Nothing But Thieves, Teenage Joans @ Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide 26/1/2026
It was an absolute scorcher in Adelaide right smack bang in the middle of a heatwave so the idea of going to a sold out show on face value doesn’t sound all that appealing! Wait a minute, Nothing But Thieves are in town, I’m dropping everything to be there. The band have been off tour writing their new album but is was a call from Ocean Alley asking them to join them on their summer tour was to good to pass up.
Inside Hindley Street Music Hall it was beyond hot and kudos to venue staff and security for trying to make this as tolerable as possible. There were some great initiatives in place to reduce the effects of the hot weather by being able to take in an empty water bottle with free water refills on offer, opening the venue earlier to get out of the heat as well as an onsite medic. Despite best attempts the heat was to much for a few fans who sought assistance. Once the music started it made it a fraction easier to think about something else rather than how hot it is.
Adelaide’s favourites Teenage Joans opened proceedings and there is plenty to like with how they go about it. “We are Teenage Joans and we live here,” vocalist and guitarist Cahli Blakers stated playing in front of their biggest hometown crowd they thought. It was packed early with the crowd really in to, putting smiles on faces of the crowd. Their was a good balance of old and new tracks from their forthcoming album due this year. New singles Bandits and My Melting Comet were fantastic in amongst set staples such as 5 Things I Can Taste and My Heart’s Dead. Great set and as Cahli pointed out, you might see them in the Mall or Tea Tree Plaza.
Nothing But Thieves hit the stage which was smouldering after the Teenage Joans and it was definitely a tough assignment considering how hot it was in the venue. Even standing by the door offered little relief. There was a sense of anticipation though with this much loved band who always back Adelaide in returning to our great city each tour. The set list was literally turned on its head with Conor Mason indicating that they would be “doing something different, not sure if it’s working, but this is for Nothing But Thieves nerds”. But if anyone noticed, for the first time, the band played songs from each record chronologically. I think you could debate both sides of whether it did or didn’t work but for the “nerds” or super fans this was a great collection of songs with a few twists and turns that no one would have been expecting which hasn’t happened anywhere else.
Most would have been expecting Welcome To The DCC to set the pace but it was the slightly slower and well paced If I Get High followed by Itch that kicked things off. Conor’s vocals are amazing, his falsetto gets me every time, with plenty of strings to his bow. Graveyard Whistling was a surprise inclusion also before saying how good it was to be back, albeit unexpected as they were off tour making a recording until the call from Ocean Alley. Albums Broken Machine and Dead Club City featured prominently as a healthy selection from Moral Panic and Moral Panic II and self-titled. Amsterdam and Sorry were popular. The strength of their back catalogue now can be judged by the songs left out like Trip Switch. Interestingly the songs on set list were played
Nevertheless, Nothing But Thieves are a classic act, vocally brilliant, the band is tight highlighted by songs in the ilk of Particles, Sorry, Real Love Song and Futureproof. Given the conditions there was a touch of irony about Is Everybody Going Crazy? One of those moments where the crowd went off. Gee whiz, didn’t they finish strong powering through City Haunts, Tomorrow Is Closed and the anthemic Welcome To The DCC. The encore was the cream pulling out Oh No :: He Said What? and Overcome to finish an amazing night.
Live Review By Rob Lyon