"'We're Kisschasy from Melbourne, Australia, and this is our final ever tour,' Cordeaux says. The crowd boos. 'Soz.'"
The Gov's sticky floors and maroon decor is absolutely drenched in beer and Australian music history. The Adelaide leg of Kisschasy's Farewell United Paper People tour sees the atmosphere transformed as the crowd are taken back to memories of days gone by — days of MySpace, adolescent dramas, and a bustling emo culture.
Opening act Mayweather's heavier brand of rock intrigues the relatively small crowd sprinkled across the room. The wave of the Aussie punk/rock hybrid bands has far from subsided.
Sincerely, Grizzly's no-nonsense set is a tighter, more polished rock sound than the previous act. The band's slightly cult-like following raise voices and glasses at the absolute quality of Adelaide's burgeoning music scene.
As the Friends theme song rips through the crowd, so do the immediate nostalgic feels. It's a beautiful moment.
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Kisschasy's Darren Cordeux is almost inaudible as the crowd immediately screams along to United Paper People opening track Do-Do's & Whoa-Oh's. It's strange, albeit pleasant to hear the band's matured, tightened sound as developed since the release of the album ten years ago — their new edge washes over the old hits and revives them.
Crowdsurfers are up and flailing within four songs, as the band make their way through their debut album from start to closer Black Dress. Unfortunately for the eager punters, the mosh is not packed dense enough to offer physical and emotional support, and there's more than a few hard crashes. It's less a mass of dancing bodies and more a pit of bouncy balls, sweaty adults flinging off of each other as bodily fluids are exchanged in one of the few public environments where it's acceptable to do so. Enthusiasm undeterred, the unfortunately noisy crowd reliably sing along to favourites such as Hearing Voices Tonight and The Shake. "We're Kisschasy from Melbourne, Australia, and this is our final ever tour," Cordeaux says. The crowd boos. "Soz."
The band sound so familiar, so comforting and so reminiscent of better days that it almost physically hurts to see them go.
The encore is where the good shit comes out. The adorable lyrics of Dinosaur bring the feels. The crowd is given a choice of hearing a song off their first or second EP, with Anger Is The Brand New Thing from their first winning out. The set peaks as the goddamn relevance of Spray On Pants hits home, the crowd truly thinking it's all over before the band transition flawlessly into that song on everyone's iPod nano, Opinions Won't Keep You Warm At Night.
Kisschasy will always have a place in Australia's heart, and we thank them for getting us through puberty, unfortunate phases and high school dramas. We won't forget you, guys. Thanks for the good times.