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Day: 14 May 2018

Live Review: Gang of Youths

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Music.

Gang of Youths may not be a household name just yet, but coming off the back of their stunning sophomore album Go Farther in Lightness, the Australian band seems to be headed in a direction that can only lead to international stardom.

Three songs off of Go Farther… made it onto the Triple J Hottest 100, 2017 — all three were in the top 10. The entire album is a thoroughly enjoyable listen as they blend a musical style that is familiar and accessible with hard-hitting lyrics about the struggles of life, death, and that weird period of time in between.

It seems that the band had a somewhat awkward time translating this album into a live setting however, with certain bits of instrumentation (such as string ensembles) missing from the performance. Nonetheless the band covered up any holes one could nitpick out of the performance with resounding enthusiasm, whipping the crowd into a frenzy at multiple points throughout the performance.

It would be impossible to mention Gang of Youths without directing the conversation towards David Le’aupepe. Although his name doesn’t yet carry the weight of some of history’s most iconic frontmen (think Bon Scott, Joe Strummer, Freddie Mercury), Le’aupepe would strut, dance, and throw himself around the stage with a fluid bravado you would expect to see only amongst the ranks of world famous musicians. The energy he brought to the performance was sensational, and with every little action he made you could see the passion coursing through his veins.

Between and during songs Le’aupepe would frequently engage with the audience with waxing and waning levels of both aloofness and gravitas. This was a man loving every second of his job. There were many light-hearted moments such as taking a fans phone in order to take a selfie, or how he climbed into the crowd and made his way all the way to the back in order to dance with some of the fans. Many Australians had turned up in the crowd to support the band, but everyone in that audience was stood in unity, laughing, loving, and singing along to some of the best rock and roll anthems that have been written in recent years.

However the performance became more sombre at several turns. He prefaced the track ‘Persevere’ with a solemn recounting of the tracks inspiration (the death of keyboardist David Anderson’s unborn child) and how that changed his life and perception of life. At another point he reached out to those who may have been struggling with depression, mentioning how it was four years from the day he attempted to take his own life and pleading to anybody who needed to hear it that they should find somebody they trusted to talk to.

Gang of Youths write their music with a great focus on duality. Amongst all the dancing in that crowd were dark thoughts, people reaching out and clinging onto the music and the solace it brought them. From the black and white colour scheme associated with their artwork to the poppy upbeat nature of songs featuring dark lyrics the band were presenting both sides of a coin and how in life for all of us we can’t escape the bad side, but that doesn’t mean the good side has left us. That is, if you buy into what Le’aupepe sings about. At times the performance did seem cheesy, and the lyrics seemed like cliches. But when the notes rang true they resonated around the room.

With so much time spent on Le’aupepe’s antics, it is important to highlight that although he was the most standout member of the band, he by no means carried the performance. The music was extremely tight, and although other members of the band didn’t quite throw themselves around with the gusto of their frontman, they all brought a high level of energy and played off each other extremely well.

This was just the first night of the tour, but the band showed no signs of rustiness. Much like the tour, it also feels that Gang of Youth’s rise to stardom is only beginning; they are definitely a band to keep an eye on.

Live Review: TWIABP&IANLATD

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Music.

The World Is A Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die might just be the most long winded band name ever. It’s okay though, they commonly shorten it simply to “The World Is A Beautiful Place”. Still a bit of a mouthful? Acronymize it as TWIABP.

The six-piece hailing from Willimantic, Connecticut took the stage at Rebellion last Thursday. If you are unfamiliar with their music, they fit right into the same indie/emo niche that bands such as American counterparts At the Drive-In, Explosions in the Sky, and This Will Destroy You have been championing for the last 20 years. For a British comparison, look no further than Mogwai who have been massively influential over the genre.

With so many members in the band, they naturally had a large presence up on the stage, looking over the close-knit crowd. However, this didn’t keep them from delivering a performance that was very intimate and personal. Lead vocalist David Bello, a man of great stature who on stage appeared larger than life, was having a heart-to-heart conversation with his audience song by song.

Beginning the set, he sheepishly whispered into the microphone an introduction: “Hi, we are The World Is a Beautiful Place…”, akin to a school boy who had been called up for a presentation he had done absolutely no preparation for and knew he was going to have to wing it. Bello’s gentle nature was one of his most endearing features, and a smile would light up his face whenever the crowd applauded after a song.

For most songs on the set, Bello sang with a soft croon, coaxing in the crowd, drawing the onlookers in with a soft intensity. As this intensity reached its climax, the band would explode into a sweet cacophony, guitars intertwining around a thumping rhythm section. It was now Bello would raise his voice to an impassioned wail, his high pitch rising over the wave of sound and crying out.

Although done well, so many of their songs followed this template it did become somewhat repetitive. The set was a timely length with only 14 tracks, however for some it may have become too familiar too fast. A nice change from the pattern came with keyboardist Katie Dvorak lending her voice as a smooth counterpart to Bello’s on the track ‘January 10th 2014’, naturally just before the rest of the band erupted during the climax of the song, exchanging a back and forth throughout the chorus.

The band’s set was carried by the longer and more epic pieces of music they had, however they had many fantastic shorter tracks as well. Highlights of the set were tracks ‘Marine Tigers’, ‘Fuzz Minor’, and ‘Infinite Steve’ from the bands most recent album Always Foreign which were performed back to back and flowed together beautifully with no stops or breaks between songs.

Another fantastic moment was when they performed their biggest hit, ‘Heartbeat on the Brain’ for the encore — there was an aura among the crowd of expectancy waiting for the band to break ‘Heartbeat’ out and this made it feel like a perfect natural conclusion to the night.

Lyrically speaking, the bands music has a tendency to be drawn towards soft and emotional topics, ranging from mental health to current affairs. Bello was greeted with a cheer from the crowd as he mentioned the band’s dislike of Donald Trump, which guitarist Tyler Bussey followed up by pointing out this was despite the band were all republicans, bringing a chuckle out of the crowd. These moments of brevity were appreciated throughout the set as contrast to the angsty and deliberate music the band performed.

After the gig was through, I made my way to the front and had a small talk with Bussey, who was extremely kind and genuinely grateful to everyone who had come that night. He asked the names of me and my friend, shook our hands, then passed me a setlist. I was a little bit starstruck but he was extremely open and disarming. Then I shared a few words with Busso as well, who seemed tired from the intensity of the performance but still beaming with happiness. This encounter only furthered my admiration of the band, because at the end of the day this is music at its roots, part of what makes Manchester’s music scene the best in the world.