After the release of their debut album, local quartet, Last Dinosaurs had experienced a whirlwind of success in the Australian music scene. Within two years they managed to broaden their fan base through their extensive tours in Asia and South Africa. However, since then, the band has faced numerous changes, the first being the departure of bassist, Sam Gethin-Jones which heralded the return of original bassist, Michael Sloane. Stepping away from the limelight for nearly a year, the band made their comeback at the Gallery of Modern Art. Their performance was part of the Future Beauty Up Late Friday night events hosted by GOMA, an accompaniment to the exhibition, ‘Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion’. As I entered the gallery, I felt an unusual yet pleasant vibe, possibly due to the eclectic bunch of people milling about. It was a vast contrast to the angsty group of punters I’ve grown so accustomed to. Instead of getting smashed and yelling at each other, these patrons were having intimate and meaningful conversations about the displays: a much more relaxed and convivial atmosphere. However, all of this changed as I approached the stage, mobbed by giggling teenage girls, cosplayers and, ah, there they are: the rowdy punters. Not long after, the guys from Last Dinosaurs rocked up on stage. Unable to contain their excitement, fan girls began to let out piercing shrieks, much to the dismay of the cosplay kids. The band kicked off their set with indie pop gem, Weekend, which compelled the crowd to move in a gentle sway. The sober art-gallery environment suddenly went wild, as the band eased into punk rock influenced tracks, Time & Place and Honolulu. The crowd -mostly the infatuated young girls- enunciated every lyric, while dancing uncontrollably. There were some slight pitch problems here and there, but none so obvious that it affected the crowd’s enthusiasm. Lead guitarist, Lachlan Caskey was clearly the standout of the night, igniting everything in sight with killer guitar riffs on closing tacks Andy and Zoom. Unfortunately, due to time restrictions, the band was unable to pull out an encore; many hearts broke as pining fans suffered the throes of separation.

- Zen Lim. Photos by Andrew Gough.