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Pond in Sydney: shiny, manic beacons of blistering rock

Nothing ever lacks where Pond is concerned. Even their slow burners and signature spacey starts are chasmic and grandiose, which makes their hits near impossible to ignore.

They may have only just become comfortable in their own skin after eight albums, but they have always managed to leave everyone stunned.

Pond the metro theatre sydney dani hansen happy mag
Photos: Dani Hansen

Every time I think I’ve seen all there is to see at a Pond show, they go and stretch my mind that little bit further. It never gets tired.

Instead of yielding to habit by dropping everything and bolting in a completely different direction after seventh studio album The Weather, Pond opted to build on that projection with their latest LP Tasmania. Lyrically, they’ve moved past the apocalyptic anguish into a more sunny furor that’s marked with a “Choose Life” undertone.

It’s not quite Bohemian Rhapsody level theatrics, but more of a wonderful self-indulgence that’s all blistering licks, synths and zero ego. It’s a tight niche that only welcomes Pond.

Bringing this stagecraft to the people once again, they sold out Sydney’s Metro Theatre on a hump day no less. We kicked off with a couple of tracks from the new album, including Daisy with its anthemic chorus, before belting out crowd pleaser Sweep Me Off My Feet.

Allbrook was the shiny, manic beacon at the helm, casting a sweeping spell. He flit frantically between mic, guitar, flute and the crowd, littering high kicks and sporadic backbends whenever the feeling arose, as if he simply couldn’t contain the electricity coursing through his French duke frame.

 

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@ponderers covering @theprodigyofficial in Sydney last night 🔥 captured by @dani__hansen

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It all peaked halfway through Hand Mouth Dancer when Allbrook stormed the crowd with mic in hand and seamlessly segued into The Prodigy’s Firestarter, an almighty homage to the late Keith Flint. It was nothing short of spectacular. The crowd nearly swallowed him whole before he bobbed back to the stage like a buoy in a sea of glowing bods.

The album title track was a gorgeous breath of fresh air before Paint Me Silver nearly brought the house down, and then we mellowed out with The Weather. A steaming encore brought the band out for 30000 Megatons and the grandest ending to any gig, Giant Tortoise.

Every time I think I’ve seen all there is to see at a Pond show, they go and stretch my mind just that little bit further. It never gets tired.

Pond’s latest album Tasmania is out now.