Gig review: Stand Atlantic at the enmore theatre
Aussie pop punk legends stand atlantic have embarked on their godbreath tour (the biggest headliner for them yet) Alongside USA pop punk heavyweights Knuckle puck and Melbourne’s Nightlight. was able to go to their Sydney show at the iconic Enmore theatre on Saturday Night.
When I arrived, the line was around the corner, with die hard fans of the band having waited since the morning of the show, all mostly wearing their merch. When doors opened it was pretty smooth getting in, and most of the punters hurdled to the front, eager to catch the first band of the night, while many others opted to head to merch first, where all the hands had a pretty extensive spread.
First band of the night was newcastles latest prodigies maples pet dinosaur, who were opening just the Sydney show. This band has been turning heads lately, mostly due to Maple being just 15 years of age. However, what she lacks in age, she more than makes up for in skill and confidence during their set, working the stage and the crowd like she's been doing it her whole entire life. Her live band is also incredible, and I noticed a familiar face on the bass guitar, Toby from the omnific, a progressive instrumental metal band. With peers with that much technical and touring experience under their belt, It will be very cool watching Maples career as she only continues to flourish in the alternative music scene.
Following on from maple's pet dinosaur was Melbourne's rising stars nightlight, who have become a force to be reckoned with over the past couple of years, curating their own pop metal sound, that sounds almost kpop influenced? They're a band that's impossible to put a label on, and boy did their killer set prove that. From the cool outfits to the choreographed moves, they were so captivating to watch, and you can tell they're meant for a stage this big. The whole band are natural performers. frontwoman Laura lazzara's vocals are incredible, the way she transitions from diva pop to the harsh screams is so incredibly cool. It's also not often you see a keytar on stage, let alone one as sick as Hayley austen's. And she works the stage with that thing making it look absolutely effortless. I can't get over how cool and confident she looks on stage, like a video game avatar. She is just such a delight to watch. And drummer Jordan higgins is absolutely insane. Some of the drum parts in these songs are so fast and he makes it look so easy, what an absolute weapon.
Crowd participation was also on point, people were moshing and there was a wall of death, Laura got off stage onto the barrier, and Hayley hilariously threw some picks into the crowd despite the fact she plays keytar and doesnt use picks anyway. The humour was absolutely not lost on me. Overall a fantastic set to watch, and did a great job warming up the crowd for the next act. Nightlight definitely gained a bunch of new fans from this show and it'll be really cool to see where this tour takes them.
Next up was Knuckle Puck, all the way from Chicago Illinois. This set was highly anticipated as the band haven't graced Australian shores in 8 and a half years. Personally this was my favourite set of the entire night. I have been a fan of Knuckle puck since all the way back then, and had never seen them before and they did not disappoint. The band were absolutely full of energy, especially frontman joe taylor, who was so excited to be back in aus and kept saying it was the best day of his life. Its so cool to see bands that have been consistently touring for so many years still be so excited to come to australia and play for us all.
I especially liked that knuckle puck Played songs spanning their entire career. From a professional perspective I understand when bands want to play so much of their new material, especially if its a pivot from what they used to sound like, but as a punter I find the experience so much more fun when the setlist showcases their entire catalogue, which is very easy for a band like knuckle puck to do given their discography is so consistent and cohesive. A song that I was so excited to hear was "but why would you care" off their 2014 debut album, "while I stay secluded". The band also brought out JT from Between You and Me for this one, and my little pop punk heart exploded (come back byam we miss you).
Now I was so unsure how stand atlantic were gonna be able to top knuckle puck after that performance, but they absolutely delivered with one of the funnest sets ive ever watched.
The whole band had so much energy, particularly Potter was flying around the stage. Crowd participation was at an all time high, with vocalist bonnie fraser inviting all the women onto the stage with the band to play their song "girls", and at one point getting the audience to crowdsurf her mum on an inflatable boat. There was also so much confetti and pyro. we also had a guestie from laura from nightlight during "pity party"as well as an appearance from pop punk royalty, tonight alive's Jenna McDougall during "love u anyway". At the end of the set bonnie jumped in the middle if a huge circle pit to "coffee at midnight".
Given this tour was planned in celebration of their brand new album Godbreath , which was released last week, Stand atlantic Played majority material off that, breaking all the new stuff up occasionaly with a couple of the oldies that get the crowd going, the audience was super hyped and so was I. stand Atlantic's set was super fun from start to finish and I cant wait to see them play again.
Overall, Stand Atlantics Godbreath tour was super fun and high energy, with an incredible lineup of great performers on one of the biggest stages the band has ever headlined. A show for the history books.
You can check out Stand Atlantic's brand new album "godbreath" wherever you listen to music. you can follow the link here.
