The Vaccines_Metro City Perth_040524 (8)
Everything Everything _Metro City Perth_040524 (3)The band room at Metro City started filling up with the crowd as Joan and the Giants took to the stage as support for The Vaccines and Everything Everything on the Perth leg of their Australian tour. Local darling and the bands’ frontwoman, Grace Newton-Wordsworth, swirling about in a beautiful sparkling long maxi Dangerfield dress with a glittery celestial pattern, as they launched into Bloodstream, their first song of the evening. The rest of the indie rock band comprised of Aaron Birch, Riley Sutton and Liam Olsen, played methodically and rhythmically, carrying the lyrics into the crowd.
Singing songs about feeling invisible and not fitting in with the world, Grace stood out and dancing her way across the stage, the pattern on her dress bouncing every beam of light with just as much energy and enthusiasm. Their next song, Beg, is a heartbreaking ode to a breakup. Of paralysing, gut-wrenching silences, and the disillusioning complexities that forks in the road and ends often carry. It both had the whole crowd moving and moved the whole crowd at the same time. At the same time, Beg is also an empowering song, about deserving more love than what you are getting, and knowing your worth. It is clear that Newton-Wordsworth is going through a lot, singing her heart out on stage and supported by the band.
They launched into their next song, Sleep Alone, written for anyone who has been heartbroken and how much it sucks. During this song, Newton-Wordsworth threw beautiful magenta flowers out from the stage and into the crowd, a handful of lucky people catching them. The music flowed as seamlessly as clouds moving through the sky on a warm day as Newton-Wordsworth picked up an electric guitar to play a boppier song. This one about star signs and the feeling of being in love, a nice turn to their heartbreak songs.
Joan and the Giants’ gratitude and appreciation of the crowd was evident as they thanked the audience from the stage, telling them that as a local band to be opening for The Vaccines, the crowds support meant everything. The set finished with the banger, Cool Kid and the crowd screaming the words back to the band that they were never the cool kid. If there is one thing for certain though, its that Joan and the Giants are definitely the cool kids on the block. With hard hitting, vulnerable break up bangers and not fitting in ballads, which get the whole crowd dancing and singing along, there is nothing Joan and the Giants cannot do.
If you like Middle Kids or Florence and the Machine, then you will like the emotionally raw powerhouse of Joan and the Giants.
Setlist: Bloodstream, Born In The Wrong Time, Beg, Sleep Alone, Good Time, Cool Kid
Joan and the Giants Gallery
The stage lights blackened as Live and Let Die by Guns and Roses played out on the speakers overhead, as the crowd eagerly awaited indie rock band, The Vaccines. They didn’t have to wait long as the English sweethearts from London graced the stage to the loud screaming of fans in the crowd. The Vaccines, formed in 2010, are made up of Justin Hayward-Young, Árni Árnason, Timothy Lanham, Yoann Intonti and Matt Hitt. The band includes the usual drums, bass, electric guitar and vocals with the addition of keys and synths too. The Vaccines were last in Perth in 2012 for the Big Day Out and their first ever tour was with Everything Everything too. They commented that Perth was a long way to fly but it felt most like home, and that they were going to play songs from their 6th studio album, Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations.
Their first narrative style song followed a similar theme through The Vaccines set of loud overdriven screaming guitars and hard-hitting drums, with boppy lyrics carried on synthy melodies and bouncing fat heavy basslines. Their style is indie rock, playing nice boppy bangers with nostalgic themes. There were big guitar build ups and break downs, climbing riffs and soaring keys flying the lyrics around the crowd. At one stage someone in the crowd held up a sign they had made and brought along. The crowd were going wild for The Vaccines, enigmatic and energetic as ever as they played through boppy rock groovers and anthems. The bass picked up with some funky notes being thrown around and the electro synth bringing it all swirling in together through track after track.
The Vaccines made the crowd feel happy and they made me feel happy with their feel good boppy bangers full of narrative storylines while they danced across the stage delivering hit after hit to the crowd. They really did turn on the English charm, being the London sweethearts that they are, delving into our hearts and bedrooms (by the music playing on our stereos). There were members of the crowd dancing with each other as Justin finally took his sunnies off and we could see the eyes of the man whose voice sounded like rich velvety chocolate.
Their tracks were full of wicked guitar solos and arching guitar riffs that picked you up and took you on the journey through the narration in the lyrics, which is typical of British rock. As the band warmed up throughout the set, so did the crowd, with clapalongs, singalongs and dancealongs. Members of the crowd held up more signs and even got on each other’s shoulders.
