5 Seconds of Summer
September 6, 2015
Jiffy Lube Live- Bristow, VA
Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow VA- To start off, this band just happens to be winners of the category labeled “Song of the Summer” at the 2015 MTV Video Music MCR sounding single She’s Kinda Hot. It was a fan-voted award, meaning that the power of teens and their Twitter accounts can grossly take over an award show’s history of ignoring music for young people.
5 Seconds of Summer, made up of four incredibly talented Aussies such as Ashton Irwin (Drums), Luke Hemmings (Lead Vocals/Guitar), Michael Clifford (Guitar) and Calum Hood (Bass/Vocals) have spent the last couple of summers opening for the mega boy band everyone “dreams about”, One Direction. The band were given their own spotlight for night, which they deserve. 5 Seconds of Summer, in their four years of being a band, don’t really seem to give a flying f*ck if the indie-rock/classic rock or whatever the preference of any other genre of music like them or not it’s about the music in their eyes, and the passion they have for it.
Before 5 Seconds of Summer hit the stage on their Rock Out With Your Socks Off tour a band formerly known as Cherri Bomb now goes by Hey Violet started the night off with a couple of their hits along with a cover of Taylor Swift’s Black Space. I will say their set didn’t really interest any of those fan girls in the crowd; all they wanted was the teenage heartthrobs.
When it was time for the boys of 5Sos to come out, they displayed a countdown on the jumbotron. I have never heard such a horrific sounding screech in my life until I attended this show. There were girls crying and screaming and only god knows what. After the countdown ticked out, the band immediately started the night off with End Up Here, a non-single from their 2014 self-titled debut. Because of the nature of their fans (they’re not “casual” in any sense of the word) their setlist can and does move from album cuts to older demos from the past and past EPs. One of the new songs came early on in the set: Permanent Vacation, a cut we have yet to hear an normal version of but yet everyone knows it from watching previous live performances on YouTube.
After End Up Here, the guys launch into a mix of a little bit of old and a little bit of new, such as Out of My Limit, and Voodoo Doll, as well as the very overlooked single Don’t Stop.
As typical guys, they would take breaks to mock one another with a little bit of vulgarity, but also let the crowd know that they’re noticed: “All the way in the back in the lawn, we see you!” or “Hey how are you all right up in the left section”. They made you feel like you were seen no matter how far or close you were.
Luke Hemmings (Lead Guitar, Vocals) is a fairly quiet guy who sings under a furrowed brow, even at his most confident. He’s contemplative even when singing, “Hash tag I Don’t Know,” in the very obvious social-media-inspired love song called Disconnected. It never feels forced or ridiculous, a power he holds within himself. Then there’s Ashton Irwin (Drums) who plays with the ferocity of Dave Grohl in his punk and grunge prime/Nirvana days. Guitarist and Vocalist, Calum Hood’s voice has noticeably deepened within a span of a year, and his high notes in Amnesia felt somewhat somber and low and sultry. As for Michael Clifford (Guitarist), he has become the modern day Billie Joe Armstrong most of the younger attendees never knew about, and that extends beyond his verses in their phenomenal cover of American Idiot. (Which were a total crowd-pleaser, and a hit with the younger attendees and their older chaperones.)
The boy’s set ended with a cover of the Romantics‘ well known anthem What I Like About You, a song which is about a decade older than the band’s oldest member, Irwin. It’s a hit that’s had an interesting travel over the years, with endless covers and new people to find new love for it. This show and this band will continue to serve as the first show and first favorite band for many, many people in the years to come. They’ll continue to lay a foundation for decades of music fandom and taste, and kids will remember these songs for the rest of their lives for the most part.
Review by: Alyssa Howell
5 Seconds of Summer
Hey Violet
