The Factory Theatre, Sydney
Tuesday March 28, 2017 :
It was a pretty hot muggy atmosphere inside The Factory Theatre for Balance and Composure and when the band took the stage, lead Jon Simmons was sporting a downright crazy layered flannel look. When the lights came on he didn’t immediately pass out from heatstroke, instead he launched into the track ‘Midnight Zone’ from the band’s latest album Light We Made.
It’s been a number of years since I have seen the band live and they seem a lot more comfortable on stage, and along with stage presence, they have developed their sound to include more layers including electronic drums and distorted vocals. They even had some warm and funny banter with the crowd and weren’t afraid to let loose a bit. Many bands from the same pop punk genre take themselves far too seriously so it was good to see a lighter dynamic to the band.
It was good to see the crowd warming up to newer and older material, tracks like ‘Tiny Raindrop’ and ‘Is It So Much To Adore’ welcomed as much fist pumping and sing alongs as tracks like ‘Fade’ and ‘Stonehands’. One song that was lacking from the set list was ‘More To Me’, a beautiful track that would have rounded off the night nicely.
After 14 tracks they began to lead into heavier tracks before they finished their encore-less set with a track off the first album and crowd favourite ‘I Tore You Apart’. Bodies where barrelling into each other and over the barrier, and it ended the night with an absolute banger.
Reviewer and Photographer : Amy Heycock
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