In their first ever Brisbane show, Years & Years turned The Triffid (21 July) into an electro-pop party dome with the help of fellow music-makers Lido, Moonbase Commander and Twinsy.
The Splendour In The Grass Pre-Party began with the crowd-pleasing mixes of Twinsy, who warmed the room up just right by sampling some of the most well-known songs of this generation. At one point in the set, those recognisable drums from Taylor Swift's 'Shake It Off' were thrown into the mix. Slowly, this morphed into the opening of Kanye West's 'Famous': clearly not an accident. Need we say more?
Next was Moonbase Commander, who burned through his R&B and rap-heavy DJ set with a constant stream of energy and enthusiasm, raring up the crowd even more. His moves behind the decks were bordering on hilarious, but were also super infectious, as he mouthed the words to every song he mixed and got the pre-partiers moving.
Moonbase Commander - Image © Daniel FosterThe third and final support act for the night was the undeniably talented Lido. Hailing from Norway, Lido was greeted by the second biggest applause of the evening: coming particularly from a super-fan in the crowd who held his Lido CD in the air for the entirety of the musician's stage time. “This guy has probably the one and only copy of that album,” Lido joked, before slaying a 40-minute set filled with impressive drum-playing, killer vocals and next-level keyboard manoeuvring.
Lido - Image © Daniel FosterAfter a 20-minute changeover where the roadies frantically switched the stage layout to suit the anticipated final performance, Years & Years graced The Triffid in all of their electro-pop glory.
Fronted by the completely charming and giggly Olly Alexander, Years & Years got down to business with 'Take Shelter', and Olly showcased his best dance moves through 'Shine', 'Worship' 'Border' and a new song 'See Me Now'.
The night wasn't completely packed with upbeat grooving, however; just under half way through, Olly slowed things down with 'Eyes Shut' at the piano. He invited a fan named Courtney on stage to sit with him, as his vocals soared through the song stunningly and almost effortlessly. “I wanna be bigger than life for you,” he sang, and if the crowd's response was anything to go by, he was.
Years & Years - Image © Daniel FosterMusical talent is always made a little more obvious when a band decides to cover a song or two. They launched into their own renditions of 'Dark Horse' by Katy Perry and 'Hotline Bling' by Drake, giving both the perfect Years treatment, electro synths and all.
The rest of the night was a glorious celebration of music; a colourful burst of 21st century sounds against the backdrop of the even-more-colourful letter Y towering over the band and the dancing crowd. 'Desire' and 'King' finished off the show, and as the final few seconds of their set ended, the audience burst into deafening applause while Olly graciously thanked them.
Having only one studio album, it's absolutely necessary to applaud Olly, Emre and Mikey on the amount of success and respect they've garnered since their debut single in 2012. It wasn't until last year that their first album 'Communion' – a self-produced, self-written collection of their signature sounds – was received by the public. Since then, an array of performance opportunities have presented themselves to Olly and his crew: festival after festival, show after show – and it's no secret why. These guys are truly gifted.
Years & Years - Image © Daniel FosterThe Splendour In The Grass Pre-Party was the perfect way to ring in Splendour season, keeping the crowd on their feet from start to finish and presenting music-lovers with a fun-filled night of genuine talent.
