5 Seconds Of Summer concluded the Australian leg of their ‘Rock Out With Your Socks Out’ tour to a crowd of ecstatic fans within Perth Arena (29 June).
It was obvious the Sydney-born boys enjoyed themselves just as much as the crowd – rocking out their debut, self-titled album to the arena putting on a ‘flaming’ performance.
Not surprisingly, it took no time for fans to hype up – doors opening at seven with an awesome pre-show soundtrack including classics from Green Day, Survivor and Fountains Of Wayne; honestly what more could you want?
Click here for photos from the show.
Hysteria continued to rise as American pop/ punk band State Champs graced the stage with their presence. A contrasting set of acoustic beats and soulful punk melodies left the audience yearning for more as they continued to await the main act.
Arriving solo on stage, drummer Ashton Irwin commenced the show with ridiculous amounts of energy, which continued throughout the night.
These boys put on the most-energetic performance I’ve seen in years – leaping around all areas of the stage, it’s a wonder that pyrotechnic accidents don’t happen more often with these guys!
Image © Siobhan BlakeDuring the London concert on 13 June, Michael Clifford (lead guitarist) had his hair set on fire by a pyrotechnic display. The band was forced to finish the performance early, as Clifford required medical attention – acquiring burns to his face and scalp. Fortunately the Perth show was ‘flaming’ minus a burning Clifford, who didn’t show any signs of serious damage. However, after witnessing a few stumbles on stage it was obvious how the accident occurred.
A definite highlight of the show was the cover of Green Day’s ‘American Idiot'. This was better than I expected. There was talk of the cover before the show and as a diehard Green Day fan I half expected another half-ass, boy-band cover. However, I was pleasantly surprised. It was awesomely executed and the Aussie accents made it 100 times more enjoyable.
In regards to the general coherence of the band, it was obvious they were having a good time. The boys were constantly joking with the crowd and between each other, friendly banter continuing to drive the fans crazy. A personal favourite was the statement from Clifford: “People who hide their farts are cowards! Hands up if you farted in here tonight!” There was definitely a lot of crowd interaction and the boys seemed to be suckers for crude humour.
When the time came for the hit song ‘Amnesia', singer Calum Hood, who had tweeted earlier in the day 'definitely down with the sickness' told the audience: “My voice is kinda wrecked, I sound like Chad Kroeger, so I’m going to need your help with the first verse…”. What occurred next happens once in a blue moon where the audience actually sings in tune with the performers. This made the moment ten times more atmospheric paired with swaying phones in the air and emotional teenagers in the crowd.
Halfway through the show State Champs reappeared on stage for a final farewell, being their last night on tour with the 5SOS boys. The two bands paired up during the song ‘Rejects’, swapping instruments and laughing together.
Image © Siobhan BlakeAfter performing their final, hit track ‘She Looks So Perfect', the boys returned with an encore of ‘Good Girls’, where an abundance of bras and other items were thrown onto the stage by adoring fans – soon to be collected mid-song by a staff member dressed in a Spiderman morph suit.
The closing song was a cover of The Romantics, ‘What I Like About You'. This concluded the performance nicely, the band exiting the stage but not before throwing an array of guitar picks, t-shirts and water bottles, along with Irwin’s two drumsticks (almost causing a riot in the mosh pit) into the crowd.
In retrospect, this was an all-round good performance – the acoustics in the Perth Arena are second to none and the ecstatic crowd enhanced the general vibe of the show.
5 Seconds Of Summer engaged with the crowed, laughed among each other and performed exceptionally.
Click here for photos from the show.
