Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Sunday March 22, 2018 :
Halsey emerged as a new wave of female electro pop artists post-Lorde and way after Ladyhawke peaked. While clearly cementing her place into the brick wall of millenial pop music, 23 year old Ashley Frangipane already got a platinum first album and an army of dedicated fans, backing her outspoken and hugely successful second album by a world tour was a no-brainer.
Sydney leg of Hopeless Fountain Kingdom tour was on an unlikely Sunday night date, during school holidays and Hordern Pavilion was filled with twenty-something year old women, kids and their parents. I was surprised by how many underage (even toddlers) punters there were at the show.
Walking down the oversized neon staircase on stage and wearing diamanté leotard and some sort of a sparkly balaclava-hood, Halsey took the stage to ‘Eyes Closed’, every step doubled as a bright visual on giant screens at the top of the stairs. ‘Hold Me Down’ was well received by the crowd and singing back ensured. She’s pop, alternative and almost as intense as a gangster rapper – all in one pot. The crowd was already pretty pumped up, but things went bonkers when it was time for ‘Castle’ – “I’m headed straight for the castle. They wanna make me their queen”.
‘Bad At Love’ got Halsey squatting in front of the audience on numerous occasions, which is quite a risqué gesture in her outfit. But that’s just her – she takes risks. Accompanied by a single contemporary dancer in a transparent raincoat. “Remember, you don’t belong to anyone but yourself.” – she preaches – coming from a woman who went through a lot: from being homeless to drug issues to personal tragedies, she knows what she’s talking about.
‘Strangers’ was dedicated to Sydney LGBTQ community and supported by strong videos on screens. Halsey has always been outspoken on the subject, whether you support the above or not – that’s your own personal call to make, but the song saw parents taking their very underage kids home.
After a pre-taped song break, Halsey emerges back in a simple long white hoodie – she tells a funny story about how her uber drivers always say how much they hate one of her first biggest songs – a collaboration with The Chainsmokers, ‘Closer’, she loves it and she loves to hate it too. This is only Halsey’s second big headlining tour and it sure seemed the message was “go big or go home”. Halsey has the attitude and her magnificent half-husky voice not only is memorable but also is somehow – soothing, but you could only really hear the entire beauty of it during quiet piano songs, ‘Closer’ was one of them. Followed by ‘Sorry’.
Playing a much larger venue this time around after her two sold out Metro Theatre shows back in 2014 – it would have made more sense to play Enmore Theatre, just for the vocal and sound purposes, the beats really drained her voice. Nonetheless, Halsey can definitely capture her crowds. There was of course a short moment of closeness to her fans – after splashing front rows in water during a dance off with her dancer on a platform filled with water, Halsey went a top of the fans for the ending of the song, while stage hand mopped the floors.
‘Don’t Play’ saw a more synchronised dancing and even fighting with the above mentioned solo contemporary dancer. ‘Colours’ was lively and beautiful and blue, however supported by visuals of people popping party pills, which wasn’t age appropriate for her audience on the night. There was as well a lot of cussing : “If you want to go to heaven, you should fuck me tonight” – during ‘Young God’. As mentioned above, a fair few families left the show, probably not the best choice of words for 4 year olds, you know. This should have been an 18+ concert.
Female electro pop performers always seem a little bit out of place on big stages with limited to none backing band. The show and the set up seemed over the top for only just 2 people on stage. The focus was clearly on visuals and costumes, while in my opinion should have been on the sound and maybe needed more dancers to fill up an oversized stage. However Halsey owned the stage regardless of its size.
‘Hurricane’ and ‘Gasoline’ closed the show with confetti canons and a loud goodbye. She is definitely controversial, even for a millennial generation. She’d make you blush, think and scream her lyrics back at her at the top of your lungs to say the least. Maybe her songs would even empower you, as the audience that night was 80% younger girls & women – it kind of felt like the sisterhood of hopeless fountain kingdom in there. Well done.
Reviewer and Photographer : Annette Geneva
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