Body Type has been an enigma to me. I have been trying to see this mainstay of Sydney’s live music scene for many years, but for reasons that escape me, there has always been a reason why I couldn’t go. I regret each of those reasons now.
With the crowd already wrapped around the Marrickville Bowling Club stage, Body Type launched straight into their set with swagger, polish, and command of both their craft and of the room. A third of the room was already starting to dance to the rhythmic beats of the opening tracks with nothing but the look of unbridled joy on their faces.
Still, this was just a faint, a delightful warm-up to the raison d’être of the evening: the album launch and complete play-through in order of Body Type’s third and latest album, Tally.
Led in with some playful chords of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’, played in both tribute to and for the recently deceased country icon, the new music started noticeably more mellow, a little more mainstream, than Body Type’s other body of work. Perhaps being new, it seemed to take the crowd a brief moment to grow into the new songs, but by the time the fourth track, ‘Eye Is A Mouth is A Face’ was played, a look under the venue’s famous pressed metal ceiling showed a room full of women dancing with glee.
The title track ‘Tally’ immediately followed and the vibe shift was complete, and the gig was back to how it started. It was a delight. I loved hearing each song, the difference each of the three lead singers made, and particularly how the backing vocals could alter the character of the tune.
Still, the highlight of the evening was definitely the burping contest, the winner taking the “Belching Badge” to celebrate 10 years of the band.
I loved the concept of playing the whole album in full immediately on release. These days it seems to be more of a thing for an album’s 20 or 30-year anniversaries, but for me, it sits better with younger bands, when their devoted following is looking to discover their new music, which was aptly demonstrated with the final song on the album, ‘Everything All In Row’, with its slow build, being a perfect end to a great release and launching straight into the band’s favorite hits to close out the night.
Here, Body Type had the room eating out of its hand. With the lead singer, Annabel Blackman effortlessly moving around the stage, between band members, photographers, climbing on the drum kit, making love with the guitar, and just fucking rocking, this is why people go to see live music!
Opening the night with an intimate set were The Sevilles, a beautiful stripped-down three-piece, managing to achieve the near impossible: that you were both intruding on something, yet meant to be there at the same time.
It is only on reflection that I understand how this contrast was achieved: the leads facing each other, looking fondly at each other and yet wistfully off to the side, their Mary Jane-style shoes taken off and standing relaxed in their socks, the stripped-back bass and hollow guitars with only one effects pedal between them, a vintage tube overdrive on the latter, together with perfectly balanced drums bringing depth and substance and vocal harmonies being nothing but delightful.
I’m selling The Sevilles short to say it was a gorgeous set. It was that and more, and it worked brilliantly leading into the next support act Antenna, and on to Body Type.
Body Type Australian and EU / UK Tour dates
Sept 18, 2026
Junk Bar, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Sept 19, 2026
Mapleton Pub – Mapleton, QLD, Australia
Sept 24, 2026
The Tote, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Sept 25, 2026
The Bridge Hotel – Castlemaine, VIC, Australia
Oct 05, 2026 – With Courtney Barnett
Huxleys Neue Welt, Berlin, Germany
Oct 06, 2026 – With Courtney Barnett
Buergerhaus, Stollwerck, Koeln, Germany
Oct 07, 2026 – With Courtney Barnett
Tivoliredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands
Oct 08, 2026 – With Courtney Barnett
Accienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
Oct 10, 2026 – With Courtney Barnett
Rockhal, Luxembourg,
Oct 11, 2026 – With Courtney Barnett
Casino de Paris, Paris, France
Oct 13, 2026 – With Courtney Barnett
Barrowlands, Glasgow, UK
Oct 14, 2026 – With Courtney Barnett
The Glasshouse, Gateshead, UK
Oct 16, 2026 – With Courtney Barnett
Rockcity, Nottingham, UK
Oct 17, 2026 – With Courtney Barnett
Aviva Studios, Manchester, UK
Oct 19, 2026 – With Courtney Barnett
Bristol Beacon, Bristol, UK
Oct 20, 2026 – With Courtney Barnett
Forum Kentish Town, London, UK
Oct 21, 2026 – With Courtney Barnett
Forum Kentish Town, London, UK
October 23, 2026
The Blue Basement, London, UK
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