Staff Editor on May 22nd, 2018

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Originally scheduled to play the Teragram Ballroom back in January, Australia’s Pond finally took the stage Monday night to roaring applause. “Finally! It was worth the wait!!” yelled a thrilled fan after the first couple of songs. Nick Allbrook grinned and replied with “Bless up to the TSA for getting us here today … and not back then.” Allbrook, who was draped in an oversized Kelis/“Milkshakes” shirt and covered in glitter, was joined on stage by Jay Watson on bass, Shiny Joe Ryan on guitar, Jamie Terry on keys and synth and James Ireland on drums.

Allbrook flew around his stage as he played guitar and belted out his lyrics, often getting up close and personal with the sold-out crowd. His theatrical performance was matched when he was joined on stage for a song by fellow Australian singer-songwriter Kirin J Callinan. Callinan strutted out to the front of the stage in a shirt that had both his name and face across the front, and then struck a pose as he looked out across the crowd. As Allbrook and Callinan shared vocals on the next track, they upped the theatrics a bit as Callinan lifted Allbrook above the crowd as their duet came to a close.

As Pond’s set — which consisted mostly of songs from their latest release “The Weather,” was coming to an end — Allbrook thanked the their fans and said “Y’all have been very fucking kind to us.” After then requesting that everyone in the Teragram be safe and keep each other from getting hurt, Pond ripped into their last song, the eight-plus-minute titular track of their sixth album “Man It Feels Like Space Again.”

The show was opened by Fascinator who pumped out a mix of experimental psychedelic electronic music that ranged from jazz to funk to synth-heavy dance music with ripping guitar solos. Lord Fascinator was accompanied by Lord Elevator on the sax and Lord Decorator on a variety of string and percussion instruments.

Setlist: 30.000 Megatons, Waiting Around for Grace, Sweep Me Off My Feet, Fire in the Water, Zen Automaton, Don’t Look at the Sun or You’ll Go Blind, Sitting Up On Our Crane, Paint Me Silver, Edge of the World, Pt. 1, Edge of the World, Pt. 2, Giant Tortoise, The Weather. Encore: Midnight Mass (At the Market St. Payphone), Holding Out for You, Man It Feels Like Space Again

Photos and recap by Samuel C. Ware