Review: Senses Fail supported by Stuck Out and Eat Your Heart Out at Stay Gold, Melbourne, July 20th, 2019
After six long years of being away, April saw post-hardcore icons Senses Fail announcing their first Aussie headline tour since 2013 to help quell the hordes of fans yearning for their return.
On Saturday evening, that itch was finally relieved by the band putting on a phenomenal, sold-out headline show at the intimate venue of Stay Gold in Brunswick. After a day of blustery, cold winds, punters were lining the side of the venue ready to seek refuge in the cozy band room, which was actively ready to accept everyone, welcoming in concert goers to Eminem’s fiery hit, ‘The Real Slim Shady’.
With shoes sticking to the floor before drinks had even been spilt, the ever-growing crowd could tell that they were in for a night of rowdy dancing, and were keen to belt out the lyrics at any cost.
Check out ‘Gold Jacket, Green Jacket…’ by Senses Fail
Kicking off the night, Melbourne’s own Stuck Out graced the stage to much excitement. With the crowd being instantly swept away by the amount of pure energy emitted by the punk-rock sound, frontman Joshua Walker kept the audiences attention and ran with it, getting everyone grooving from the get-go with the short, melodic tune of Weight, and jumping right into the more confronting sound of ‘Self Doubt’.
Sporting songs from their You Won’t Come Home EP, these local rockers enthralled everyone with their feisty moves, signature bridges, and pounding drum breakdowns. Clearly taking influence from bands such as Trophy Eyes and The Story So Far, this five-piece group radiated gruff vocals, strong basslines, and catchy chanted lyrics which quickly helped new listeners turn into proper, sing-along fans.
As their set bustled on with songs such as ‘Everything You Wanted’, ‘Fragments’, ‘Stitch’, and ‘Empty Sheets’, the crowd was intensely captivated with the rhythmic tunes, and heavily relatable lyrics that were being belted out.
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Ending their criminally-short set of only twenty-five minutes, Stuck Out left us with the absolute gem that is ‘Fade Away’, and as the final note rang out, they had clearly won over some new fans, with one audience member shouting out, “yep, that was banging!”
Check out ‘Fade Away’ by Stuck Out
With anticipation mounting, we didn’t have to wait long until the five-piece, Sydney band Eat Your Heart Out stormed the stage. Clad in a black and white-striped t-shirt, frontwoman Caitlin Henry wasted no time jumping right into their first song, ‘Spinning’. Comparable to Tonight Alive or Paramore, the crowd was instantaneously hooked by their soaring vocals, groovy time signatures, and sensational beats.
By the time they had rocked through ‘Rust’ and ‘Heavy’, it was plain to see that they already had many old fans in the audience, and many new ones in their clutches, with practically no-one able to avoid dancing to their killer sound.
Quickly moving through their set, ‘Blinded’ was introduced as being “about a person I’m sure we’ve all known in our lives who’s let their ego get out of control and need to be brought back down to Earth,” which easily caught the attention of the crowd as “we all know a person like that”.
Between a wonderfully, heavy-handed drummer, a vocalist who is able to hit every note effortlessly, and plenty of funky guitar slides, it was easy to see that Eat Your Heart Out was going to be leaving Melbourne with more than a few fans in tow.
Powering through the newly released songs off of their latest album, Florescence, with plenty of classic favourites tossed in, many audience members were caught singing and dancing along to songs such as ‘Carousel’, ‘Patience’, and ‘Same Stars’. By the time the song ‘Conscience’ came around, Caitlin Henry raised a plea with the audience to scream out the lyrics, as “I know some of you guys know this one.”
Her statement was met with much enthusiasm, and everyone was in for a treat during the latter part of the crowd favourite when two fans shared the mic, and screamed out the lyrics like clockwork. With only a couple of songs left in their similarly short set, the crowd was met with ‘Better Late Than Never’ and ‘Closer To The Sun’ which left everyone pining for more, and leaving the band with plenty of new admirers.
Check out ‘Closer To The Sun’ by Eat Your Heart Out
At this point in the night, the room was filing to the brim of capacity, and excitement was obviously reaching its peak. As the audience continued to grow eager to see the long-awaited return of these US gems, we didn’t have to wait long until the crew signalled the it was time for the show to start, and Senses Fail graced us with their presence..
As the lights dimmed, Gina G’s ‘Ooh Ahh… Just A Little Bit’ came trilling its way across the PA system, which resulted in everyone giving a shout and getting their groove on. Just as the chorus made its way into our ears, the New Jersey rockers entered the stage running, grabbing us by the neck, and refusing to let go, diving right into one of their oldest hits, ‘Tie Her Down’.
Only a few seconds in, and a resounding singalong was happening, with many punters solidly dropping back into their high school selves. As frontman James “Buddy” Nielsen flew directly across the stage with his immense amounts of infectious energy, the crowd was met with expertise microphone-handling, including spins, throws and catches, and impressive control that would put Taking Back Sunday’s Adam Lazzara to shame.
Jumping straight into the next few songs, Nielsen steals the hearts of the entire venue with his quick-stepped dancing, vivacity, and intense vocals. With “let’s fucking go!” shouted through the microphone as the classic ‘To All The Crowded Rooms’ began, everyone did as they were told, and took the energy to a whole new level, with the mosh becoming heavier than before, and enticing everyone to belt out the lyrics they had surely memorised years previous.
Without wasting any time, the band continued on to ‘New Jersey Makes, The World Takes’ off of their most recent album If There Is Light, It Will Find You. Even with it only being released last year, it was clear that everyone had already took the song to heart, and knew every last word.
Between gruffer vocals, chantable lyrics, and a relentless drum beat, the crowd was captivated by each and every move the band made. Following the lead of Nielsen, the entire band radiates confidence, and shows they know the trade well.
