Spearman executes a certain lightness with each tap, albeit transferring a firm definiteness; no doubt stemming from the passion he so visually feels; so wrapped in constant waves of rhythmic pleasure. As a unit, the band are instrumentally above par: in sync and tightly so; with their delectably awkward bass lines alongside curious guitar riffs (which last only a split second before something sounding completely different is sprung upon us).
This palate of noise was so exquisitely accentuated by Jonathan Higgs’ choir-boy vocals. Initially demure, they transform into a dense, rapid and emotional falsetto, giving life to the final layer of the calculated yet tender musicality; perfectly sudden and audaciously unpredictable.
Humility did not leave them. Under the mixed glow of blue, yellow and orange lighting which cascaded downward on them, they expressed their elation at being in Australia for the first time – “when we started out we’d never thought we’d go to Australia” – and at the overwhelming response of the crowd who so very eagerly clapped their hands both during songs and at intervals, responding to the music and its perpetuators respectively; as if Everything Everything were indeed, everything.
- Jessica Syed
Photos by Claudia Skinner see more here
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