On Friday night hundreds of elder emos made their way into Metro Theatre in Sydney. It was a gathering of former scene kids who may not have the sweeping fringes or spray on pants anymore but are all united in their love for Melbourne band Kisschasy. With the bands recent appearance at Good Things Festival and the resurgence of emo nostalgia it was no wonder tonight’s show was sold out.

Kissschasy took to the stage starting out with the aptly titled “the perfect way to meet”. Then quickly followed by “strings and drums” both taken from their 2007 album Hymns for the Non-believer. The vibe in the room was at a level of emotional catharsis as many people thought they’d never hear these songs live again, since the band broke up eight years ago.

Vocalist Darren Cordeux paused early in the set to jokingly say “we haven’t played Sydney since a week and a half ago at Crowbar. But before that not since the Good Things Festival but before that not since 2015”. With Darren’s vocals sounding better than ever hitting you right in the feels. Sean on guitar and Joel on bass were note perfect while Karl thundered away on the drums resembling Jason Momoa these days.

After playing “face without a name” Darren realised he was rocking so hard his finger was bleeding onto his guitar. He was quickly patched up as they continued the set with the cynical “generation why?”. Then Darren introduced the next song as the first single they ever released before starting “darkside”.

Darren was alone on stage with just his guitar for “the shake”. The song got the room all loved up. He wasn’t alone for much longer as a surprise guest Amy Shark joined him on stage to sing “dinosaur”. Getting to witness this collaboration was pretty special considering Amy looked just as stoked to be there as all the Kisschasy fans in attendance. The band all returned to the stage finishing the set with “black dress”.

No one in the room was leaving as we all waited in anticipation of the encore. The stage lights lit back up as the band emerged playing the intro to “do-do’s and whoa-oh’s”. The entire room was instantly transported back to 2005 as a moshpit erupted, crowd surfers appeared and we sang out the words we know. Before playing the final song of the night Darren told us “we don’t know what the future holds for Kisschasy, all that matters is the next few minutes” leaving us on a high with “opinions won’t keep you warm at night”.

(Photos by Christian Ross)