Sydney based pop-rocker Bec Sandridge opened the night, taking on the stage solo and enjoying banter with the crowd. She made her way through her set, playing ‘High Tide’ which had people bopping along, before slowing it right down for ‘I Keep Running Back’. Her incredible Kate Bush-like vocals had everyone mesmerised, as did her masterful guitar playing. She finished with ‘I’ll Never Want a BF’, leaving the room buzzing.
After a few false starts the band took to the stage, met by an eruption of screams and whoops from the crowd. Then, in a flurry of pure energy, Yungblud burst onto the scene, his face lit up with a manic grin as he surveyed the jam-packed venue.
“Are you fookin’ ready?” he screamed, before taking a swig of his drink and spitting it back out over the eager swarm of people. He opened with ‘21st Century Liability’, the title track of his debut album which came out a mere few weeks ago. Everyone already knew all the words, and he had them screaming along, jumping up and down, and waving their arms in the air to his instruction.
Next up was ‘I Love You, Will You Marry Me’, which was met with another huge reception. During the song Yungblud launched himself into the front row of the crowd, where he was met with pairs of eager hands reaching out desperately to touch him. He was truly lapping it up, his expressive face changing from looks of sheer delight, to sticking his tongue out like a true punk-rocker, to feigned shock, horror, or surprise – depending on what lyrics he was singing at the time.
He burned through ‘Anarchist’, before pausing to introduce ‘Polygraph Eyes’. “This next one is so fucking important to me,” he yelled. “This song talks about an issue that needs to remain in the forefront of our minds, so we can stand the fuck up,” he said. He and the band then launched into an impassioned performance of the track, which was met with exuberance from the crowd, but also a sombre respect for the topic it touches on and the serious nature of the lyricism. At one point he stopped singing and it was just the crowd screaming back “Leave it alone mate, she doesn’t want to go home with ya,” – to which he responded with wide-eyed delight, mouthing “What the fuck?” repeatedly in disbelief and awe.
Yungblud’s energy never faltered as he delivered each track with wild abandon, throwing himself entirely into the performance. He played pretty much every song off the new album, throwing in some old favourites like ‘Tin Pan Boy’ and ‘King Charles’, as well as a new, unreleased track. The only break in the chaos was when he played “his mum’s favourite song,” ‘Kill Somebody’, where the mood of the room shifted, and everyone waved their arms slowly in the air. Someone up the front even had a lighter going.
After finishing ‘California’, the band disappeared off stage, only to reappear for another three tracks – much to the crowd’s delight.
Yungblud went all out during ‘Machine Gun’, where he channelled his inner rock star and threw his guitar onto the ground, taking down one piece of the drum kit along with it, and knocking over the mic stand, for good measure. While security scrambled to clean up his mess, he gave the room a massive grin, before raising his arms in the air and sticking his tongue out in defiance.
He was absolutely soaked with sweat by the end of his set, which is unsurprising considering the amount of energy he put into the performance. The kid might only be 19, but he knows how to put on a good fucking show.
Highlight: Seeing Yungblud go full rock star and throw his guitar on the ground, kick one of the symbol drums and knock over the mic stand.
Lowlight: One small but particularly rowdy section of the crowd, who started a mini pit circle.
Crowd favourite: ‘Polygraph Eyes’.
