After an uncharacteristically sunny day, the Melbourne cold had crept in just in time for Hockey Dad and Ruby Fields show at the Forum.
Dubbed the 'Hockey Fields' tour, this co-headline extravaganza (7 July) had everyone excited, previously making news after the fire alarm evacuation a week earlier at Brisbane's The Tivoli.The night opened with the heaven-sent sounds of Armlock. For a small, local Melbourne band, the four-piece received a great amount of applause after each and every song.
While some punters were taken aback with the melancholic tunes, an air of appreciation was evident for the slower start to the night. Taking home many more new fans, Armlock delivered a beautiful set and are definitely ones to watch.
After spotting band shirt after band shirt in the crowd, the anticipation for Dear Seattle was ever present. Taking the stage to a mighty applause, the boys jumped straight into their sing-along heavy tracks.
Dear Seattle - image © Harrison Innes
Their new song 'Nothing's Stopping Me Now' made a more than welcome appearance, with a beautiful introduction by lead singer Brae Fisher. Also likely for success in triple j's 2023 Like A Version Hottest 100, the band's cover of 'The Special Two' had everyone present with arms up showing love for the cover.
Diving back into some of their older catalog, DS had the mosh pit machine running, with cult track 'The Meadows' well and truly getting things moving.
Entering to an adoring crowd, Ruby Fields' fans were packed onto the barricade. Screaming every word, Fields' jumped right into their iconic Aussie sing-alongs. Each chorus sang to the crowd were echoed right back to the stage a hundred times louder.
Cheekily playing a new song because "my manager's not here", fans were treated to two unreleased Ruby Fields tracks during the set. While there was a lack of singing from the crowd, a raging excitement remained through every second of the new songs.
Ruby Fields - image © Harrison Innes
"'Cause we played the newest one, here's the oldest one!" The launch into 'I Want' was tremendous, some fans screaming in exhilaration. A contrast to the high-energy performance came with the swaying of 'Redneck Lullaby', which provided a calmer moment.
With the iconic staple track 'Dinosaurs' finishing with a huge amount of applause for the Cronulla singer, a fitting ending for her set came with the song 'Kitchen'.
A short expose about being on tour and being surrounded by friends gave a fitting introduction the track: "Grab ya mates, this is 'Kitchen'."
Building even more on the wild excitement the crowd already possessed, Hockey Dad were there to turn things up another notch. The Windang boys are well known party starters, and what a racer they caused.
The Hockey Dad crowd heaved, front to back and side to side. The first arrival of crowd surfers came during the third track, 'I Wanna Be Everybody'. One punter was clearly having the time of his life, glued to his friends shoulders charging back and forth in the middle of the mosh pit.
Hockey Dad - image © Harrison Innes
A huge sing-along moment came halfway through the set with 'Itch'. Still being one of their newer tracks, the band was clearly feeling the love, with a deafening chorus ringing around the inside of the Forum.
"We're gonna let Billy sing this song, 'cause it's Billy's favourite. I think it's everyone's favourite." With a little help from the Ruby Fields' party, Hockey Dad's Billy Fleming jumped off the kit to run around shouting 'Sweet Release'.
Leaving the stage to get closer to the crowd, Billy franticly made his way around the barricade into loving fans arms. With the help of Ruby's vocals, one last chorus had the crowd in euphoria, those buried deep in the crowd drenched in sweat.
The hour set flew by, with banger after banger filling every empty crevice of the venue. 'Join The Club' brought the main set to its end, with the band letting the crowd take the lead by stopping dead in their tracks towards the end of the song. Punters took the helm yelling the chorus word for word, bringing the night to its supposed end.
Hockey Dad - image © Harrison Innes
Continuing on with a chorus past their designated closing time, Hockey Dad had just enough time to squeeze in two more tracks to really bring the night to its sultry end, closing with 'Babes'.
With every band delivering knockout sets for the second final leg of the 'Hockey Fields' tour, Hockey Dad and Ruby Fields proved once again why they are some of the best Aussie rock artists on rotation.
More photos from the show.
