Hilltop Hoods
The Governor Hindmarsh
Tues 15 Jan



Performing at one of the Optus Myspace Secret Gigs that now take place semi-regularly, The Hilltop Hoods unsurprisingly attracted plenty of attention from hometown fans who haven't seen a public show since they played with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra last year.

As the crowd filed in, most were curious to see how the group would choose appear, every year seeming to bring a new configuration of the live outfit, and sure enough 2008 had wrought yet another change.

Though the crowd was kept waiting for a long time with no support act to divert their attention, thy remained pretty well behaved, no doubt in part because the tickets hadn't set them back a penny. And once Adelaidean funk/neo-soul outfit Lowrider took the stage for a couple of songs to warm up, it was clear that the 'Hoods would be previewing the show that they will take around the country for the Big Day Out.

Though they have an astonishing level of support here, the increased exposure that Adelaide crowds have to the 'Hoods make them one of the more demanding audiences in the country. With that said, the reaction to this show was unequivocally positive and it's fair to say that with this new configuration, they have certainly hit on a winner.

After letting the band have a few songs to warm up the crowd, the 'Hoods took the stage to Lowrider's replication of the sample for The Hard Road, and what followed was a procession of hits, the group's back catalogue deep enough now that even casual fans would be hard pressed to find a song that they didn't recognise. A few classics from 'The Calling' opened proceedings with The Sentinel followed by Testimonial Year and the backing band allowed the transition between the tracks to be absolutely seamless.

Clearly a lot of rehearsal has gone into the combination, and Lowrider genuinely added a new element to the show. Without trying to overshadow the main attraction, they rounded out the sound nicely and (ironically given the high level of rehearsal), made the whole show seem more spontaneous. And while they rendered Debris somewhat redundant, the band was even kind enough to leave a few songs before the end, to make sure that he had his chance to hop into the spotlight as well. Of course, that was the cue for The Nosebleed Section, one of the harder tracks for the band to replicate, and the crowd went truly nuts.

A chant started up immediately they left the stage, and they further surprised everyone by bringing a string quartet with them for the encore, by which stage they probably could have played anything and got away with it, anyway

The all ages nature of the gig meant that for many young fans, it was the first opportunity they'd had to see the band, and for anyone that lucky, it was a great introduction to an act that keep trying to find new ways to please its fans. Now, the only difficulty will be topping it in 2009.

Alexis Buxton-Collins