Factory Theatre, Sydney
Friday December 15, 2017 :
Starting their world tour back in October, Nothing But Thieves completely sold out 45 out of 46 show that they played so far, including their Australian tour.
Friday night, they filled Sydney’s Factory Theatre, before their Saturday show supporting MUSE at an arena size venue. Supported by the local rock outfit CREO, who released Subtitles for X, Y, Z EP earlier this year and been taking Triple J Unearthed by storm. The band sounded heavier than usual and very raw. ‘Give Me Yours’ and ‘Subtitles for X, Y, Z’ were received cheerfully by the crowd, spotting a few people head banging and playing air guitar.
By the time Nothing But Thieves were due to take the stage, the room got filled with fans, majority of whom had the attitude of grown up One Direction worshipers. The air was hot and it was fairly hard to move around.
The ‘Broken Machine’ tour promised to be rich with hit songs. Opening the show with two songs off their new album, ‘I’m Not Made By Design’ and ‘Live Like Animals’, followed by ‘Trip Switch’ off Nothing But Thieves (2015). Playing in very dim lights, mostly red, as the band jumped around the stage the crowd’s head banging intensified. Front row was filled with people who had their phones up in the air, filming shaky videos, loving every moment of the show.
Front man Conor Mason seemed to be shy of the crowd and kept his microphone on the stand with his arms and hand close to his face. He later explained that he was stressed and nervous because of how much success the tour has been. He seemed to be absolutely humbled and thanked fans multiple times throughout the show. By the time the band played ‘Hostage’, the crowd went nuts, singing back, dancing and jumping. One older man was spotted loudly “drumming” on the walls with such passion, I’d single him out as the band’s biggest fan on the night.
Guitarist Joe Langridge-Brown and bassist Philip Blake were a treat to watch, as well as another guitarist Dom Craik, who occasionally paced from one end of stage to another. Drummer James Price was practically invisible in poor lighting, which was a shame, because he clearly set the tone to this performance.
‘Graveyard Whistling’ (2015), ‘I Was Just A Kid’ (2017) and ‘Itch’ (2015) sounded great and Mason kept picking up his acoustic guitar, which made the show a little bit more calm.
‘Broken Machine’, the new album’s title track was followed by Mason asking the crowd if he could play his favourite song ever, which turned out to be the late Tom Petty’s ‘Free Falling’. Which sounded magical! ‘Ban all the Music’ (2015), ‘Particles’ (2017) and ‘Amsterdam’(2017) closed the show. The band bowed twice and thanked everyone yet again for coming.
Do not miss Nothing But Thieves on their next tour, which might happen sooner than you’d expect, because if you do – you will sure regret it!
Reviewer and Photographer : Annette Geneva
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