They mused that many people go to England but why would you when Perth is so much nicer and lovely, to the cheers and applause of the audience. They loved the crowd, and the crowd loved The Vaccines just as much right back. Their final song played by the band was All My Friends Are Falling In Love and the feeling of love from the crowd was enormous as they ended on a high with this feel good banger.
If you like The Strokes, The Wombats or The Chats, you will dig English sweethearts The Vaccines.
Setlist: Love To Walk Away, Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra), I Can’t Quit, Post Break-Up Sex, Wetsuit, Your Love Is My Favorite Band, Discount de Kooning (Last One Standing), Sometimes I Swear, Headphones Baby, Jump Off The Top, Lunar Eclipse, Handsome, Heartbreak Kid, Teenage Icon, I Always Knew, If You Wanna, All My Friends Are Falling In Love.
The Vaccines Gallery
The Brit-rock continued as Everything Everything took to the stage, more alternative and avant-garde in style than the more traditional Brit-rock of The Vaccines. Everything Everything came out wearing matching white converse shoes with blue soles. The band consists of Jonathan Higgs, Jeremy Pritchard, Michael Spearman, Alex Robertshaw and Peter Sené and have been together since high school in 2007. They have recently released their seventh album, Mountainhead as of March 2024.
Their eclectic style of overdriven fuzzy guitars similar to Birds of Tokyo and synths mixed with spitting vocals and big guitar build ups is what Everything Everything are best known for. Added into the mix are big fat juicy basslines and dynamic drum licks to create a real funky vibe to their songs. The lyrics add complexity; however, they were hard to clearly understand during the set. They are the masters of the sudden end by just cutting their song off, and this ending features on several of their songs played throughout their set.
Everything Everything have certainly earnt their stripes after all these years, in the Brit-rock world and are a great band to see. As a co-headliner with The Vaccines, the line up may have made more flowing aesthetic sense to have Everything Everything play before The Vaccines. Some songs sound like you would expect to hear in a lounge, a club, a disco and some sounded like you might hear at a marching band or as an outro to a TV show. It was hard to place Everything Everything when their songs seem to incorporate elements of every musical genre. Definitely experimental, and maybe pop-rock. Either way, the spitting lyrics tied it all together in a nice musical avant-garde bundle.
Everything Everything are a fan of reverb and synths driving their songs. The deep booming voice of Higgs could almost be that of a Disney villain or double as an extra in the theatre production of Hamilton if Hamilton was written in London. Their music also featured a fusion of drum machine and traditional drum style to achieve a sort of 8-bit video game sound. Some of their style was a bit of an experimental hybrid fusion between pop and industrial indie, almost like it wasn’t sure what style it fitted into.
The crowd loved every song, but I must give a special mention and shout out to one lad in particular. He looked so unassuming, in his polo shirt and glasses, but he never stopped jumping around and singing every song perfectly word for word as though his life depended on it. He was clearly enjoying himself and passionately loving every single song that they played, and it showed, so much. It was so beautiful to see and brought a smile to my face and those around him who noticed him loving the tracks. He danced and didn’t care who was watching, jumping higher than anyone else and singing louder than everyone else. Maybe Everything Everything were his favourite band. Maybe these songs meant more to him on a deeper level than to anyone else there in the crowd. But for him, this moment and his experience during the set seemed like a spiritual experience that he could not get enough of. Tonight, we were dining at the church of Everything Everything. His energy and passion for the songs as he jumped around non-stop and sang the words at the top of his lungs was infectious and so damn beautiful.
There is something so beautiful in witnessing a crowd singing their hearts out to the band on stage, singing the words with their own muddled timings. Seeing the crowd getting the words loosely in place where they are roughly meant to go and trying to keep up with Higgs as he was spitting fire was something so warming. This was a truly passionate crowd, loving Everything Everything, and this was a great line-up of bands.
If you like Foals, Alt J or Radiohead, you will vibe with Everything Everything.
Setlist: Wild Guess, The End Of The Contender, Teletype, Arch Enemy, Pizza Boy, Kemosabe, Violent Sun, Enter The Mirror, Night Of The Long Knives, Photoshop Handsome, Cough Cough, Distant Past, Cold Reactor, Spring / Sun / Winter / Dread, No Reptiles.
Everything Everything Gallery
With thanks to Morsecode PR for the media accreditation
All Image Credit Shotweiler Photography