A Day To Remember, Underoath, Hopeless @ Festival Hall, Melbourne (12/05/2011)
A sea of teenagers awaited me as I arrived at Festival Hall last night, many looking young and excited enough that you would assume it was their first gig. Underoath and A Day To Remember have both come a long way since I had seen both bands play at Billboard, in 2007 and 2008 respectively, and many of the kids lining up looked too young to have seen either band then. The parade of fringes rushed into Festival Hall as soon as doors opened, and tried to get as close to the barrier as they could, even though the first band would not be on for another half an hour.
Up first were Melbourne’s Hopeless. Considering I have seen them half a dozen times at venues such as The Arthouse, or Seaford Town Hall, seeing them on the huge stage at Festival Hall seemed a little odd, something on which vocalist Brett commented. Numerous calls to the crowd to ‘get moving’ didn’t have much effect, as it seemed a melodic hardcore band was a little out of place on this predominantly metalcore line-up. It wasn’t until The Factory when the crowd really started moving. While Hopeless are a great band who have an intense live show, having them open up for these kinds of bands meant it was no surprise that they got the reception that they did, as they are better suited to tiny venues with other similar bands.
Florida’s Underoath are no strangers to our shores, having been here on four separate occasions, the most recent being the 2009 Soundwave Festival. Since then, the band have suffered the loss of founding member, drummer and vocalist Aaron Gillespie, leaving no original members in the band. The band have carried on, and in November last year, released their seventh album, Ø, which many see as the bands most mature and best release yet.
Opening their set list with In Regards To Myself , Underoath got the crowd moving almost straight away. Vocalist Spencer Chamberlain has a great stage presence, and his vocals were in top form, showing off his newfound range. Spencer and lead guitarist Timothy McTague now split vocal duties after the departure of Aaron, and they do a decent job of it, considering how important Gillespie’s vocals were to the Underoath sound.
With a set list comprising mostly of songs off their new album, Ø, Underoath were tighter than they have been in years. In Division, Catch Myself Catching Myself and Paper Lung were all played in a row, which lost the crowd a little, as I don’t think many of them knew the songs off Ø. However the band made up for that when they started playing It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door, one of the only songs they still play off They’re Only Chasing Safety.
While losing Aaron was a serious blow to the band, new drummer Daniel Davison (ex- Norma Jean) is just as good as Aaron was, matching his drum tone and technique. This was most evident when Underoath launched into Moving For The Sake Of Motion, and Daniel nailed the intro fill just as well as Aaron would have, before the band exploded into one of their faster, more intense songs. To close their set, Underoath started playing A Boy Brushed Red Living In Black And White, which had some of the loudest crowd singing of the night. Finishing with Writing On The Walls, Underoath walked off to thunderous applause, with Spencer promising to ‘see us next year.’ A Soundwave 2012 artist perhaps, or maybe the long overdue headlining tour.
On their third Australian tour in the last 18 months, A Day To Remember have cemented themselves as being at the forefront of the metal-core scene. With the recent release of What Separates Me From You, they have developed a legion of dedicated fans, and a whole heap of imitation bands. In just a few short years, A Day To Remember have gone from supporting Parkway Drive in thousand person venues, to closing a stage at Soundwave, and just about selling out Festival Hall. In the wait before they took to the stage, the crowd were getting impatient, and it was clear that as well as the crowd received Underoath, it was A Day To Remember that they were here to see.
The crowd surged as the lights went off, with dramatic music playing before the curtain dropped. Opening with the first track off the most recent album, Sticks & Bricks, the mosh erupted into a frenzy while the band ran around the stage. Front man Jeremy McKinnon ruled the crowd, who hung onto and followed his every word like gospel. Up next was The Danger In Starting A Fire and A Shot In The Dark.
