SAY YES TO LIFE:

Gang of Youths

emotional hometown return

and the healing power of music

Reviewer: Aaron Christensen

Gang of Youths brought their much-anticipated tour to support their second album, Go Farther In Lightness, to Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on Friday September 8th. The venue was sold-out and the eagerness of fans was palpable, with merchandise selling out faster than the line was moving. Supporting Gang of Youths were Bendigo post-punk outfit Fountaineer and Sydney based folktronica artist Gordi. The support acts served up something very unique, with Fountaineer delivering a post-punk City Calm Down-like set, while Gordi’s flowing blend of folk and electronic and beautiful vocals bringing a more sombre and ethereal atmosphere to the crowd.

The clock hit 9:45 and Gang of Youths arrived on stage to uproarious applause as the magnificent orchestral interlude Le Reel played to a backdrop of lights. Lyricist and guitarist David Le’aupepe stepped up to the mic, addressing the crowd. It was a hometown show for Gang of Youths, and the significance wasn’t lost on the band or the crowd, summed in an exchange with a fan; “We fucking love you Dave!” to which Le’aupepe replied; “We fucking love you too.”

Gang of Youths opened with the searing guitar and frenetic drumming of the first single What Can I Do If the Fire Goes Out?, getting the crowd moving and bouncing, before leaping into second single, Atlas Drowned. Previously, I had only seen Gang of Youths perform once,

at the absolutely magical set at Splendour in the Grass 2016, where Le’aupepe held the Amphitheatre in the palm of his hand. To say that the Gang of Youths singer is one of the most energetic, sincere and passionate performers alive today is an understatement, as the band made one of the most enchanting and tear-jerking performances I’ve ever seen.

After opening with the first two singles off Go Farther in Lightness, the band continued with another new track, Fear and Trembling, before playing Sjamboksa, an older song off their debut The Positions. After this, the band began to soften the mood, from triumph to sombre melancholy in Keep Me In The Open and the string-based melodic masterpiece Kansas, before the whole band bar David left the stage as he played the song dedicated to his late ex-wife Knuckles White Dry. A second interlude, Le Symbolique began to play as the band reemerged and launched into the infectiously catchy Let Me Down Easy. As the song closed and the band got ready for the next song David strolled to the front of the stage. The crowd became a little restless before David strolled to the front of the stage, conducting as the opening to Magnolia faded into the fore, welcomed by a deafening scream from the crowd.

After Magnolia came my favourite off the new album, The Deepest Sighs, The Frankest Shadows which was greeted with riotous applause. The mood quietened and David introduced the crowd to a long time friend, who lost her daughter, and then brought her hus

band on stage, who she thought was still in the U.S., to join the band onstage and play the keyboard. What followed was a harrowing performance of Persevere, a hope-filled rendition of a song about a painful, hopeless situation. The set finished with the uplifting tracks Radioface, The Heart is a Muscle and Vital Signs. Everyone knew the encore was coming and I didn’t see any fans leave the venue.

To see a band like Gang of Youths with a frontman as energetic and passionate, yet vulnerable and bare like David Le’aupepe is a rarity in the modern music scene, with much more electronic and solo artists dominating the industry. Despite this, Gang of Youths have managed to carve out a huge fanbase at home and abroad, despite many claiming that rock music is ‘dead.’ Gang of Youths’ set at the Hordern Pavilion proved, that at least in Australia, rock music is flourishing, as they led a raucous Sydney crowd through the trials and tribulations of David Le’aupepe’s life, to culminate in the triumphant crescendo of Say Yes To Life (I swear I didn’t cry the happiest tears ever). Le’aupepe is a man that bares his soul and his most intimate and tragic moments on stage, and while the rest of the band don’t, they bring it all to life. That kind of vulnerability, for me at least, forges a connection with a band and makes the emotions and feelings we as the audience associate with their songs all the more powerful. A Gang of Youths set is quite unlike any other I’ve experienced, the emotional rollercoaster of heartbreak and loss to an exultant hope for the future is a testament to the willpower and strength of a band that will only go on to greater heights. With a killer setlist, a stage show that will break your heart and sew it back to together, and the passion of a band with purpose and drive, Gang of Youths will be filling stadiums in no time.