Live Review: Gang Of Youths

 

There’s not a cloud in the sky as we wander into the Riverstage and all its rolling green glory to the post-punk sounds of Publique. It really is the most perfect day for an even more perfect union of music. A mandatory slip slop slap, and then we’re perched on the hill listening to the warm sounds of Charlie Collins. Joining Gang Of Youths as the support act across the rest of the tour, Collins, dressed in a suit that dreams are made of, transports the early risers to wide open plains and sunflower fields. Classic storytelling followed by a quick sojourn in the crowd for some selfies; there’s nothing more wholesome.

Brissie local Thelma Plum is up next to continue the dreamy soundscape. Quipping with the crowd about pretending to be vegan to impress a boy, only to be found out after getting too excited about some prosciutto (girl, same) and being introduced to the ‘weird smells’ at gigs at age 11 at this very venue, Plum is a joy to behold. The crowd is engaged no more so than with singalong Around Here because hey, who can say no to a well-placed expletive.

We joke that Luca Brasi have made it so far because pop-punk only just made it to Tasmania. Really though we know it’s because these are some damn good tunes and the band is damn good live. Cranking up the amps, it is a healthy injection of optimism delivered through guitars, drums and arms-round-your-mates singalongs. The crowd is swelling and it’s not hard to see why.

As the sun sets and lines to the bar become impossible to navigate, Jack River takes charge centerstage. She’s comin’ round the Sugar Mountain and making waves with songs that ache in all the right ways. Fool’s Gold is a worthy closer and frisson is tangible in the air but nothing can prepare us for what is to come.

Months of unbridled anticipation after being seemingly forgotten on the list of tour dates, Brisbane is ready to forgive tonight. The night is charged with an electric, emotional energy and arms are outstretched to welcome the band of the moment, Gang Of Youths.

It’s a set list that leans heavily on the new, readily apparent that this is a band so much more than the monolithic rock group they have been branded as. The Guns N’ Roses inspired L’imaginaire is magic as it floats across the evening air before we beat our chests in unison, acknowledging The Heart Is A Muscle and it’s moments like this that make it strong.

There’s no denying they have earnt that monolithic rock band title for a reason though and frontman David Le’aupepe is the archetypal rock star. He leads Let Me Down Easy through all its hip-gyrating glory before Magnolia straddles the divide between tension and release to a moment of pure euphoria. As Le’aupepe commands the audience, it’s not hard to think of him as a Michael Hutchence reincarnate. This is confirmed with a heart-wrenching cover of Springsteen’s I’m On Fire and a dedication of the day to his wife on the eve of their wedding anniversary that has us melting into the hill.

“I had to cancel a show earlier in the week but there was no way I was going to miss this Brisbane,” he shares. As the house lights come on illuminating the sold out crowd singing his lyrics back, you can’t really blame him.

There’s confirmation that A More Perfect Union ‘Part Two’ is already in the works and before we know it, it is over. The night draws to a close but not before one final moment of collective, cathartic release as we all say yes. To this. To you. To me. To love. To life.

Original article: Gang Of Youths @ Riverstage