Those that came down to the Hi-Fi Bar on Tuesday night certainly got their money’s worth, with not just one but four international bands performing. The gig started right on 8pm and continued until way beyond midnight, although it wasn’t until headliners Four Year Strong showed up that there was any real sense of excitement or atmosphere.
First on the bill were fresh-faced newcomers Conditions who played to a thin crowd. Their radio-ready tunes satisfied the few diehards who had made the effort to get there early, however, despite their shiny instruments, slicked-back haircuts, choreographed poses and biceps, their battle cries washed over the remainder of the crowd who were evidently waiting for the more well-known bands to show up. It was endearing, though, to note how thrilled they were to be playing on the opposite side of the world and have at least a few people singing along.
Fireworks, now on their second tour of Australia, took the stage for the next half hour and yet more fans came out of the woodwork. “Arrows,” the first single from their recent album Gospel, kicked things off with some Telecaster twang and some tasteful tempo changes. It was a welcome surprise, although the band seemed to grow tired after a few songs; only youngsters Brett on lead guitar and Kyle on bass were able to keep their energy levels up for the rest of their set. The other highlights were undoubtedly the two or three cuts from their first full-length album, All I Have to Offer is My Own Confusion, in particular “Detroit,” with it’s whoa-oh-oh refrain, and closer “When We Stand On Each Other We Block Out the Sun.” As well as its message of bro solidarity, it worked remarkably well as the final tune as each member of the band put down their instruments and left the stage one by one. Fireworks are capable of writing some good tunes, but a large amount of their output just doesn’t pack the same punch as songs like “Arrows,” and their live show suffered a few slumps as a result.
In stark contrast, I Am the Avalanche brought a weight to the Hi-Fi stage that had been decidedly lacking from the opening two bands’ sets. Dressed uniformly in black – and sporting more than a few extra years of touring and tattooing than their younger apprentices – the New York natives bring a much harder, world-wearied edge to the otherwise sunny pop-punk scene.
Reformed after a six-year hiatus, the band played a mix of old and new material, opening suitably with “Holy Fuck,” a pretension-free blast of three-chord pop-punk. Unfortunately, the sound was badly muffled and the separation between the guitars and bass was lost under a cascading wall of harsh cymbals and kick drum. By the third or fourth song, the problem had been fixed, but it was already too late; those who didn’t know the band had already given up. In a fatalistic tone, frontman Vinnie stated that “this next song is about killing my ex-wife,” and not even his deadpan irony could get a rise out of the crowd.
The small handful of loyal fans, though, were treated to a really fantastic set. Clearly disappointed with the lack of crowd response, Vinnie pushed and pushed his voice beyond even the impassioned screams that are a hallmark of the band’s recorded material. His bandmates followed suit, hitting the many tempo and key changes with precision and breathing new life into songs from the band’s forgotten first album, namely “New Disaster” and “This is Dungeon Music.”
For a genre so riddled with soundalike bands and corny lyrics, I Am the Avalanche (like The Movielife before them) completely eschew cliché in both their songwriting and lyrics. This is no more apparent than on their irresistible anthem “Brooklyn Dodgers,” which fittingly served as the triumphant end to their short set. More than a few fists were pumped and Vinnie had finally found an audience. However, it was too little too late for the bewildered punters, and I Am the Avalanche seem destined to continue to go criminally under-appreciated in Melbourne.
As soon as they had left the stage, a crowd gathered in the recesses of the Hi-Fi Bar in anticipation of Four Year Strong. After a few false starts with the PA, the band finally took the stage right on 11pm, and somebody found the light switch. Awash in swirling colours and a strobe light that surely borders on illegal brightness levels, “What the Hell is a Gigawatt?” instigated some fairly serious pogo action within seconds. To their credit, despite being the only band on the night with only four members, Four Year Strong played really fucking loud and really fucking fast for way over an hour, using the spacious Hi-Fi stage to full effect.
The band also deserve credit for bringing some colour to proceedings; dressed in colourful t-shirts and with identical pirate beards, frontmen Dan and Alan could almost have traded places without anybody noticing. They sing the same way and even spit on the stage in the same way. Bassist Joe Weiss, on the other hand, was doing his best Jay (of Jay and Silent Bob fame) impression, replete with backwards baseball hat and cargo shorts. That is to take nothing away from the lads, though; over the course of a few years and multiple transatlantic tours, they have evolved into consummate professionals, playing tight and fast and utilising their dynamic songwriting for more and more crowd involvement. Like the best hardcore bands – and elder statesmen New Found Glory – before them, each song is precision engineered for maximum clenched-fisted moshing.
In the short respite between songs, neither Dan nor Alan dwell too much on banter or sentimentality. Rather, they choose to put their their energy towards instigating “the biggest circle pit Melbourne has ever seen” and other battle cries, even encouraging fans to steal their new album in order to hear it. Despite this, the set was heavy on tracks from breakout albums Enemy of the World and Rise or Die Trying, although “Stuck in the Middle” kept up the relentless energy. “Just Drive,” one of the precious few mid-tempo numbers in the band’s catalogue, was another clear highlight. Admirably, neither the band nor their audience took their foot off the pace for the duration, and in fact both seemed to gain momentum as the end of the evening came into view. After signature tune “It Must Really Suck to be Four Year Strong Right Now,” thee band returned for a rousing two-song encore of “One Step At a Time” and “Maniac” as the clock approached 12:30am.
It had been a while since I’d seen a pop punk band command that kind of enthusiasm from a Melbourne crowd, and I must admit, despite the marathon running time, they almost made a believer out of me. Sure, it’s a little cheesy, and more than a little exhausting, but it’s somewhat comforting to know that even though the days of spiked hair and studded belts may be gone, the pop punk gig is still alive and well.
– Darren Gubbins
