The popular pop-rock band 5SOS got tons of cardboard signs, balloons, and flashlight waves from the audience as they performed at Boxen in Denmark. The young Aussie band returned the lovely view with a set of their most well known songs served with a more edgy live sound and fresh energy. Follow along to know more about this promising performance.
UK based band Don Broco started the concert evening with a bunch of catchy pop-rock tunes, high jumps, and a whole lot of charm to warm up the audience at Boxen. The charismatic lead singer Rob Damiani led the way, but the attention got set on the full group as they moved around with great energy and sudden jumps on the stage. This seemed to fit right into the style of 5SOS and their fans which had brought along some deserved cardboard signs with love and turned on a great amount of flashlights in the dark for them as well.
There were also plenty of balloons, neon sticks, and cardboard signs to spot in crowd as it was time for 5 Seconds Of Summer to take over the stage. Some audiences would like them to know how much they love the band exactly, how many times they have watched them perform at concerts, some had great wishes for guitar picks, while others just wanted to bring some fun statements to the game, which didn’t went unnoticed with the band either. The boys got their eyes set on some specific ones like those with the words ”It is a chocolate milk party” and ”I love you more than pizza”.
The arena show had a typical nice production for this size of concert with a camera crew to show live recordings on big screens and a sort of T-shaped design for the stage with a runway down the middle. All to give a nice all-round view, but the stage also got some skateboard ramp-styled platforms at each side to stick out from what I have seen at other shows. The popular Aussies made sure to run around the area with great energy and reached out to the audiences at all places surrounding the stage.
”You are behaving so nice tonight. You are behaving too nice. I see a lot of you standing still. You don’t do that at 5SOS concerts” singer and rhythm guitarist Luke Hemmings then let us know during 5 Seconds of Summer’s concert. All was said with a challenge for the audience to get their cheers up another level. The audience was already fully committed with trembling hands, a few joyful tears, singalongs, headbangs, and tough dancy moves, but they seemed to somehow double their energy with the jumps and loose headbangs right then…
By the end of the show singer and lead guitarist Michael Clifford let us know that: ”We got two more songs for you now. Then we walk of stage and you have to scream as hell to get us back… alright!?!” When the band then walked off stage as mentioned, they got just what they had asked for. It sounded like a huge thunderstorm was passing over us with the stumps from several thousand feet against the floor. Jumps send the seated areas in the arena into heavy sways that I imagine a seismometer would categorize as something similar to a middle sized earthquake. This was followed up with about a hundred meter long and twenty meter high machine screaming out high pitched siren sounds towards the stage with great passion. So I think it is fair to say this reached the request the band had just asked the audience for. The band returned the cheers with a delicious drum and guitar intro from drummer Ashton Irwin and guitarist Michael Clifford to the song ”She’s Kinda Hot” before the rest of the band joined them on stage to get the last part of the show started. The guys seemed to enjoy their place on the stage to the extent that they went back to jam a bit again on the drums and a guitar left on the floor on their way off stage when the concert had to come to an end.
I have heard people talk about 5SOS and believed them to be pop based and kind of boy band material as all four members sing, they have some soft tunes and they have a huge popularity among younger girls, while others find them more punk-rock focused as they also play the instruments themselves, manage to get a tough sound with strong drum beats and a lot of sweet riffs, and would like present it all with a fresh attitude. Before watching their performance at Boxen I was inclined to think of their music as something more pop based, but when attending their show they appeared much more edgy and with elements as for a punk-rock band. It seems like the guys have just grabbed some of the best qualities from both sides of pop and rock, and really just make their own version of pop-rock. The great impact songs like ”She’s Kinda Hot”, ”She Looks So Perfect”, and ”Hey Everybody” had on the audience got us some unforgettable joyful views and dragged us right into some good smiles with headbangs and dancy moves. It was also much appreciated to watch 5SOS perform with a unpolished live sound, that means an easy going attitude, tough play and raw vocals. They call the tour ”SOUNDS LIVE FEELS LIVE”, and it sure does.
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Review by Jules Faurschou | @rockonpoets