5 Seconds of Summer Captivate Sold Out Varsity Theater

Facebooktwittertumblr

After returning home from a week long vacation in Miami and the Bahamas for Paramore’s cruise Parahoy!, I definitely felt the rude awakening of the seemingly never ending Minnesota winter as I made my way over to Varsity Theater to cover Australian pop rock band 5 Seconds of Summer. Thankful that I live in a place that didn’t get a ton of snow over the weekend, the trek into Uptown didn’t seem so bad, and I was even greeted by the long line of fans outside of the venue for the sold out show. With the Facebook event page debate on whether this show was happening for one reason or another, the crowd and myself were relieved when the band took the stage shortly after 8pm. 

Even with opening the doors a bit later than the scheduled time due to the snow, it still came as a surprise to me when the band took the stage as I was expecting an opener to walk out first. Instead, the four members of 5 Seconds of Summer, (guitarist/vocalist Luke Hemmings, guitarist/vocalist Michael Clifford, bassist/vocalist Calum Hood, and drummer/vocalist Ashton Irwin) sauntered onto the stage to the sounds of ecstatic fans, truly making this night all about this band and their music. Having never seen the band before, I wasn’t sure what to expect sonically outside of similarities to Spotify’s recommended artists to 5 Seconds of Summer. 

From the moment the band took the stage until their last song, the encouraging screams of the fans never seemed to die down, rather, they only intensified as the night progressed. The band themselves didn’t seem to notice the continuous cheers or played it off as such, as their set moved along fairly quickly and to me seemed short for being the only band of the night.  It felt as though each member of the crowd had memorized every song the band played and was eagerly awaiting the moment to sing them back to the stage, something I hadn’t experienced on that level since seeing Paramore perform in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean last week. I, on the other hand, admit to only knowing two of their songs only by the music, one of which they opened their set with and one they closed their set with. If anything, this performance was definitely a smaller and simplified version of what is to come when 5 Seconds of Summer make their return to the Twin Cities at The Armory in September, as this intimate setting seemed too compact for this band. Even though 5 Seconds of Summer isn’t exactly my cup of tea (I prefer the soothing sounds of heavy rock and metal), I can’t deny the band has catchy songs and the on stage charisma to back their nonstop success around the world. 

Setlist: She Looks So Perfect / Girls Talk Boys / Discontinued / Moving Along  / She’s Kinda Hot / Valentine / Amnesia / Lie To Me / Waste The Night / Talk Fast / Youngblood  / Jet Black Heart / Want You Back 

Facebooktwitterrssyoutubetumblrinstagram