Newcastle Panthers
Saturday October 19, 2013 :
Queensland’s The Amity Affliction are currently undertaking their “Brothers In Arms” Tour this October around Australia, and I was lucky enough to attend their Newcastle leg of the tour on Saturday night at Newcastle Panthers.
I was a bit late to the party (I thought the party started later) so I missed the majority of In Hearts Wake’s set and didn’t get any photos, but I did catch the Byron boys’ last two songs and by the looks and sounds of things they had definitely set the bar high for what was to follow them.
Californian punk/hardcore outfit Stick To Your Guns followed and the movements of the crowd seemed to shake the venue. Body after body started flying into the arms of security guards at the front of the stage and only slowed down to listen to the inspiring words of STYG front-man Jesse Barnett as he gave an empowering speech about growing up and turning his negative feelings into something more positive through hardcore and punk music.
Chelsea Grin then brought the metal all the way from Utah. Plenty of double bass, plenty of blast beats, plenty of quick riffs; and I’m assuming the crowd loved every minute of it since the constant wave of bodies flying over the barrier didn’t seem to end.
Finally, it came time for the stars of the show to make their appearance. The Amity Affliction started with no time to waste and had their fan’s constant attention from the get-go. I thought the night had hit it’s high already, just after Amity had finished their first track, but after dedicating their song ‘Fruity Lexia’ to their old fans and then following it with the popular track ‘Youngbloods’, the crowd seemed reinvigorated and inspired. Songs that followed included other favourites such as ‘I Hate Hartley’, ‘Life Underground’ and ‘Bondi St. Blues’. The boys even threw in a great cover of ‘Born To Die’ by Lana Del Ray about midway through their set.
Things were seemingly coming to a close when Amity played the namesake song from their latest full-length release, Chasing Ghosts (noted as ‘Chasing Goats’ on their onstage set lists). With the conclusion of ‘Chasing Ghosts’, a short thanks was said by front-man Joel Birch before Amity exited the stage. Of course, the famous words “one more song” were chanted and that’s exactly what their fans got. An epic finish to the band’s set with their song ‘Open Letter’. The room shook, bodies flew, clothes were bloodied.
After a night of intense moshing and circle pits, I think it’s safe to say this gig was particularly amazing. All the bands that performed didn’t drop the ball at all, and it was spectacular to see Amity follow three amazing bands and not disappoint one bit.
Reviewer / Photographer: Brooke Nash
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