louder-symposium

[louder-symposium]

New Heights, Stadium Lights

August 29, 2015

Hershey Park Stadium

Hershey, Pennsylvania

Last Saturday the chocolate capital of America welcomed the four-piece Australian band - 5 Seconds of Summer - to play their first ever headline stadium gig.  

Hershey was fifty-eight of seventy shows on the Rock Out With Your Socks Out tour and it was a big night for the guys.  Two years prior the band was in this same venue, opening for One Direction.  

To kick things off, the opening act known as Hey Violet came on stage and performed a mix of original songs and covers.

The whole band was more than happy to be performing and kept discussing how excited they were to eat some chocolate after the show.  They did their job as an opening act, they got the crowd pumped to see the headlining band.  Other than that, they weren’t entirely memorable as performers.

As 5 Seconds of Summer - often referred to a 5SOS - does their final preparation before coming out on stage, the stadium lights go out and a countdown begins on the screens.  Screams fill the air. It’s so loud you can’t even hear the music that introduces the band.  The numbers flip to zero and the screams are nearly deafening as the sound of guitars take over.

“End Up Here” is chosen to open the set. It’s a high energy song that sets the crowd’s expectations sky high for the rest of the show. It’s also a song that, despite the actual lyrics, the fans like to think of it as the guys saying “how did we end up here” playing to thousands of people every night.

*

Lead singer, Luke Hemmings, and drummer, Ashton Irwin, waste no time in thanking the crowd for coming out to support them and helping make their dreams come true.  They reflect on the last time they were in the venue then move on to play “Out Of My Limit” and “Voodoo Doll,” both songs that have been with the band since before they announced their debut album.

A huge part of every night is the fan projects that occur.  Since the announcement of the Rock Out With Your Socks Out Tour - over a year ago - fans all over the world have been thinking up ways to show their appreciation to 5 Seconds of Summer.  The method of choice is usually getting the entire crowd involved in holding up identical signs during one song of the set.  Before the show began, a group of girls went around the stadium and handed out hearts with “YOU’RE OUR GETAWAY” printed on them.  Everyone was instructed to hold them up during “Disconnected.”  It’s a magical moment to look up and all around you is little white hearts, sending a message to the band members on stage. 

After a few more songs, all the lights dim and Michael is handed a floodlight.  He walks along the stage as the crowd goes crazy. They know he’s looking for a fan, as he does every show at this time. This is when all the signs go up, everyone trying to get their attention.   The fan who is picked, gets to go up onstage right in the middle of a song called “Rejects” to play either Michael or Luke’s guitar.  The fan in Hershey, Brooke, her sign read “Give me guitar, I’ll give you Vegemite.” (Vegemite is a yeasty Australian spread that this band is very fond of)  Coming up on stage with her jar of Vegemite, Brooke was handed Michael’s guitar and got to live out every person’s rock star dream of playing on stage with their favorite band.

*

*

Things slow down a bit for the ballad portion of the show.  They play three songs, each allowing the guys to show their emotional sides and proving that they’re more than just a noisy garage band.  The entire crowd of 27,000 people pull out flashlights and the stadium is glowing, like stars across the midnight sky.  Every voice of every person in every corner of the stadium is heard and the band isn’t even performing anymore.  The fans have taken over and the looks on the four musicians’ faces is nothing but happiness and pride.

5 Seconds of Summer closed the show with multiple of their biggest singles: She’s Kinda Hot, She Looks So Perfect, Good Girls, and What I Like About You.  They’ve played all four songs hundreds of times and the fact is noticeable as they easily take over each other’s solos and run around stage more than they have all night. 

*

The crowd is buzzing and each member of 5SOS is wired.  The drummer decides he wants a photo of his band mates with the crowd and it’s clear they’re just goofing off and making it a night to remember. 

They give their final bow and then turn to take another photo with the massive crowd before running off stage.

The bassist, Calum Hood, decides he’s going to have a last moment of fun and take over as drummer.  Luke Hemmings joins him and they play a few notes before saying their final goodbye.

The entire night was exciting and full of energy.  Every show of theirs proves to be better than the last.  I’m excited for their next tour to be announced so I can watch them rock out yet again.

More pictures can be found here and here.

To find out more about the band and their touring schedule..

