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ROYAL BLOOD + Concrete Surfers @ The Metro Theatre 20/07/17 (Live Review)

Royal Blood

Royal Blood

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It was a cold night in Sydney as people lined up to get into The Metro to see what could possibly be one of the last few ‘small venue’ gigs that Royal Blood would perform in Australia as the two-piece rock band just keep getting bigger and bigger.

It was Brisbane band, Concrete Surfers who opened the night with their loud, fast indie/pop-punk brand of music. They played Tired & Tipsy, Roma Street, No More and No Brainer amongst others.

They were energetic and clearly enjoyed being on stage. While the audience was getting into their set, you could feel that everyone was clearly waiting for the main act to come out. Concrete Surfers are a talented group of guys and it would be good to check them out in a different setting. After all, there were many, many people there that had never seen Royal Blood before.

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Concrete Surfers

Concrete Surfers

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By the time Royal Blood came out, The Metro was packed to the rafters and moving around was almost impossible. The excitement was high and you could feel the heat pulsating through the room.

Now with any two-piece act, there is always that fear that they will not sound as good as on the album; that their sound will be weak and disappointing. There is absolutely no fear of that with Royal Blood however. They started with Where Are You Now?, Lights Out and Come On Over and just totally blew everyone over with their blazing sound.

During Little Monster, drummer Ben Thatcher performed an ear-splitting solo while Mike Kerr took a quick (and needed breather). As if anyone there still needed convincing on just how good a live act this band is, Hook, Line & Sinker caught those final doubts and threw them away.

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Royal Blood

Royal Blood

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After Blood Hands and She’s Creeping, some larrikins in the crowd started singing the Australian Drinking song. “Cheers!” Kerr said. “I fucking asked for that didn’t I?” before playing keys for Hole In Your Heart.

Tell you what. It feels so fucking great to be back in Australia where everything is well…better!” Kerr said before introducing us to “the rest of the band”.

Thatcher came over to the mic. “So tonight, I was meant to be doing something else but I cancelled my gig at the Opera House” before taking off his shoe to do well….a shoey. “I know how to party Sydney! You bunch of mother-fuckers!” as the audience cheered him on.

If their previous songs had been played at 10, then seeing them play Figure It Out and Loose Change just knocked everything else out of the water as they absolutely destroyed the amps.

According to their set list, they were to walk off after Loose Change however, instead of doing the whole overrated encore, they just continued with Ten Tonne Skeleton and ended their set with Out Of The Black (with Kerr straddling the drum kit and playing the cymbals). Now that is exactly how you end a gig. “Thank you guys so much! We fucking love you!” Kerr told us as they walked off stage.

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Royal Blood

Royal Blood

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If you have never had the opportunity to see Royal Blood, then good news! They are finally coming back for their very first headline tour in May next year. If I were you, I would be getting your ticket as soon as possible so you too can see what was definitely the best gig of the year. How that much sound can come out of a two-piece act, is just incredible. It’s just a shame that this was probably their last ‘small-venue’ gig as nothing beats seeing a band like this in a more intimate setting. But….there is a reason why they are fast becoming one of the biggest rock bands in the world.

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AMNPLIFY – DB

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