It’s always sad when a band decides to call it a day, but it is always great when they decide to celebrate their journey and career with their fans. Australia this week is hosting the final six shows from You Me At Six. Tonight was show three of those six, a farewell to a country this band has visited on no less than a dozen occasions during their 20-year career. That in itself shows that You Me At Six have found a home here in Australia, a home in the hearts of thousands of fans, a connection that will last fans a lifetime.
If the cue for merch tonight was any indication there were fans who were taking this final opportunity to see the band here in Melbourne extremely seriously. The line for mech pretty much looped the inside foyer. Merch was on the upper level of the foyer and fans had cued from the lower-level stairs all the way around. I haven’t seen anything like this for a band here before. It was constant all night too.
The billing for this Melbourne show is nothing short of an extension of their journey here. Having Hevenshe open tonight’s show may not have immediate significance to the unknowing but Jenna McDougall the voice of Hevenshe has a long history with You Me At Six and that story started just shy of a decade and a half ago where her former band Tonight Alive has shared the same stage as our headliners. Whether that be here in Australia or across the globe.
Hevenshe hail from Sydney, it’s McDougall’s latest musical outing. Tonight, McDougall being the voice and six stringed instrumentations of the project. Joined by drummer Ben Ellingwoth (G-Flip) makes this project work so incredibly live, it delivers a depth and energy. McDougall has this radiant smile that greets you, there is a depth to her that is truly captivating. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is but there is something familiar about her, an energy that radiates and suggests that her musical stories had been my own in some way. It was a bit I have been here before while being completely fresh and new. I knew nothing about Hevenshe before tonight and by the conclusion of the set felt like I had visited an old friend again. It’s such a difficult thing to describe.
Musically there is that indie overtone with hints of modern folk in her storytelling. Sonically its vast and sparse at the same time, dynamic and gentle. Tonight’s, 30-minute set was a joy to witness and hear. After tonight’s brief six song set, I will be deep diving into McDougall’s and Hevenshe’s back catalogue. Such a great performance.
Hevenshe Gallery
Holding Absence, the Welsh powerhouse emo rock band that has made some serious waves over their decade long career are up next. From the moment these guys took to the stage they delivered a super high energy eight song set. Frontman Lucas Woodland is such a great visual on stage with bigger kicks that Davis Lee Roth in his Van Halen prime Woodland made sure all eyes were on him. The fact that he didn’t miss a note or struggle for breath while delivering the most aerobic frontman performance I think I have seen, I’m still in awe of his energy.
The band musically are on point and have the crowd engaged and involved. There was an urgency to this set and by that, I mean it was delivered with intent. That intention was to make you a fan and they certainly delivered on that. Holding Absence are no strangers to Australia with several visit here over the last five years. If anything, their set almost felt like a co headline one. The full use of stage, sound and production just added to what was a fully engaging set.
Musically the band are great, tight, powerful and proficient in what they do. This set was an abbreviated greatest hits set that was so familiar and engaging. The highlight of tonight’s set was Lochie Keogh from Alpha Wolf joining the band for ‘Aching Longing’ which received the biggest response from an already vocal crowd.
This was my first time seeing Holding Absence and I am now super keen to check out a headlining set from the band, just to experience just how much flex they have live.
Holding Absence Gallery
It wasn’t until I looked around the room and saw just how full The Forum had become. How there was a buzz and electricity building as the devoted farewelled the creators to the soundtrack for so many here. You Me At Six tonight was a highly emotional occasion for so many in attendance. Twenty years is huge allotment of time for the devoted, this band means so much to so many here and you couldn’t help but get swept up in it to a degree. Right here and now it’s so good to see that bands are still able to create this connection, this life and career long connection. That too must come from visiting Australia no less than twelve times since 2005. This is a band that has worked so hard for its connection with their fans.
While not one of the bands devoted fans I am certainly proud to say I have casually followed their career for the last decade or so. Seeing this show tonight and finding myself singing along to verses and choruses I wasn’t aware I had stored in my brain.
