Project Description

GANG OF YOUTHS

@ Riverstage

24/11/18

(Live Review)

Reviewed by: Alexandra Ainsworth

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There’s something about being a music reviewer (a title that, realistically, anyone can self-appoint) that makes you want to turn your nose up at any band with a cult following. You’ll usually find us huddled at the back of such gigs ready to unleash critique at the first opportunity, seemingly uninterested by the band’s offerings as if their ability to resonate is prorated per fan. The title comes with an unsatisfiable desire to keep yourself ahead of the masses, ready to call the Next Best Thing before their merch becomes a uniform.

All of this is not to say that I don’t like Gang of Youths. In fact, I once wrote a three-page review of their show in Brisbane a little over a 12 months ago—the collection of words a mess of teen-like admiration and giddy excitement that a single band could penetrate meaning so deeply through a single set. Gang of Youths and I have a history, but as the fan base grew, I quickly renounced my apparently disingenuous love of the Sydney five. I turned my nose up at the bourgeoisie’s new plaything and moved on to find less loved lovers.

But I admit that much like you would check up on an ex’s Instagram to quell your selfish curiosity, I couldn’t help but tag along to Gang of Youth’s first curated festival, A More Perfect Union, to see how they’re going a year on.

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The first act on stage is Sydney’s Publique. The post-punk band are a curious choice as a festival opener, with many of the picnicking punters raising an eyebrow at the Sydney-siders as they thrash around Riverstage. Their mostly-indistinguishable lyrics, messes of guitar, and cymbal-heavy drums are a shock to the system so early in the day, but from track one, I find myself edging closer to the stage in a subconscious attempt to absorb as much as I can from the short set. There’s an undeniable energy, unencumbered by expectation, that celebrates the genre in a way that invigorates anyone open to it. Publique are quick to impress, and though there are many who look more than displeased to have endured the set, the band have me instantly trawling through their socials for more.

Longtime friend of the headliners, Charlie Collins, is next on tonight’s bill. Her set is a sudden change in direction from Publique. Her alternative-country vocals float effortlessly over delicate guitar, giving the crowd a chance to breathe between bands. There’s an overarching sense of nostalgia-soaked throughout each track: from Wish You Were Here to Mexico, Collins manages to capture a moment in time that permeates throughout the crowd.

The next act is Brisbane’s own Thelma Plum, who has drawn a decent gathering down from the hill and to the front of the stage. With latest single Clumsy in Love pushing her popularity further than ever, Plum’s set is one that many have been holding out to see. There are a few backstories and jokes slotted in between tracks, and though I’ve heard them before, I can’t help but love Plum even more each time I have the chance to see her perform.

Tasmanian punk-rockers Luca Brasi have scored the sunset slot. The venue has almost entirely filled out, and with a fair few Luca Brasi shirts dotted around the place, I expect the boys will be receiving a warm welcome when they take to the stage. From their opening song to their closing one, the band have a constant mosh brewing by the front of the stage. Synchronised headbanging attest to the fact that the crowd are loving the all-too-relatable lyrics shouted by frontman Tyler Richardson, the whole movement propelled forward by racing guitars and drums that work only to rile up the crowd ahead of the headliners.

Holly Rankin, better known by the moniker Jack River, is the final support for the night. She starts her set strong with hit single Ballroom, the track is a shimmering display of the deeply moving pop Rankin has come to be known for. It’s a thrilling start to the set, breathing in life into those of us who have been braving the Brisbane sun since 2 pm. Jack River has spent the last year in a whirlwind of sold-out shows and festival slots since the release of her debut album, Sugar Mountain, and it’s easy to see why. Dreamy vocals paired with insightful yet catchy lyrics work to encapsulate listeners into Rankin’s self-made universe. While her setlist hosts a range of tracks from her repertoire, it’s admittedly the singles that are enjoyed the most. The double combo finisher of Fault Line and Fool’s Gold is one that wins over the few hearts not already completely smitten by Jack River.

