Tripod, Dublin
It takes a stadium-sized helping of self-confidence to open a set with a portentous, percussive instrumental number, replete with atmospheric lights swirling across the stage, but then so much about this Australian act is stadium-sized – their choruses soar, their guitar solos fly, their lyrics are poetically vague.
Conditions
, their debut album from 2009, was filled with songs that sounded instantly familiar while being far too well crafted to be dismissed as derivative.
Once a number of the tracks from that album became staples on ads and soundtracks, and Sweet Dispositionin particular achieved a welcome sort of ubiquity, it became clear that The Temper Trap have the ability to achieve big crossover success.
After a winning support set from compatriots Cloud Control, and following that prog-rock opening number, Indonesian-born singer Dougy Mandagi and his four bandmates settled into a stirring, faithful run-through of their debut album. For the first few songs, their performance didn't display a lot of character (guitarist Lorenzo Sillitto, in particular, resembled an impassive character from a Wes Anderson movie), but they trusted in the strength of their material to generate excitement in the packed audience. By the time Mandagi belted out the chorus to Down Riverin his trilling falsetto, the crowd was in bouncing overdrive, the band's controlled energy and restrained showmanship serving the venue well. When they played that instantly recognisable intro to Sweet Disposition, the place went into cacophonous meltdown. For all that, the band resisted the temptation to milk the acclaim – there were no grandiose theatrics to match the energy of the audience.
It’s a truism to point out that their sound recalls U2 in their pomp, or the heartfelt epics of Coldplay. But while their songs occasionally flirt with anthemic cliche, on this evidence it seems that Mandagi and his band have enough self-awareness and integrity to avoid following both those bands into overblown pomposity. More performances of this standard, though, and you can be sure they will be following them into arenas and stadiums.
