For the past three months I had been waiting for this concert, eagerly anticipating the day when The Temper Trap arrived and even counting the days on my own calendar. As was always my plan, I arrived with plenty of time to spare, but I almost couldn’t find either of my friends and nearly declared the night over before it began, but all was solved when they turned their phones on!
After backing up from their Thursday night performance, I had doubts as to whether or not The Temper Trap would meet my hopes, but they did not fail to impress. The crowd seemed to come from all walks of life, Surry Hills hipsters right down to the socialites of Rose Bay, and packed out the cavernous venue.
Warming up for them was Melbourne-based band Chet Faker. Their electro, synth-filled songs filled out the space easily and were well accompanied with the legendary lighting and acoustics of the Opera House. Playing tracks such as I’m into you with its evocative bass and smooth melodies of Terms and Conditions, the band showed an impressive depth. The only failing for Chet Faker was the lack of audience for such a dynamic band. Whilst playing through their set, the lead singer modestly announced that it was their 16th time playing together as a group, but they were skilled beyond belief for a band with so little time on stage.
After an intermission period that seemed to last for far too long, The Temper Trap finally appeared to play their first song of the night, London’s Burning from their self-titled album The Temper Trap. They filled up the venue with their presence and bathed us all in dramatic red lighting. They encouraged the crowd to stand up for the performance, and many did, doing their own dance moves and not caring who was around. The Temper Trap then went straight into a passion-filled Need Your Love with complementary lighting that strengthened the passion behind the song with an uplifting melody.
The Temper trap then moved into some crowd favourites such as Down River, Fader and Love Lost from their first album Conditions released in 2008, which got the whole crowd up on their feet, singing the roof off the venue in glee. They also played their single off their newest album, Rabbit Hole, showing off their diversity and already considerable skill.
However, the fun didn’t begin till, well…when Dougy Mandagi said it. They then launched into the Science of Fear and Resurrection and blew away the crowd, even evoking dancing in the aisles from certain members of the audience! While originally not my favourite song, Resurrection was possibly the best song of the night.
The band then ran off stage, leaving the audience screaming for more after such an amazing performance, to which they returned and ended with the joy-filled song Sweet Disposition to cap off a brilliant performance. Dougy and the band ended the night with thanking everyone, but really, Thank you The Temper Trap!