Somewhere along the line, the band discovered their love for gimmicks and theatrics, evident by the confetti canons and smoke machines. Throughout their hour plus set, roadies threw rolls of toilet paper into the crowd, beach balls got thrown from the stage, balloons drifted down from the ceiling, and vocalist Jeremy McKinnon encased himself in a giant bubble and spent an entire song running over the heads of the crowd.
Fan favourites I’m Made Of Wax, Larry, Mr Highway’s Thinking About The End and Monument dominated the set, and had the crowd going absolutely insane. After a few more songs off the last two albums, they pulled out a song off their first album that had a lot of the newer fans confused, as I don’t think many of them knew the band before the last two albums were released. However, the people in the crowd who did know the early songs sung along to every word of You Should Have Killed Me When You Had The Chance, and those who didn’t know it joined in the circle pits that were happening. The band walked off stage after this, and hadn’t even been gone a few seconds before the familiar chant of ‘one more song’ echoed across Festival Hall.
After their encore, Jeremy and one of the guitarists came back onstage holding acoustic guitars, for an acoustic rendition of If It Means That Much To You. The crowd sung back every word as loud as they could, and I think one girl sitting near me was actually crying. Towards the end of the song, the rest of the band walked out and they finished it all together, before Jeremy told the crowd that they had one song left before they had to leave. The introduction for The Downfall Of Us All started playing, and the crowd pretty much lost their shit, and kept up the intensity until the band bid us farewell and left.
A Day To Remember really need to decide whether they want to be a generic tough guy metalcore band, or a pretty decent pop-punk band. At the moment, they seem to be awkwardly in between the two, and I don’t think their sound will be able to develop any more unless they choose one or the other. Being a somewhat unique (for their time) amalgamation of pop punk and metalcore got them noticed, and it certainly got them the fan base that they enjoy at the moment, but their last two albums have been almost identical. Towards the end of the set I was losing track of what they were playing because a lot of their songs sound so familiar and kind of bled into each other, but the crowds of kids screaming out every word meant I was probably alone in that aspect.
Even though they are a band I will never understand the hype surrounding them, they do put on an entertaining live show, and the band themselves are tight, and they have a dedicated legion of fans. While metal-core seems to be the trend at the moment, A Day To Remember seem to be onto something, and I think we can expect a few more sold out tours. With the right attitude and some dedication, it will take them further than the stage of Festival Hall.
Josh Mitrou
Up first were Melbourne’s Hopeless. Considering I have seen them half a dozen times at venues such as The Arthouse, or Seaford Town Hall, seeing them on the huge stage at Festival Hall seemed a little odd, something on which vocalist Brett commented. Numerous calls to the crowd to ‘get moving’ didn’t have much effect, as it seemed a melodic hardcore band was a little out of place on this predominantly metalcore line-up. It wasn’t until The Factory when the crowd really started moving. While Hopeless are a great band who have an intense live show, having them open up for these kinds of bands meant it was no surprise that they got the reception that they did, as they are better suited to tiny venues with other similar bands.
Florida’s Underoath are no strangers to our shores, having been here on four separate occasions, the most recent being the 2009 Soundwave Festival. Since then, the band have suffered the loss of founding member, drummer and vocalist Aaron Gillespie, leaving no original members in the band. The band have carried on, and in November last year, released their seventh album, Ø, which many see as the bands most mature and best release yet.
Opening their set list with In Regards To Myself , Underoath got the crowd moving almost straight away. Vocalist Spencer Chamberlain has a great stage presence, and his vocals were in top form, showing off his newfound range. Spencer and lead guitarist Timothy McTague now split vocal duties after the departure of Aaron, and they do a decent job of it, considering how important Gillespie’s vocals were to the Underoath sound.
With a set list comprising mostly of songs off their new album, Ø, Underoath were tighter than they have been in years. In Division, Catch Myself Catching Myself and Paper Lung were all played in a row, which lost the crowd a little, as I don’t think many of them knew the songs off Ø. However the band made up for that when they started playing It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door, one of the only songs they still play off They’re Only Chasing Safety.
