As I walked in to watch PNAU on this cold winter Wednesday night, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a sudden back-to-the-future moment. I had to check my iPhone to ensure that I hadn’t stepped through a time warp in the middle of summer seeing as half the kids were dressed as if it was 40 degrees at a Stereosonic festival or something, but then I realised…it was an all-ages event.

Thanks to the success of opening act Gold Fields (who were by far the biggest surprise of the night), the five-piece from Ballarat brought their A-game keeping all the young punters warm belting out tracks from their yet to be released EP including Woods and Move. They even had the lads with severely angled haircuts going mental on one another’s shoulders and it wasn’t even 9 o’clock. It’s a fair guess that by the end of their exhilarating set they definitely gained a bigger following – just in time for their Parklife performances this year.

After a pleasantly short interim, Sydney duo Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes, aka PNAU, stepped out with a bit more than a duo with the help of their guest musicians from London. Sporting a vintage white military blazer, Littlemore opened the set with the warm flushes of synth and melody of Solid Ground and Unite Us from their latest release Soft Universe album. With the dancefloor already heaving and the blue stage light frenzy, they quickly took us back to old favourites Wild Strawberry and Baby, which had them drowned out by fans singing along to every word creating a rather crazy mosh-pit at the front of the stage.

To PNAU’S credit, they’ve always presented more as a rock show than a strictly dance duo. This was apparent as Littlemore continued with his kooky vocals and the help of his live band through Lover, Something Special and the definite anthem-in-waiting The Truth, which had the majority of us with our hands involuntarily in the air.

But as I anticipated the biggest highlight of the night that got everyone jumping off the walls was when they dropped Embrace. With the help of one of their female guest musicians singing in place of Ladyhawke, the sated crowd devoured every moment yelling the addictive chorus “wide as the rivers run, still got time for someone”, with the ancient theatre floorboards groaning with every beat.

Finishing their set with the rousing Come Together and the energetic No More Violence, Littlemore proceeded to rush off stage to have an intimate moment with the front row – surprising, as he has always come across as quite shy.

Coming back for their encore, Littlemore said they weren’t sure what to play and he joked at how clichéd that sounded. But he brought the frenetic crowd to a climax finishing off their almost hour-and-a-half set with a reminder of his genius collaboration with Luke Steele* of The Sleepy Jackson and Empire of The Sun as they played the funky With You Forever, with Steele’s high-pitched vocals going off in the background, which left the entire theatre roaring and demanding more.

Overall the boys put on an electrifying live show, the finest example of their epic techno pop. With a new album showing off their new direction, coupled with the healthy association of Elton John as their mentor, this could be what puts PNAU into the big league.