It’s 8.10pm, and the headliners are about the grace the stage. Instruments are perched in position in front of a lighting rig that spans from floor to ceiling. Smoke machines being the whirl as each member of Gang of Youths make their way to their respective places. The crowd’s deafening roar lets anyone struggling to catch a glimpse of the stage know that frontman of the hour David Le’aupepe has made his long-awaited appearance.

The set starts with the scaling piano of Fear and Trembling. Le’aupepe, despite fighting off a chest infection that forced the cancellation of a recent Sydney show, boasts vocals that sound far too deep and smooth for any mortal being. The six-minute slow burner changes pace a third of the way in, and as the drums begin to roll we start to see the trademark moves from the band as they sprint around the stage swinging their guitars in the air.

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The set continues to follow the tracklisting of their sophomore album, and the thunderous intro of What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out? serves as a quick reminder that Gang Of Youths are as strong instrumentally as they are lyrically. It’s a minute-plus intro that makes it immediately apparent that despite all odds, the band have yet to be exhausted by their own material. Gang Of Youths aren’t holding back, and it’s an unspoken invitation that invites you to do the same.

Tonight’s crowd can’t seem to get enough of the band, but even the biggest of fans stumble against Le’aupepe’s impossibly word-dense lyrics. It’s not until the intro of Let Me Down Easy that the crowd can relish in total familiarity, singing along to the staccato strings long before the first verse kick in. It’s the frontman’s moves, however, that always steal the show at this point in the set. For someone who never intended to live on stage, the man has an impressive ability to flit between the heart-wrenching honesty of a once-broken soul to the semi-ironic hip-rolling confidence of an accidental rockstar. Despite how quickly he is able to switch from one to the other and back again, Le’aupepe’s showmanship never beguiles his fans—to do so would jeopardise the ethos of the entire band. Gang Of Youths have always been cathartically honest, compromising the fact would be compromising the integrity of everything the five members have spent the past five years building.

A cover of Bruce Springsteen’s I’m On Fire (a tribute to Le’aupepe’s wife) followed by The Deepest Sighs, The Frankest Shadows marks the end of the pre-encore set. The crowd is quite vocal about how surprisingly short the night feels. Even Le’aupepe is frustrated by the logistical limitations of the venue, heeding the crowd’s disappointment as he prefaces one of their final tracks by noting “if it weren’t for the curfew we could play for another hour”.

The choice of venue was the band’s answer to the never-ending cries of ‘what about Brisbane?’ when left off the initial tour announcement. The band turned the Queensland leg of the tour into a One Night Only mini-festival as a peach offering: A More Perfect Union. But since snagging spots at some of the country’s biggest festivals like Splendour in the Grass and 2019’s Laneway Festival, their homecoming tour felt like a rare opportunity to see the band play something a little more intimate than another festival slot.

Because of its scale, the night sorely missed the poignant moments found in tracks like Persevere, the festival setting—frustratingly rowdy by nature—inevitably interrupting the slower songs that we were treated to. The night also seemed less conversational than usual, the words between songs fewer than anticipated. Understandably, the stories behind the tracks might now be too worn for the band to continuously retell, but in the past, they brought a new layer of tragic humanness that helped win over cold hearts like mine. It’s my only gripe with tonight’s offerings, but I can’t help but feel as though it’s a fairly big one.

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The band comes back on stage with the undulating bass of Vital Signs, and it isn’t long before fans are once again eating out of Le’aupepe’s own two hands. The track is followed by the final flurry that is Say Yes To Life: their signature farewell. The closing track never fails to be a bittersweet moment, the combination of racing lyrics and swelling strings a tribute to embracing life as a fractured whole. I’m forever in awe of how Gang of Youths manage to pull off a message so awfully trite with both power and grace. You can’t help but feel, even if only for a fleeting moment, that life and all it’s seemingly unbearable heartache, will be all the better because of it.

As much as I can critique the set up of tonight’s show, Gang Of Youths, whether they’re playing to a hundred people or tonight’s ten thousand, still give themselves entirely to the crowd. And at the end of the night, I can only admire them for that.

 

Check out Mike Wotton‘s photos of the show HERE

 

Connect with GANG OF YOUTHS
@ OneBigLink

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