IN 2007, an up-and-coming band from Melbourne supported Sydney group The Howling Bells at this same venue.
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While the headline act didn’t set the world on fire but the band that opened for them certainly did.
That band was The Temper Trap.
They were on the cusp of big things that night and it was obvious.
It felt like a similar scene on Wednesday night when Sydney band Gang of Youths performed on that same stage.
Unlike The Temper Trap though, these guys are already the headline attraction and their sold out show in Newcastle was one of 24 dates on a national tour - the biggest since the band was formed in 2012 when long-time mates Dave Le’aupepe (vocals), Joji Malani (guitar), Jung Kim (keys) and Maxwell Dunn (bass) started playing music together.
Tonight they were joined by Newcastle drummer Dom Borzestowski – well-known around Newcastle for his immense talent on the skins – who completes the line-up.
The local boy had plenty of family and friends cheering him on in the crowd.
There is a real buzz surrounding the band and for good reason.
Their album The Positions is an assured debut, full of emotional songs written from the perspective of Le’aupepe who wanted to create a concept record centred around the struggles he went through while married to a young woman going through treatment for stage 4 cancer.
It’s heavy stuff made even more remarkable by the fact that Le’aupepe is only 23 years old.
There are ballads on the record but this doesn’t affect the energy that the band drills into each song in their live set.
Le’aupepe is a star.
While his bandmates stay in the background, the singer/guitarist engages your focus from the moment he’s on stage, closing his eyes when the words hit his heart, beating his fist on his chest and leaning his body into the crowd to sing.
He throws himself into the music, not only emotionally but physically too.
During Magnolia – the band’s new single and poppiest track on the record – he drops the guitar and busts out some Beyonce-style hip wiggling and dancing (I am pretty sure he stole some of the moves from her Single Ladies video)
And then there’s the voice.
At times reminiscent of The National’s frontman Matt Berninger, his voice a powerful instrument in itself that can shift suddenly from a raucous scream to tackling really beautiful, delicate high notes (Kansas).
If this performance is anything to go by, Gang of Youths are ready for big things.
If you haven’t yet, make it a priority to see these guys live.
