GANG OF YOUTHS @ THE FORUM THEATRE

On Monday the 29th of October Gang Of Youths played their 2nd of 8 shows at the forum theatre. Walking into the beautiful venue early to see the opener, Charlie Collins, there were already masses of people, young and old packed in tight securing their spot for the main event!
I was perplexed when the unevenly hung wrinkled white sheet acting as a backdrop remained hanging even upon commencement of Gang Of Youths set. The band came out one by one in single file making a beeline to their instruments. They immediately jumped into one of my favourite tracks ‘Fear & Trembling’. It had the crown swaying and singing along. A great was to kick off the evening!

The band seamlessly transitioned into the popular track ‘What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out’ followed by a heartfelt address stating how good it is to be back in the “Best city in Australia!!!” This statement had the whole crowd hollering! There’s nothing us Melburnians love more than being told we’re the better than Sydney, even if not directly.
Frontman David Le’aupepe went on to talk about how they played this venue 5 or 6 years ago supporting the band Crowd Control, and they were slammed by critiques & ignored by everyone else. He joked that due to this you could argue their entire career has been fuelled by revenge.

After his 10 minute long speech, we were ready to get on with the music we all came here for! The night continued on with a song about not wasting your life and not letting the bastards get you down , ‘Do Not Let Your Spirit Wane’. Just as this song began The ugly white sheet FINALLY dropped. I was so glad, it was such an eye sore.
The band continued to thank Melbourne for all the continued support throughout Gang Of Youths entire career. Even changing the lyrics in ‘Go Farther In Lightness’ from Sydney sky, to Melbourne sky. This track was the first of a few Le’aupepe performed at the piano. David often stopped singing so us in the audience could sing out acoustically. It was pretty amazing to hear.
The show was overall fantastic. Musically the band are phenomenal live. Its east to see how they managed to book 8 full back-to-back shows at the Forum Theatre. The band work so cohesively they are clearly a well-oiled machine! Performance wide, Frontman Dave moves with the best of them. The way he moves his hips seductively to the beat is so charismatic you cant help but smile! As I overheard someone say, “It should be illegal to be this talented”