Words by Pat Staveley.

It’d been just five months since I’d last seen Teenage Dads perform live - not a long time at all, but after seeing them at Liberty Hall on Friday night, they sure as hell made me believe it was.

The Dads have shown their dedication and willingness to grind to get where they want to go in their short career so far but these last few months they’ve really upped the ante.

When I saw them play at Oxford Art Factory back in March, their set was brilliant and it was exciting to predict how foreign crowds would take to them as they prepared to embark on a mammoth tour overseas within months.

They rounded off another month or so of Australian shows including six Groovin in the Moo performances before linking up with Lime Cordiale for their UK/Ireland tour without a break.

A headline European tour followed quickly after, before rejoining the boys from Lime for a trip around the United States in July. Oh and by the way, they flew home in the middle of the US tour JUST for Splendour in the Grass before returning to the States again for the remaining shows. If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is.

You could pretty much tell from the outset of their show on Friday night that this was a completely different band live all of a sudden.

This was a band that had gotten louder, a band absolutely oozing confidence and a band completely comfortable with its identity and with an ever-growing rapport with its fans.

Lola Scott and The Moving Stills had done an excellent job warming the crowd up, both incredibly likable acts in terms of music, showmanship and personality.

Teenage Dads absolutely capitalised on what the crowd had to offer, rushing straight into a fast-paced, rocky, bouncing opening.

I was amazed how energetic they were, you’d forgive them for showing signs of weariness after such an extensive touring schedule but instead they looked and played like they’re only getting started.

Older songs were played, a couple of new songs were introduced and all the hits got a run as the Dads pulled out a stellar 18-song set. 

Things went up another gear in the second half of the gig as the likes of Exit Sign, Midnight Driving and Sunburnt kept the crowd singing along to every word.

As they walked off ahead of the encore, the usual “one more song” chant followed - but why stop at just one? Especially when I could name at least another three or four that we haven’t heard yet.

The foursome return with Jordy announcing a further three songs to come - starting with the best rendition of Video Killed the Radio Star I have ever heard of. The performance, coupled with the crowd’s anthemic sing-along, I was genuinely left with goosebumps. 

Hey Diego! and Teddy rounded the show out in the most frenetic, exhilarating and angry they could possibly have done - Jordy even pulling off a successful crowd surf.

These days a late 10.30pm show in the city makes me cringe as my aging 25-year-old self is used to hitting the pillow around then. 

But for Teenage Dads, they are an exception. As Jordy sings, the band - along with my girlfriend of course - are “the reason why I want to stay awake ‘til 3am.”