From bassist Greg Styliades’ signature shirtless get-up, to Gavin Caswell’s ceaseless versatile playing, Jason Milbank’s killer riffs, and Steve Carey’s incredible drumming abilities, Senses Fail was a hub of constant buzzing energy, which brightly lit the room.
Check out ‘Calling All Cars’ by Senses Fail
With the band taking a moment so that Nielsen could grab a badly-needed drink, they soon jumped right back into another few throwbacks, with the crowd were together while singing ‘Rum Is For Drinking, Not For Burning’, ‘Shark Attack’, and – to much enthusiasm – ‘Calling All Cars’, which saw the biggest crowd reaction of the night.
Between crowd surfers flying through the air, the crews hearty attempt to keep the surfers from falling onto the stage, and a outstandingly executed cartwheel by Nielsen, it was like everyone in the entire room reverted back to their selves from years ago, like the hardcore scene had never left our souls. Each song was met with more and more singing, dancing, and head banging, enough to leave everyone of us with a happy heart, and probably a headache the next day.
After discussing his new education of what a Tim Tam Slam is, and being persuaded into doing a shoey (“I was going to say that Australia is better than America, but after that, I’m not quite sure…”), Nielsen’s noting of a hard curfew in place for the gig met that we were instantly taken into the new song ‘Double Cross’ which easily clung to the souls of everyone with the relatable meaning of “never quitting what you’re passionate about, always doing what you love.”
While it was not as well known by the crowd, many were singing along towards the end, and keen to keep it in rotation. However, the crowd wasn’t quiet for long, with the old favourite of ‘Lady In A Blue Dress’ following soon after. Next up was the newer, and very relevant ‘Gold Jacket, Green Jacket…’ which was certainly preaching to the choir with a room full of millennials, as its subject matter is not just a nod, but a confrontational head-butt towards anti-capitalism and the current political and actual climate.
Ending with a resounding, “fucking idiots” chant, as the album version of the song does, the next-biggest song of the night to drop began, with ‘Buried A Lie’ beginning a second wave of crowd surfers.
Descending into the home stretch of songs, ‘Choke On This’ and ‘Bloody Romance’ graced our ears with their high-energy beats, screaming lyrics, and heaving bass lines forcing the crowd to not avert their attention for even one second for the fear of missing one of Nielsen’s signature dance moves.
After a third wave of crowd surfers, we realised that our night was soon to end, with Nielsen thanking us for our patronage and reminding us again of curfew. Describing the meaning behind the next song, Nielsen spoke about how the song ‘Steven’ “pretty much started it all for us as a band,” while sobering the crowd with his tale of how he had a friend pass away quite young which sparked them to write this song about him, and begin the band.
While the crowd maintained a more melancholy attitude toward the song, with the meaning truely resonating with many, as hoards sang along strongly, showing that they felt the song wholeheartedly.
Check out ‘Can’t Be Saved’ by Senses Fail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqIN4kJybm8
After a promise of not waiting six years again to come back again, the song that everyone had been waiting for penetrated our ears — ‘Can’t Be Saved’. With the crew waiting in the wings for crowd surfing to begin, and the crowd’s energy coming to a peak, it didn’t take long for the surfers to start rolling in, despite how low the ceilings of the venue were.
Truly the highlight of many for the night, many were wondering if there was going to be an actual encore, and if there was, how they could top it. Despite not knowing if they’d get one, the chants for ‘one more song’ began just as soon as the last member stepped off the stage. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long before Senses Fail showed their faces to grace us with a couple more songs.
Noting the crowds yearning for more, we were answered with, “alright, we’ve gotta make it quick…we’ve still got songs to do!” and to much of the crowd’s excitement, ‘One Eight Seven’ began its soft beginning, almost drowned out with the amount of singing the crowd was doing. As the song continued on, voices were surely going hoarse with every single person screaming out the lyrics as if they’d never sing again.
Leaving us with one more song, the 2004 hit ‘Bite To Break Skin’ began with more energy than the night had seen. Between it’s striking guitar build up, pounding drum break down, gruffest vocals of the night, and medley of cover songs towards the end (including the well-known ‘Chop Suey!’, ‘Bodies’, ‘Break Stuff’, and ‘Bulls On Parade’), everyone ended the set thoroughly exhausted, and had voices that would probably need a few days of recuperation.
As everyone slowly shuffled out of the venue, sweat soaked, sticky with spilled drinks, and more elated than they’d been in a long while, it was clear that everyone would tuck this show away in the most prominent spot of their heart. Between the punk jams of Stuck Out, the soaring vocals of Eat Your Heart Out, and the absolute bangers from Senses Fail, this gig certainly didn’t fail our senses.
Check out ‘Bite To Break Skin’ by Senses Fail
Senses Fail @ Stay Gold, Melbourne 20/7/19 Setlist
‘Tie Her Down’
‘To All The Crowded Rooms’
‘New Jersey Makes, The World Takes’
‘Bonecrusher’
‘Family Tradition’
‘Rum Is For Drinking, Not For Burning’
‘Shark Attack’
‘Calling All Cars’
‘Double Cross’
‘Lady In A Blue Dress’
‘Gold Jacket, Green Jacket…’
‘Buried A Lie’
‘Elevator To The Gallows’
‘Choke On This’
‘Bloody Romance’
‘Steven’
‘Can’t Be Saved’
Encore:
‘One Eight Seven’
‘Bite To Break Skin’
Senses Fail Australian tour 2019
(Remaining Dates)
Monday, July 22nd
Jive Bar, Adelaide, SA
Tuesday, July 23rd
Civic Hotel, Perth, WA
