Band Of Horses
Metro Theatre, Tuesday August 5

By Lin Ma

With two luscious albums now under their belt, Everything All The Time and follow-up Cease To Begin, the highly anticipated Band of Horses finally returned to Sydney, after two years, to perform at a very overcrowded Metro Theatre. And that's excluding the hundred or so punters loitering around in the bar outside. But of course, squeezing in snuggly beside complete strangers was sure as hell better than missing out on what these six Southern Carolinians were armed and ready to do.

Opening with hit single "Is There A Ghost", the group whisked the audience away with their golden blend of southern and indie country rock, perfectly embedding edgier guitar moments with the dreamy and gentle vocals of lead singer Ben Bridwell. Song after song, Band Of Horses surprised fans with a refreshingly fun and engaging live performance, skillfully weaving glorious crescendos with beautifully tender moments that transcended time and space.

A few bumpy song transitions later however, the band was, at last, strong and cohesive for slower country-rock ballad "Marry Song". But fans were not at all fazed by the minor hiccups and were loving the rawness of the experience. And besides, they were too busy listening in on the hilarious onstage banter between Bridwell and keyboardist Ryan Monroe (also the cowboy hat-wearing backing vocalist) about wallet-stealing New Zealanders. "They are good people but they f***en stole my f*** wallet!" cried Monroe, before ad libbing Kiwi jokes throughout a song he performed and wrote. When he finished, the charismatic keyboardist stood up, drank in the applause, and threw his country hat into the sea of adoring fans below. Not quite what the crowd was expecting from a band that produced 'serious' music.

Yet it was in the final moments of the set, when the crowd joined in on the favourite "No One's Gonna Love You" and the catchy "Ode to LRC", that really sealed the deal. In fact, by the end of their "fake last song" 'Funeral', someone was so appreciative she even threw her bra on stage - which Bridwell wore on his head as he walked off. The encore, and the night itself, ended with an explosive guitar solo that saw the room furiously clapping and cheering with elation.

 Although the show did feel somewhat unpolished, Band Of Horses were finally comfortable and much more confident this time round, reveling in the band's unprecedented worldwide success no doubt.