While losing Aaron was a serious blow to the band, new drummer Daniel Davison (ex- Norma Jean) is just as good as Aaron was, matching his drum tone and technique. This was most evident when Underoath launched into Moving For The Sake Of Motion, and Daniel nailed the intro fill just as well as Aaron would have, before the band exploded into one of their faster, more intense songs. To close their set, Underoath started playing A Boy Brushed Red Living In Black And White, which had some of the loudest crowd singing of the night. Finishing with Writing On The Walls, Underoath walked off to thunderous applause, with Spencer promising to ‘see us next year.’ A Soundwave 2012 artist perhaps, or maybe the long overdue headlining tour.
On their third Australian tour in the last 18 months, A Day To Remember have cemented themselves as being at the forefront of the metal-core scene. With the recent release of What Separates Me From You, they have developed a legion of dedicated fans, and a whole heap of imitation bands. In just a few short years, A Day To Remember have gone from supporting Parkway Drive in thousand person venues, to closing a stage at Soundwave, and just about selling out Festival Hall. In the wait before they took to the stage, the crowd were getting impatient, and it was clear that as well as the crowd received Underoath, it was A Day To Remember that they were here to see.
The crowd surged as the lights went off, with dramatic music playing before the curtain dropped. Opening with the first track off the most recent album, Sticks & Bricks, the mosh erupted into a frenzy while the band ran around the stage. Front man Jeremy McKinnon ruled the crowd, who hung onto and followed his every word like gospel. Up next was The Danger In Starting A Fire and A Shot In The Dark.
Somewhere along the line, the band discovered their love for gimmicks and theatrics, evident by the confetti canons and smoke machines. Throughout their hour plus set, roadies threw rolls of toilet paper into the crowd, beach balls got thrown from the stage, balloons drifted down from the ceiling, and vocalist Jeremy McKinnon encased himself in a giant bubble and spent an entire song running over the heads of the crowd.
Fan favourites I’m Made Of Wax, Larry, Mr Highway’s Thinking About The End and Monument dominated the set, and had the crowd going absolutely insane. After a few more songs off the last two albums, they pulled out a song off their first album that had a lot of the newer fans confused, as I don’t think many of them knew the band before the last two albums were released. However, the people in the crowd who did know the early songs sung along to every word of You Should Have Killed Me When You Had The Chance, and those who didn’t know it joined in the circle pits that were happening. The band walked off stage after this, and hadn’t even been gone a few seconds before the familiar chant of ‘one more song’ echoed across Festival Hall.
After their encore, Jeremy and one of the guitarists came back onstage holding acoustic guitars, for an acoustic rendition of If It Means That Much To You. The crowd sung back every word as loud as they could, and I think one girl sitting near me was actually crying. Towards the end of the song, the rest of the band walked out and they finished it all together, before Jeremy told the crowd that they had one song left before they had to leave. The introduction for The Downfall Of Us All started playing, and the crowd pretty much lost their shit, and kept up the intensity until the band bid us farewell and left.
A Day To Remember really need to decide whether they want to be a generic tough guy metalcore band, or a pretty decent pop-punk band. At the moment, they seem to be awkwardly in between the two, and I don’t think their sound will be able to develop any more unless they choose one or the other. Being a somewhat unique (for their time) amalgamation of pop punk and metalcore got them noticed, and it certainly got them the fan base that they enjoy at the moment, but their last two albums have been almost identical. Towards the end of the set I was losing track of what they were playing because a lot of their songs sound so familiar and kind of bled into each other, but the crowds of kids screaming out every word meant I was probably alone in that aspect.
Even though they are a band I will never understand the hype surrounding them, they do put on an entertaining live show, and the band themselves are tight, and they have a dedicated legion of fans. While metal-core seems to be the trend at the moment, A Day To Remember seem to be onto something, and I think we can expect a few more sold out tours. With the right attitude and some dedication, it will take them further than the stage of Festival Hall.
Josh Mitrou