Frontman Josh Franceschi is a charming figure who has this charisma that just flows from him. Captivating, interesting and engaging. The first three songs starting with “Room To Breathe” started the near two-hour long sing-along perfectly. In the moments where I looked back into the crowd from the photo pit to see how the audience was reacting there was something so deep in many of the faces, the emotion of saying goodbye had overwhelmed some. It’s such a hard thing to describe how powerful and confusing it is seeing faces beam with joy while their eyes are full of tears and sadness. I can only imagine what the band were witnessing from the stage looking out.
The party really did kick off as the tongue in cheek fun that is “Save It For The Bedroom” was started. There were a few that dared take the invitation to crowd surf by Franceschi, all were rewarded with hi fives or handshakes from Josh as they completed their journey forward. Being back in the thick of things there was noticeably more movement in the crowd as they bounced along and had found their voices.
The onslaught of career defining essential songs and fan favourites continued and as this did the crowed just seemed to be getting a little looser and rowdier. That front and middle section had a heap of movement in it, which was great to see. This wasn’t enough for Franceschi as he asked the crowd were we awake? To which The Forum roared back at him. “That’s better, you were making Brisbane look good there!!! This is more like the Melbourne we know and love” Franceschi cheekily replied.
The power pop punk goodness that this band has delivered to us simply continued to evolve this party as the energy-built song after song. You couldn’t help but sing and dance to “Deep Cuts” and “Night People” with it’s “We Will Rock You” Intro. I really do love a rock show like this, it’s organic and comes from a place of connection.
Then there is the depth in their set, those gentle moments that connect to the soul, the songs that we related to on a personal level and that got us through whatever it was. “Mixed Emotions” was one of those moments where you could feel the connection for so many in the air. 
Franceschi has such a great manner with his banter and just as they are about to launch into an acoustic version of “Liquid Confidence” where he told the story of how the band formed. A light-hearted connecting tale of what turned into one of the most celebrated bands of this century. The song performed by Josh & guitarist Max Heyler was an incredible reimagining.
Towards the end of this main set chants of shooey started as Franceschi paused to address the request. “I let go of peer pressure when I was in high school. However, what does work is democracy. So, this is how it’s going to work. Option A is do you want me to do a shooey? “ The crowd erupts to which Franceschi whispers shut up. “Option B is who like me thinks it’s disgusting and doesn’t want me to do one” a loud but far less convincing cheer from the crowd is given. “Fuck” Franceschi groans back ‘OK lets doing a shooey then c*nts”.
Closing out the body of this set were a couple of tracks that just triggered a choir like response from the crowd. Every word seemed to be sung back with such intent and the line of fucked up in a beautiful way from “Beautiful Way” was screamed back with such connection and emotion. 
Returning for a three song encore You Me At Six took two songs from the bands most loved album ‘Sinners Never Sleep’ in “Bite My Tongue” and ‘Reckless’. This ride home just fuelled the energy in the room with everybody bouncing and singing along. We all knew this was about to end; the night was due to draw to a close and these would be the final moments we would get to spend with the band.
In the words from earlier tonight where Franceschi asked who was seeing the band for the first time, I must admit I was one of them. You’re a bit fucking late, aren’t you? Damn right I am, and I find myself seriously questioning why. You Me At Six were incredible in every sense. This show was a super celebration of twenty years of music. I left wanting more and, in some ways, I can understand why a band breaks up, but when it’s this good live and the connection to the music becomes so strong you can’t help but think this may just be a hiatus. I am hoping so as I will be back again regardless of the time frame.
With thanks to ThePheonix for the media access. All images credit : Shot by Slaidins Photography
You Me At Six Gallery
Holding absence Setlist :
Like A Shadow
False Dawn
Gravity
Birdcage
Aching Longing
A Crooked Melody
Afterlife
Wilt
You Me At Six Setlist :
Room To Breathe
Loverboy
Stay With Me
Save It For The Bedroom
Deep Cuts
Give
Night People (We will rock you intro)
Fresh Start Fever
Straight To My Head
Lived A Lie
Crash
Suckapunch
Makemefeelalive
Mixed Emotions
No One Does It Better
Liquid Confidence
Take On The World
Beautiful Way
Encore
Bite My Tongue
Reckless
Underdog
CATCH THE FINAL NIGHTS OF SIX IN THE UK
