Immediately after seeing The Material’s set at the Pomona Fairplex, CA., on the Vans Warped Tour (20/6/13), I rushed in anticipation to their merch tent. I have been listening to this band for a number of years now and have desperately wanted to catch them at a live show. Luck was definitely on my side during my 20 day stay in the US; I had the opportunity to see them twice.
The craziest thing was, when I walked up to merch, Colleen (vocals) immediately said, “are you Ashlee?” and that was a complete surprise. I didn’t expect any of them to recognise me or anything but she said that after she had come down to the barrier during their last song, ‘Life Vest’, she knew it was me. Thereafter, I was introduced to everyone else as “Ashlee from Australia”.
So, after formal introductions, multiple hugs (it’s how they roll in Cali! Hugs all round – definitely some of the biggest hugs imaginable, too – I’m talking mainly about (drummer) Kevin, here) and plenty of laughs, I was told that the band had received an email I had sent requesting a media spot for their upcoming gig and that I was confirmed for access. So, ten days later, The Material were set to play the iconic Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood and after three bus trips, I finally arrived to The Roxy, with my little Nikon in hand. Catching the eye of Colleen as she was walking through the crowd early in the night, she gave me a hug and thanked me for coming – that definitely puts you in a positive frame of mind!
The interior of The Roxy is unreal. The stage is a ‘semi circle’ of sorts, giving the crowd full access to all parts of the stage and the lighting was definitely some of the most colourful I’ve worked with. There is no barrier inside either, so it certainly adds that sense of intimacy to the show. Plus, it’s Hollywood man. What’s not cool about that?
Some time later, I positioned myself on the front of the stage, knowing that when the large, red curtain rose, I’d be at the feet of Colleen and that I’d be in the best position possible for shots with my little prime lens. They played for a good 45 minutes and managed to pull off a better performance than they did at Warped (which I didn’t think was possible). About four songs into their set, Colleen announced me to the crowd, saying, “give it up for our friend, Ashlee – all the way from Australia”. It was actually pretty awesome and I made quite a few new friends that night as a result – people asking me what Australia is like, how long I was staying in Cali, if I was having fun, etc. Funnily enough, I now have those people on Facebook! Later in their set, I had a song (‘A World Outside’) dedicated to me (so, if I wasn’t happy enough already, I definitely was now.)
This is the video I took of ‘A World Outside’, and me signing terribly at 1.23. I was also snapped singing in the image below.
After the set, I found Colleen at Merch and got to talking to her about Warped, about my trip, how I found out about them via a suggested video on youtube and how they need to come to Australia. We spoke for a while and I really enjoyed her company – a very easy person to talk to. Then, I got to taking to Jon (guitar) and that dude is seriously the nicest guy, ever! I really, really enjoyed talking to him both at Warped and The Roxy – what a champ! I briefly spoke to Roi (guitar) after their set and told him how impressed I was with the set they’d just played and he was very lovely, too. Outside, after the venue closed, Col, Jon, Roi, Jordan and Kevin all took a photo with me and thanked me for coming. I hung around with Jon and Col for a while out the front of the venue, again talking about Australia – they desperately want to come and play here for us and it needs to happen.
When it was finally time to part ways, I couldn’t help but feel very fortunate to have met such a warm, welcoming and talented group of young musicians! That was my last night in America and I can’t imagine having spent it any other way! There was something very special about the whole thing and I definitely haven’t stopped smiling since that night.
Reviewer and Photographer: Ashlee Kellehear
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