Vanessa Lam
16 February 2018: A jam-packed Orientation week, which included a beach party, carnival, speed friending and more was wrapped up by The Rubens, who headlined the University’s inaugural ‘Tune In UC’ concert held on 9 February.
The five-piece band decided to make a pit stop at the Refectory ahead of their upcoming Million Dollar Man global tour, which starts at the end of the month taking in Australia, New Zealand, America, Europe and the UK. The night began with local Canberra band Dalmacia taking the stage. With an energetic drummer and cool indie rock tunes it was hard for the crowd not to enjoy the girl group’s performance which included their song ‘Hold My Space’ and a rocking rendition of The Backstreet Boys’ 90s hit ‘Everybody’.
Next up was fellow locals Slow Turismo, who got the crowd buzzing with their funk rock melodies as the Refectory started to fill with eager music lovers. The quartet played their melancholy track, ‘You Were Dead’, got people grooving and swaying with indie track ‘Falter’ and their latest single ‘Pistol Powder’.
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The Rubens lead singer Sam Margin. Photo: Vanessa Lam.
Then it was the moment everyone was waiting for, with the boys from Menangle hitting the stage and opening their set with their song ‘Cut Me Loose’. The already wild crowd hit another level when lead singer Sam Margin jumped into the mosh pit mid-song to dance along with the energetic crowd.
The band said they were excited to play to the Canberra crowd which sang and danced along to their songs ‘Lay It Down’, ‘My Gun’ and ‘Hallelujah’. They also played their latest soulful track ‘Million Man’, a team up with producers Wilder Zoby and Lil’ Shalimar and their first single off their upcoming album due out later this year.
The night drew to the close with the recognisable beats and guitar riffs of the band’s 2015 hit single ‘Hoops’, which went to No. 9 on the ARIA charts and was voted the number one song in Triple J’s Hottest 100 for 2015. A sea of phones shot up into the air and as Margin crooned lyrics “are you lonely”, it was clear no one in the crowd felt lonely as they sang along to every word the song they had all been waiting for.
The Rubens were the first Australian band to hit the Refectory stage in 2018. In the coming months, a host of home grown talent will follow including The Smith Street Band on 16 March, Brisbane’s The Jungle Giants on 14 April and brother and sister duo Angus and Julia Stone on 10 May.
For more information on tickets and concert details visit the UC Refectory Facebook page.
