Cobra Starship / The Academy Is... - 7 Aug 2007 - UNSW Roundhouse

Cobra Starship are 500% awesome (100% for each member of the band). I don't think I’ve had so much fun during a set for ages. They were were good musicians but didn’t take themselves too seriously; also, they were obviously enjoying themselves on stage, and knew how to bring everyone along for the ride. I was on side of Vicky T (keytar) and Alex (bass), but I had a better view of Ryland (guitar) and Gabe (lead singer). Actually I had a great view of Gabe, which was all important, because Gabe's dancing was *hilarious* and Gabe in general was very funny and scarily charming. He also talks very very fast in a loose way, seemingly verbalising everything in his mind between songs, keeping up a very natural banter.
They only had one album out (the dancetastic While The City Sleeps We Rule the Streets) so the set list was a best of. I would’ve been happy for them to play every single song off the album and keep on being awesome.

Send My Love To The Dancefloor, I'll See You In Hell (Hey Mister DJ)
Keep It Simple
It's Amateur Night At The Appollo Creed
The Kids Are All F****d Up
It's Warmer In The Basement
The Ballad Of Big Poppa And Diamond Girl
The Church Of Hot Addiction
Hollaback Boy
Bring It (Snakes On A Plane)

I must admit, I was definitely more there for Cobra Starship than The Academy Is… But I’d paid my monies, and I’m a completist if not a real fan, so I stayed. I enjoyed them in the songs where they were rocking out (like 'We’ve Got a Big Mess On Our Hands' and 'You Might Have Noticed'), but I had to hear an equal number of songs that annoyed me greatly , in particular the overly sincere ballads like 'Everything We Had' (the lyrics they make me want to cry). The highlight though was the first song of the encore, with just William, Michael on guitar, and their drummer (The Butcher) harmonising very nicely.

Oddly enough, considering they shared the same (Aussie) sound tech, the sound was rather muddy for TAI but nicely clear for CS. And I get it, they have Aussies on tour with them (aforementioned sound dude, plus their new guitarist Michael Guy Chislett - a Sydney boy who used to play for the Hillsong band, go figure), but did they really have to mention it in every lull?


The Phrase That Pays
LAX to O'Hare
Slow Down
Classifieds
Black Mamba
We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands
Seed
Bulls in Brooklyn
Everything We Had
You Might Have Noticed
Neighbours
Checkmarks

40 Steps
Almost Here