You Am I kicks off a very big year ahead with a new single, an album in the can and a big sold out show at the newly, stunningly renovated Enmore Theatre. Joining them to kick things off were indie low-fi trio Smudge and Sydney’s The Holy Soul.

Full photo gallery for the night is at AMNplify.

The Holy Soul

Up on stage nice and early, The Holy Soul started the night right and coaxed the crowd to start filling their seats. This local Sydney four piece made up of guitars, bass, drums and vocals have been consistently making an impression on the local scene and beyond for good reason.

With a set full of noisy guitar and infectious groove, the band filled the theatre with a bunch of dark driving tracks and quirky riffs that demanded a little more attention. The short set was no nonsense, banging one song out after another – with little time for banter. No pigeonholing of the sound for this band, except to say that each song filled its own little genre, with plenty of invention.

Check out their latest release 747, here and drop a little taste of what they are getting at.

Smudge

Nineties fuzz popsters Smudge have been popping up here and there for the odd gig over the last few years; and by the audience reaction when they stepped up on stage, they are still fondly remembered. The three piece, made up of bass, drums and guitar/vocals quickly stepped us back into the nineties with plenty of Dinosaur Jr inspired fuzzy riffs and a million jangly guitar hooks.

It seemed that most of the audience shed 30 years and reverted back to young indie punters out for a night at the Annandale, squirming in their seats, itching to get up and sway their long gone long hair in their best shoegaze fuck you all attitude.

A bit of scattered banter on stage, but they were there to get the job done – and get it done they did, culminating in a cracking rendition of the much covered Outdoor Type, showing that they can still pull off a hummer of a show.

You can check out some of their cheeky renditions to remind you, here.

You Am I

By the time You Am I hit the stage the Enmore was packed and the atmosphere was a little bit electric. The four lads looked like they were ready to rock, resplendent in rock finery and sporting all sorts of vintage instruments that they could of only dreamed of owning in the early days.

Opening the set with the first release from their new LP The Waterboy, you just knew we were going to get a great mix of new and old tunes. Plenty of crowd faves were in there, Sound As Ever and Minor Byrd from the early days; but the crowd went absolutely bananas when the first strains of Cathy’s Clown hit our ears – with permission to stand and dance from Tim Rogers – and the whole room did.

On stage there was plenty of action with Davey Lane tripping around pulling every rock star guitar hero move under the sun, Tim Rogers windmilling, like he was connected to the power grid, Andy Kent in his best bass stomp across the stage and Rusty smashing the kit like there was no tomorrow.

The set finished up with an energetic rendition of Good Morning for a quick bow and a breather (we are all getting a little long in the tooth); followed by a thundering crowd stomping which shook the venue, to entice the band back on stage for a little more.

Back on stage and Tim had a little emotional chat before heading into another song off the new album, quickly followed by an extended version of Rumble that had plenty of audience chanting participation. In a flash it was followed by an electric version of Berlin Chair that had the venue floor bouncing to the beat to close off a hellava night.

Relive their old catalogue on Spotify and check out their new release here.