On Thursday (29 November), I finally experienced Red Jumpsuit Apparatus live (The Triffid, Brisbane) after what must be nearly a decade of listening to their music.
I arrived early to check out the local support acts and I must say, I was thoroughly impressed.
Tasked to open the show were Joy In Motion. All in all, the Brisbane quartet delivered a spirited set that fused the borders between rock and pop, even adding in some stand-up comedy interjections between songs to get the crowd going.
They have been picking up notoriety lately and are being rewarded with some rather noteworthy support duties. They are well worth turning up early for, as they had me and the handful of other punters singing along by their last song.
Pop-punk rockers Satellites were up next. In their final show of the year, the five-piece band was greeted by the eager early bird punters. With the mosh now a few people deep, the crowd were reacting enthusiastically to the heavier punk style. Throughout the set you could already feel the energy levels rising within the mosh.
Click here for more photos from the show.
The Comfort walked out to a sea of enthusiastic people. They had the crowd captivated and in the palm of their hands from the onset.
At one point the show got super emotional when lead vocalist Liam Holmes shared an intimate moment about one of his best mates who died eight years ago, and just how much love his mate had for Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, so much so that ‘Face Down’ was played at his funeral.
Liam said how it was super cool for life to go full circle being able to play on the bill under his friend’s favourite band. I cannot commend their set more highly: the energy, emotion and lyricism displayed within their music are almost poetic. The Comfort are a band I’ll be adding to my Spotify playlists.
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - image © Erin Taylor
The stage was set for Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, the venue nearing a comfortable capacity as the lights dim. The band at the ready. Singer Ronnie Winter walks out to a massive applause donning a sports jacket over a plain grey t-shirt and of course the sunglasses inside at night – those stage lights are blinding after all.
Only a few songs in, people were heckling for song ‘Face Down’; at this point Ronnie reacts: “We are definitely playing that one, any other requests? The way this night is going to work, we are going to play old song, new song, old song, new song and then we will jump into some of the classic old songs from there on out, Sound good?”
It wasn’t long after this that the stage was stripped, lights dimmed, sunglasses came off and Ronnie took a seat front and centre to tell us a heartfelt story about a local girl from nearby suburb Cleveland. “I have never done this before, I am sure if you ever see us again you will never see this.”
He goes on to explain: “This local girl Toya was murdered recently.” He asks himself: “Why do I care? Why does this random band and this random guy care? First of all she is from around here, she is one of you guys, take a look around, the first thing I thought when I saw her picture is that she is just like everybody else I see, just like every other friend that other bands call fans that we have met along the way.”
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - image © Erin Taylor
The family contacted the band and explained the situation; she was a fan so much so that her ringtone was one of their songs. He went on to dedicate song ‘Guardian Angel’ not just this one time, but every time they play it until justice is found and this girl’s murderer is caught.
The pace then picked up when they played fan favourite ‘Face Down’, which had the now very emotional crowd moving and singing along at the top of their lungs.
The final song wound down with Ronnie finishing the night in the classic Christian rock fashion: “Just remember two things: Number one, Jesus loves you. Number two, get home safe.” Overall, an amazing night filled with emotion and great music – a truly memorable night.
