Live Review: Pendulum, Earthlings

It has been eight long years since drum'n'bass heavyweights Pendulum have played a national tour as a full live band. While Metro City is an intimate venue choice, it is nowhere big enough to house all of the rabid fans, leaving many broken-hearted after the highly anticipated show sold out in roughly 40 minutes. Those lucky enough to get their hands on an in-demand ticket knew that they were in for a special night.

Earthlings were the first band to grace the stage and a good choice to open the night with. They fit well with Pendulum's high energy, rock-influenced vibe. In between playing their own original material, they dropped mash-ups including bands like Limp Bizkit, Rage Against The Machine, Linkin Park and The Killers. They hyped the crowd up and really showed the floor toms and drum pads who is boss!

The glowsticks were out before Pendulum even hit the stage. When the lights finally dimmed and the ominous opening synths of Salt In The Wounds sounded, everyone in the building collectively lost their shit. Lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Rob Swire disclosed that he was unwell and that this may result in shoddy vocals. Even with this admission, gig-goers were none the wiser, with Swire sounding as good as the studio recordings. Even so, fans were more than happy to lend their voices, for lyrical content and synth melodies.

All of the stage banter was left to bassist and self-appointed 'hype man' Gareth McGrillen. This pretty much boiled down to three stock phrases that were recycled at multiple points throughout the night; "How ya doing?", "Are you ready?" and "It's good to be back!" Each time, the crowd roared enthusiastically in response.

From the front to the back, from the floor to the upper levels, absolutely no one was able to stand still as Pendulum served hit after hit throughout their one and a half hour set. Some of the biggest responses of the night occurred for Witchcraft, The Island (Pt 1), Propane Nightmares and Tarantula, with some people leaning so far over the balcony there was a real risk of toppling over!

It's always a disappointing realisation that the night eventually has to come to a close. Even an encore of their ABC News Theme remix and Watercolour was not enough to get people to leave. Thankfully, McGrillen briefly returned to the stage to remind us that there was an official after party occurring on the roof of the venue for those who wanted to keep the night going, even if just for a little bit longer!