If you'd have casually mentioned to anyone crowded into the Annandale or the Hopetoun any given evening from the past five, ten years and told them that Dappled Cities and Red Riders would one day be performing in the fancy surrounds of the City Recital Hall, you'd have more than likely been laughed out of the room.
It's that surreal side of things that leads the audience to their seats (4 June) – unquestionably the first time either has done a seated performance – to bear witness to this fascinating phenomena of full-circle 2000s indie glory.
Red Riders, who split back in 2011 but unexpectedly reunited earlier in the year, may have never been chart toppers or arena fillers. To those in the room, however, they hold a deep, sentimental value; theirs is a legacy forever intertwined with a time and a place in the trajectory of Sydney music.
It's something quite special to get to hear these songs live again: the rumbling swagger of 'Slide In Next to Me'; the burnout bliss of 'In My Sleep'; the urgency of 'You've Got a Lot of Nerve'.
Plus guitarist-vocalist Adrian Deutsch pulls off what may be the first and only punk jump off a foldback speaker to ever happen in the history of the City Recital Hall. That alone is worth the price of admission.
We hardly knew ye Red Riders and now you're gone again. Still, this fleeting moment back in their presence is a timely reminder of their impact, their untouchable cool and their sleeve full of aces.
Doesn't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got 'til it's gone? Dappled Cities have been largely absent in the last few years, but their biggest headlining show to date immediately serves as a total recall on their greatness as a stellar indie-pop outfit.
Their multi-layered vocals ring with utmost clarity through the hall, their jangling guitars hanging in the air with each strum. It's a grand comeback story from a band that has long deserved a moment like this; a spectacle that allows their impeccably-written songs to exist in a beautiful audio-visual environment.
Being a part of the Vivid festivities, the band have gone all out on the lights and visuals; from the patterned rainbows of 'Many Roads' to the heartwarming archival footage the band played during 'Born At The Right Time'. The latter proves to be particularly bittersweet when, towards the end of the evening, it is revealed that tonight is to be bassist Alex Moore's final show with the band.
A founding member and a truly in-the-pocket player, Moore will unquestionably be missed within the fold of Dappled Cities. Thankfully, his swansong is ultimately a triumph not least of all for the inclusion of early-period favourite 'Peach' and the rousing 'Holy Chord' serving as his last hoorah.
By the time it's rolled around, the audience has been moved out of its seats and the celebration of everything this band has achieved comes full circle in the best possible way. Delightful.
