A big thank you to Shane for providing this write up about the Sydney gig….I am loving hearing the different accounts 
The other reviews write up the concert pretty well, so I’ll just try to provide impressions of what I saw, and some of the extra musical details that went on.
The gig for me started up with rocking up outside the Metro at about 8:10, and then talking outside to my friend and fellow music nerd (and photographer) Hailey for quite a while before finally ambling in, after getting the all-important happy face armband. so I only properly caught the second half of the Gareth/Dan Drones set, but they did a good job, and it was nice to see a different opening act than the usual suspects. The crowd at this point was pretty sparse, though standing right near us were a couple of girls go-go dancing away, because the music of the Drones is highly appropriate for that sort of thing. 
Happily for all concerned, the gogo dancing stopped some time before the Augie gig proper started, though the girls did remember to drunkenly sing One Crowded Hour beforehand.
Even more luck was at hand when some of the very tall people in front of us kindly moved out of the way long enough to get to the third-row of the standing section, which was an even better viewing spot than at the Basement in April. As for the actual set, hearing the modified Believe Me/O Mi So Lion opening music was nice. For those who haven’t heard it yet, its a looping section that also played at the end of the gig, and starts with a modified version of the Believe Me ‘vocals’, goes into the O Mi So Lion music and then has a little bit of Believe Me’s guitar playing away. In this case, it faded out into the shimmering noise that is the intro to The Hole In Your Roof. As mentioned in the other reviews it was the extendo-Drowning Dream version, though even the Drowning Dream had a jam section towards the end. As the band was joking afterwards, it also brought an end to the prog rock section of the concert. It was great having one of the songs I wanted to see again played so early, and a very good sign of things to come.
I won’t bother with a full song-by-song writeup, but besides the opener some of the standout moments for me were:
-Something At The Bottom of the Black Pool. Its been a little while since I’ve heard Strange Bird, and I’d forgotten how fucking catchy this song is! First time I’ve seen it played live, and it came off very well with the Arnold Horns.
-The Moth Ball. They’ve played this most gigs so far on this tour, and its an excellent addition to the setlist. It has some variations on the Waltz version, and some of the vocals sound different, with Glenn explaining it was because it was a song he wrote as a ‘young man’. But even with that post-song disclaimer, the vocals were fine. Would be even cooler to see some more Waltz material in later setlists on this tour, hint hint.
-One Crowded Hour. Not so much for the song, even though it was well performed, but for the fact that at least four people in the first three rows were video-taping this song on their mobile phones. They didn’t bother taping anything else, and it made me feel old to see this is how the noble art of concert bootlegging has apparently evolved.
-The Good Gardener. Another of my Sunset Studies favourites (though just about every song on that album is a favourite) and great to see played live. As a bonus, seeing it performed live also made me realise an easier way of making the song sound fuller when playing it solo acoustic. The couple of lyrical slipups mentioned below were surprisingly hard to notice because there wasn’t a big deal made out of them.
-Future Seal. Yes, as noted by Bax it was just the bass riff played for 20 seconds or so, but still, Future Seal!
-Bottle Baby. The second half of the song was pretty much screwed up, but the important thing is that it was funny, and taken by everybody with good spirits. The banter after the song was pretty hilarious too, with Dave telling us that by applauding Glenn and tolerating his fuckups we were doing a bad thing and ‘rewarding mediocrity’. Of course, being Dave he followed this up by demonstrating his astounding ability to talk and drum at the same time, just in case nobody had noticed his backing vocals throughout the set.
-Owen’s Lament. Second time I’ve seen it live, and just as good second time round. The difference between this and the Metro from last year is that that gig it was a standout song in a generally lacklustre performance, while this time it was merely one highlight among many others.
-It wasn’t particular to any song, but getting a good spot to watch from also highlighted the role Ed plays as a bassist. Even though he hovers on the E and A strings, a lot of his playing is designed to provide texture rather than melody, and I think that’s an important element of the sound when its well-mixed. Which brings me to the actual sound, which was a pleasant surprise. The last Metro gig the band played had quite a muddy sound mix so I came into this concert a little wary, but this time even with the few technical difficulties it came together into a balanced blend of instruments. Vocals were clear, and nothing really got drowned out this time round.
Setlist wise, I was quite impressed. About the only other realistic song I’d have liked to see is The Offer, but seeing all the other songs made up for that. I also believe this was the first time Owen’s Lament has appeared so far this tour. Unlike the other reviewers, I wasn’t fortunate enough to grab a real setlist so I just stuck with the one I hastily scrawled on a bit of old notepaper as each song was starting up. It will surely make hundreds of dollars on eBay some day.
As for the gig as a whole, simply put it was a really good show. I think the best way of pointing this out is by comparing last night to the last Sydney gigs I attended (The Metro last year, and the Basement on April Fool’s Day) as this one really came out better. Unlike the Metro it wasn’t a wall-to-wall Watch Me Disappear set, and the band seemed much more relaxed. While the Basement gig had a nice setlist as well (Rich Girl! Sunstroke House! Heartbeat and Sails! Days!), it also had a lot of restarts (Heartbeat and Sails! Days!) and Glenn being irritated at various problems. The difference last night is that the problems were laughed off and dealt with on the flow, and it made for a much smoother listening experience. Being the last tour for a long time, the ‘hiatus’ occasionally got mentioned in the banter. The latest news from that is that it may be for a couple of years, which may or may not have contributed to the good attitude of the group. Even if I don’t manage to see them again, it was a real relief to see the band on another of their ‘good’ nights. I’d missed that Augie, and it was a pleasure to see it again.
Shane I will add the photos your friend Hailey took in the next few days
