Another mild summer’s night, perfect to venture out to catch some gig action at The Gov. Given how much is on and has been on it was a solid die hard crowd that had assembled to see Ohio’s Walk The Moon go through their paces. It feels like it has been a while since they were last here supporting The Rubens back in 2013 and these lads have returned bigger and better than ever before.
Sydney-siders The Griswolds got the night started with their brand of indie pop. After building a name for themselves through touring hard in the States it is not surprising that they have a legion of loyal fans with front man Chris Whitehall describing their Adelaide fans as “perfect”. The sound mix wasn’t the greatest early built got better as their short set progressed. A bit of a surprise to hear a cover of Vance Joy’s Riptide in the set given how much of their own tunes they have in the armoury. Singles such as Beware The Dog and Heart Of A Lion were standouts.

No disrespect to The Griswolds but right from the get go Walk The Moon really did step things up bringing a high energy set pleasing everyone in the house. Walking out to theme song from The Lion King it was straight in to Jenny. A quick welcome from lead singer Nicholas Pretricca to the Walk The Moon party and encouraging fans to jump and the band continued to work through their treasure trove of catchy tunes including the likes of Sidekick, Avalanche and the victory march of sorts Different Colours proving that they are a class act.

There was no idle chit chat as the kept their party moving even playing a cover of Let’s Dance as a tribute to the inspirational David Bowie who had passed away. There was never a dull moment as they continued to play one great song after another from the relatively new album Talking Is Hard with noticeable inclusions Spend Your $$$, Up 2 U and mega hit Work This Body. There was a brief moment of reflection thanking fans from joining their family since touring with The Rubens with Preticca adding “take a moment to quieten your mind, visualise the spiritual atmosphere, take all that negative energy and pull it towards you then push it up to the sky until it’s gone. All that’s left is the feeling of being here and alive.” It was the perfect intro to I Can Lift A Car. Shut Up And Dance finished the night off just nicely.

The encore took it up another notch. Preticca returned commenting how bass player Kevin Ray had also joined The Griswolds family tattooing the lead singers name on his arm, strange but true. Quesadilla was great with the band thanking fans for spending their night with them promising that this would be the first of many Walk The Moon tours. What a night! The encore wrapped up with the big hit single Anna Sun from their second album leaving fans full of energy, happy and having a great night out.

Reviewed by Robert Lyon