Photos by Josh Braybrook
It was a wild night at The Forum.
It wouldn’t be a house party if you didn’t have to navigate unruly punters at some point throughout the night. Attending Northeast Party House’s gig on Friday, in all honesty, this was one of the loosest crowds I’ve witnessed in a long time. It made for a palpable energy inside The Forum; to put it plainly, the crowd was ready to party.
After solid support sets from Sparrows and Alice Ivy, the main course took to their hometown stage like a kid waking up on Christmas. Opening with an oddly placed rendition of Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’, the room seemed more like a drunken wedding reception than dance-rock live show. However, as soon as the first few notes of Northeast Party House’s classic ‘Any Given Weekend’ began to reverberate through the room, bodies began heaving in anticipation.
It’s been a minute since the local, cult favourites played to a hometown crowd and this mirrored the excitement in the room. From way back in the bleachers to the sweating mosh pit, everyone’s attention was on the stage.
Lead singer, Zach Hamilton-Reeves, had the crowd enraptured as he soared through track after track with ease. As a true frontman, Hamilton-Reeves definitely knows how to keep a room on its toes.
The temperature soared as a mix of older favourites were meshed with newer tracks. Admittedly at times, it felt a little disconnected but that is to be expected from a band that has evolved their sound significantly over the years.
A flash from the past with the hit ‘Embezzler’, from the band’s 2014 debut album Any Given Weekend, had the fans screaming for more. An unreleased track followed, and punters were given a taste of what’s to come from the party starters.
Props must be given to the lighting team at this point. The laser show was phenomenal, even if they were trigger happy with the strobes – at some points, this rendered it difficult to keep eyes on the stage.
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‘Magnify’, the band’s latest single and title track for the tour, was met with a colossal reaction – it’s clear fans are on board with where Northeast Party House are heading with their new material.
The biggest highlight of the night was the final encore song ‘Youth Allowance’. There’s something about seeing a room of 20-somethings screaming “let’s all get on youth allowance” at the top of their lungs that has a joyous, if slightly ironic, feeling to it.
After an almost two-and-a-half-year break between releases, Northeast Party House are definitely back with a bang. With more new music on the horizon, it’s anyone’s guess what heights they can reach.
Highlight: ‘Magnify’.
Lowlight: Drunken fighting.
Crowd favourite: ‘Youth Allowance’.
