“Time to party,” a capacity crowd chanted, awaiting the unstoppable Andrew W.K. Indeed, the long-haired phenomenon confirmed no-one in rock could start a party quite like him.
Youngster Theo Verney’s unchallenging grunge set the scene in a Silverchair/Vines style. Big choruses and 1990s riffs warmed up an already sweaty audience, though the gentle head nodding wouldn’t last.
What followed was a joyous spectacle to behold.
A mass stage invasion just five songs in left half the audience beside our host until the end. Non-stop crowd-surfing and sing-alongs with the musical maverick demonstrated why seemingly 90% of his stupendously simple (and not always even that good) pop-metal songs contain the word “party” and “fun” in their title.
Old favourites, the Springsteen-ish I Love New York City, It’s Time To Party and, of course Party Hard, created with just electric piano, drum machine and a mic-wielding sidekick, sounded massive, conjuring the friendliest moshpit this writer has experienced.
A frenzied I Get Wet closed this improbably brilliant show, with appropriately soaked fans grinning as they left.
A post-rock-loving friend summarised this wonderfully guilty pleasure: “Makes you question the worth of ‘actual music’”.
With a star this bright and songs so satisfying, you’d have to agree.
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