5 Seconds of Summer: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Official Website, Merchandise

[louder-symposium]

5 Seconds of Summer || August 29, 2015 || Hershey, PA

Hershey Park Stadium || 27,000 People

Please do not remove source or caption

[louder-symposium]

Hometown Heroes

May 24, 2015

Pier Six Pavilion

Baltimore, Maryland

On Sunday, All Time Low - a four piece pop punk band from Baltimore - was welcomed home as heroes by friends, family, and fans after completing thirty of the thirty-one shows on their headline tour.  The final show was set to take place in the band’s hometown that night and they were determined to make it a party, especially after the worldwide success of their sixth studio album.  

Before All Time Low took the stage, three other bands kicked things off.  State Champs, a pop punk band from New York, was the first to rock out in the sunny Baltimore afternoon.

They opened their set with “Remedy,” a song sure to convince the crowd to get off their feet.

About halfway through the set, majority of the band stepped off stage and allowed Derek “Steez” DiScanio to slow things down with an acoustic song, “If I’m Lucky.”  The response to the song proved it was a big fan favorite.

State Champs closed the set with their single “Elevated.”  With less than a minute left of the song, Rian Dawson (All Time Low’s drummer) ran on stage and switched places with Evan Ambrosio (State Champ’s drummer).  He played the remainder of the song and was all smiles while doing so.

On his way off stage, the drummers shared a hug and Rian thanked Evan for allowing him to crash their set.

Tonight Alive began their portion of the show by telling the crowd what a special night they were getting to experience.  The band, very far from their Australian homes, would be finishing up their “The Other Side” era with the Baltimore show.  They announced that they’d be playing all new songs the next time they toured America.

Jenna McDougall spoke to the audience before performing “What Are You So Scared Of.”  She had everyone say an oath with her, a promise to no longer be afraid of anyone’s judgement.  She then followed with an incredible performance of the song and left the audience feeling stronger.

Issues was the final act before All Time Low took over.  The metalcore band from Georgia made their set memorable before they even stepped on stage.  The Pokemon theme song was blasted through the speakers and the crowd happily sang along.

The clean vocalist of Issues, Tyler Carter, got the crowd cheering for the previous acts then had them chanting for All Time Low.

With the help of unclean vocalist, Michael Bohn, Tyler took the crowd through three of the band’s more popular songs.

Then, as a crowd-pleaser, Issues performed “Never Lose Your Flames,” which features Ben Barlow of Neck Deep on the studio version.  On tour, Issues invites Steez of State Champs back on stage to make the song sound complete.

Between the opening sets and All Time Low’s set, the infamous F*CK banner was displayed.

*

All Time Low chose “Satellites” as the opening song of their set, which felt particularly fitting as it was also the opening track of their Future Hearts album.

*

*

Five songs into the set, All Time Low surprised the fans by playing “Six Feet Under The Stars.”  It’s a song that doesn’t typically get a lot of live play and hasn’t been on the set list for any of the prior shows this tour.  The band possibly chose to play the song due to the venue being located minutes away from cross streets mentioned in the song; Thames and South Broadway.

*

Almost like taking a trip down memory lane, the foursome rocked out to old crowd favorites before introducing a newer song, “Runaways,” and then slowing things down for some acoustic songs.

Being from Baltimore, the guys are big fans of the Baltimore Ravens football team. Over the years they’ve become friends with some of the team and sometimes a football player, or ten, will show up to an All Time Low show.  Justin Tucker, the kicker of the team, joined the band on stage for a quick selfie and a chance to show of his vocal abilities.

As a chance to give back for everything the fans have done, All Time Low chooses audiences members to come up and sing or dance along to their hit “Time Bomb.”

*

While on stage, you can definitely see how much fun the guys are having. It’s all smiles and laughter with some banter in between actually playing music. Their passion and love shines through, no matter where you are in the crowd.

At every All Time Low show, countless amounts of bras are thrown on stage. This has been going on for years. Originally the guys thought of donating the bras, not wanting something so expensive to go to waste. After realizing that most people are not willing to take used under garments, they decided to go about things differently. For every bra the band receives now, they have decided to donate one dollar to breast cancer research.

*

At the end of show, Jack has made it a bit of tradition to take his shirt off and try on one of the many bras that cover the stage.

*

As they usually do, All Time Low closed the show with “Dear Maria, Count Me In.” Once the song finished, the members of the other bands and some of the tour crew joined the headliners on stage for some shots and a naked dance along to “Y-M-C-A.” It was one big celebration. The official end of the Future Hearts tour was here. All four bands put on an incredible, high-energy show and I can’t wait for them to be back on tour so I can see them again.

If you’d like to find out more about the bands and their touring schedules…

All Time Low: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Official Website, Merchandise

Issues: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Official Website, Merchandise

Tonight Alive: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Official Website, Merchandise

State Champs: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Official Website, Merchandise