HBF Stadium, Perth
Saturday August 18, 2018 :
5 Seconds of Summer’s 2018 ‘Meet You There’ Tour follows their highly successful third full length album, YoungBlood. Their Perth show on the 18th of August marks the first time the boys have been back to our isolated city since their first world tour (Rock Out with Your Socks Out Tour) back in 2015 at Perth Arena. Back in 2015, 5SOS were supported by (now highly successful) pop-punk band State Champs, and have had One Ok Rock, Don Broco, With Confidence and many others open the show for them all over the world too.
However, this time around Muki opened the show, and if history is to prove anything, whoever tours with 5SOS is set for big things! Fresh off the Sydney electro-pop scene, Muki’s songs bring a sense of sass and fun to the night. She’s been making waves in her genre with her opening song, ‘Sassparilla’ debuting at number 3 on the Spotify Global Viral charts. She was sexy, had a cheeky personality and an incredible voice backed by catchy beats. There’s not much else to say about Muki’s performance except for the fact that she is definitely going to go far in her career and in the genre of electro-pop.
Three years after their last visit to Perth, the fans here are still as strong as ever. The ‘5SOSFam’ were clad in the band’s merch from head to toe. Many showing off their tattoos inspired from the band’s music to fellow fans as they waited in line to eagerly get into the stadium. There was even a line for the merchandise desk over 2 hours before it opened, just so they could get the first pick of what was available. I waited a total of four hours before the show and was number 297 in line for the General Admission viewing. It was definitely worth the wait as when I got in to the stadium I ended up huddled in the centre of the sea of fans.
As 5SOS came onstage the “fan project” that had been arranged prior to the concert was put in full swing. Everyone in GA was given a fake rose and as the first chorus of ‘Babylon’ was played, we threw them forward & onto the stage! This was a beautiful and interactive gesture to go with the show.
5 Seconds of Summer brought endless energy to the last date of their tour and made it a night fans would never forget. It was a pleasure to see how much the band has grown from the baby faced, teenage boys back in 2015, who sang about girls in high school to the men onstage before me who write chart topping hits derived from their own life experiences whilst being in the band the last seven years.
Fans emotions run rapid as the band played their classic love song, ‘Amnesia’. Michael Clifford taking the mic and saying “this is the part of the show where it all gets a little sad” …with many of the girls around me shedding a tear as ¾ of the band all sat on the drum riser and Calum Hood began to sing the first verse. ‘Amnesia’ was quickly followed by ‘The Only Reason’ and ‘Lie to Me’.
‘Valentine’, one of the fan favourites off the new album got everyone back in the party mood and as it finished, Ashton Irwin was left on stage alone in the dark. All of a sudden, the lights came back on and Ashton played an absolutely EPIC drum solo to cross over into the song the tour was named after ‘Meet You There’!
During the encore, 5 Seconds Of Summer played their first ever chart-topping hit, ‘She Looks So Perfect’ which got absolutely everyone in the crowd off their feet and jumping around to the classic 5SOS tune! The band then finished the show with ‘Youngblood’, their latest single and title of their new album.
All in all, it was a fantastic live show, 5SOS blew the roof off of HBF Stadium and couldn’t have disappointed a single person in that room as they absolutely put 110% into the show. For me, it was a night I’ll never forget and I’m very happy to say that the band was incredible last time I saw them and this time, we’ll I don’t know how they’ll ever top the show this time. I would highly recommend seeing 5 Seconds Of Summer on tour, they never disappoint!
Reviewer : Nicola Arnold
Photographer : Sethen Sheehan Lee
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