It was a dull, rainy night in Sydney as I walked down towards the much adored Metro Theatre to catch Melbourne’s The Getaway Plan on their The Requiem Tour. The Getaway Plan were once the band to beat, kings of the emo movement in Australia they were almost house hold names, then all of a sudden…nothing… Which got me thinking, as I avoided puddles and stupid people who can’t walk normally in the rain, there’s no way they can reclaim their throne… or can they?
Hailing from this great nations capital, Hands Like Houses – having achieved international status seemed like an odd fit for an opening band, though I’m not complaining. I love these guys and have for a while now; actually this was the first time I’ve had the chance to see them live after their last Sydney gig was cancelled. The crowd, however were totally ungrateful. Dripping with style and just pure…awesomeness, Hands Like Houses played as though they were in front of 10,000 people though the teeny bopper crowd of what seemed like 14-16 year olds just looked at them like “This isn’t The Getaway Plan?” Concert noobs, what can you do? We were all one at some stage. But I digress, HLH were amazing, finishing with This Ain’t No Place For Animals, which is a brilliant track! If you haven’t started already…this is definitely a band to keep an eye on for 2012.
Gatherer were up next and took the show in a bit of a different…funkier direction. Structurally they draw parallels to bands like Four Year Strong, though their sound is quiet something else. Hitting you like a tidal wave of beats, they maintain an intense live set, at moments becoming quite a barrage of noise though the nerdy swagger of these cats makes for a very enjoyable show, despite the fact the fans didn’t know the lyrics – or quiet understand where the band was coming from, no one looked away and everyone loved it, Regular Frontier the bands latest single was easily a stand out track. I suggest everyone give these guys a listen and I suspect we will be seeing more of them after this tour.
Break Even…there’s really only one way to describe these guys live…total and pure domination. Other bands who maintain a touring schedule similar to these guys will often be hoist on their own petard (to paraphrase Will Shakespeare). Break Even however simply don’t, rather than cheapening their product with ample supply, they’re created a sense of familiarity, and almost a cult following. Easily the crowd favorite so far and bringing an essential touch of hardcore to the night – even seeing a bit of a pit opening up. And if my knees where what they use to be I’d have gotten my thrown-down on for sure! Every song seemed to be a crowd favorite though October 27 was fucking amazing, no matter how many times I see it live. The boys seemed to be quiet at home despite being very far from Perth, and were playing to a totally packed room.
The Getaway Plan came out strong and hard with their new single The Reckoning, and were greeted by a chorus of kids who knew every single word – literally. The band seemed almost taken aback by the crowd (which at this stage was surely close to the legal limit) though if they were intimated it certainly didn’t show. The band had very little banter with the crowd though their stage presence was incredible, mix that with the light show and the visual displays on stage, it was really hard to get bored. As the set continued however the crowd seemed to lose focus, possibly due to the fact that many new tracks were played, however once they played more tracks from their album Other Voices, Other Room’s and alike, the crowd would go totally nucking futs, screaming, jumping, everything. It was a seamlessly produced show, with perfectly timed over dubs – and I’ll take this chance to point out drummer Aaron Barnett is a total machine, no matter how hard you stared at him he was just a constant blur, not missing a single beat and bringing to mind – as ballsy as this may be..a young Travis Barker. Finishing off with Heartstone…kind of…the band came back to play a two song encore of Where The City Meets The Sea – which blew the room up, the floor was shaking and even the piercings in my head rattled a bit! They officially closed with ‘Requiem’ of course, the namesake of the tour, and the bands 2011 album.
Having spent some time out of the public eye, The Getaway Plan are making a serious resurgence, obviously on their way to reclaim their crown, and after seeing there live set I really feel sorry for all those who stand in their way. What an awesome show. Why can’t we have more gigs like this? Seriously though.
Check out Photos from The Getaway Plan at The Metro Theatre 25/11/2011
