After been forced to postpone their '14 Steps To A Better You' tour last year, Lime Cordiale finally made their way back to Brisbane, greeted by thousands of dedicated fans at The Riverstage on a cool, overcast Friday evening (6 May) in the river city.
With support from Melbourne's Teenage Dads and Sydney's Iluka, an evening of smooth, spacey, and catchy indie-pop-rock was set to unfold.As the punters rolled in, sought refreshments, purchased merch, and began perching against the Riverstage hill, both support acts warmed the stage up, delivering their own, specifically flavoured iterations of triple j endorsed power-pop.
As the evening unfolds, punters find their feet and begin closing in on the stage to secure their own prime position with minimal concern for the foreboding weather – Lime Cordiale were prepped to take to the stage, and the eager punters were ready to embrace.
Lime Cordiale - image © Clea-marie Thorne
From the first flash of silhouetted shapes from the towering LED screens to the first note blasted out across the sea of fans; the bassline energy of Lime Cordiale's performance had been set. And let me tell you, it was mighty.
The Sydney-based, triple j royalty took to the stage donning matching wild west-inspired suits, reminiscent of a younger, more stylish The Wiggles; accompanied by both alto and tenor saxophonists to add yet another layer to their already full, five-piece dynamic.
Being my first time seeing a Lime Cordiale gig, the sheer talent and musicianship possessed by the band was absolutely mind-blowing.
Lime Cordiale - image © Clea-marie Thorne
With a traditional rock & roll line-up consisting of two guitarists, bassist, drummer, and keyboardist, nearly all members of the quintet picked up (at least) one woodwind instrument throughout their performance.
A true highlight of this display of multi-faceted talent was an iconic kazoo solo during (one of the many crowd favourites) 'No Plans To Make Plans'.
With a set list of all killer and no filler, to single out specific songs that stood head and shoulders above others is almost impossible.
However, for this punter, some of the standout moments were their spirited cover of Divinyls' 'I Touch Myself', 'Apple Crumble' featuring a dancing, digitalised (not to be confused with holographic – we're not quite there yet) Idris Elba, and personal favourite 'Screw Loose' (featuring an exceptionally raunchy interlude – very good stuff).
Lime Cordiale - image © Clea-marie Thorne
The evening concluded with a three-song encore, culminating in a performance of – gun to my head, answer must be given – crowd-favourite 'Inappropriate Behaviour', which was sung along to by thousands of incredibly happy, and finally fulfilled fans.
After experiencing the sheer magnitude of these individuals, there is no doubt in my mind they'll continue to flourish and contribute to the defining of a generation of Australian rock & roll.
View the entire photo gallery of the show.
