Mondays are usually dull and boring but not when they are part of Soundwave week. Hundreds of Sydney siders brushed away the post-festival blues and headed down to The Metro to watch Circa Survive, Saves The Day and Thursday.
It was a crisp night with summer finally deciding to show in Sydney; the alcohol was flowing and everyone got down early to see Circa Survive grace the stage to set the mood for what was going to be a fantastic night. Although it wasn’t a sold out show the crowd made up for it by singing along and being full of energy. Circa Survive played forty minutes worth of crowd favourites – as the final drum stick clashed and the stage lights dimmed the crowd was left wanting more which; obvious with the bellowing sounds of hundreds of people chanting, “One more song”.
Saves The Day played an amazing show in front of all their fans – the crowd tripled in size compared to Soundwave -and everyone was dancing, singing and having a down right awesome time. Saves The Day played a mixture of new songs from their recently released CD Daybreak and a whole bunch of old favourites. During their final song “At Your Funeral” one lucky fan got up on stage, danced around and got to hug singer Chris Conley.
Finally it was time for the band everyone was waiting for, New Jersey’s Thursday. After fourteen years of being one of the most touching, inspiring emo/ post-hardcore bands it was time for their last every Sydney show and their second last headlining Australian show. When Thursday graced the stage we were overwhelmed with a variety of emotions, excitement was swamped by the sadness that in an hours’ time majority of the crowd would never see them again.
Thursday hit the stage playing every song off their 2001 hit cd Full Collapse. The vibe during this set was intense; the whole crowd was singing, moving, jumping and having a downright fantastic time. Words cannot explain the energy felt throughout The Metro when popular songs like “Understanding In A Car Crash” and “Paris In Flames” were played. During “I Am The Killer” there were people stage diving and in “How Long Is The Night” vocalist Geoff Rickly stood on the barrier to get closer to his awaiting fans who screamed the lyrics back at him. As they promised to play the whole of Full Collapse fans got to hear songs which are never usually played such as “A Whole In The World” and “Wind up”. It was a touching moment for all of Thursday’s fans.
After playing all the songs of Full Collapse they played obvious favourites like “War All The Time” which had many fans in tears and everyone singing along. Rickly also gave a touching shout out to Saves The Day explaining that they were honoured to have shared the stage with them over all these years and to have not only played their first ever shows with them but now also their last ones.
Chants of an encore began before their final song “Division Street” even finished. Thursday played “Jet Black New Year” before Rickly spoke about his love for his band members, their fans and even Epitaph records. After this heart-warming speech they played their final song “Turnpike Divides”. Sydney did not mess around with everyone jumping, dancing, singing and even crowd surfing for what would be the final time.
Overall it was an amazing night. Emotions were high as everyone flooded back out onto George Street to make their way home. Thursday is a band that got many people through their troubling teenage years so their hiatus is upsetting for many.
– Marissa Hanson
