LIVE REVIEW: 5 Seconds Of Summer, Meet You There Tour, Eventim Apollo, London - 30/10/18

On Tuesday we headed down to Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo to see 5 Seconds of Summer play their second sold-out night in London as part of their Meet You There tour. With the queue quite literally going around the houses forming the longest queue we’ve seen in pretty much forever, our hopes were high for what was to follow.

Opening up on this tour is lovelytheband, having released their debut album finding it hard to smile earlier this year there were pockets of fans throughout the audience. Singing tracks including these are my friends, which everyone was singing along to by the last chorus ‘these are my friends, I love them.’ and make you feel pretty; a cheesy albeit fun track. The energetic set from the Los Angeles band fronted by Mitchy Collins saw a cover of The Killers Mr Brightside getting everyone singing along at the top of their lungs warming them up perfectly for the main event. Teasing their imminent return to the capital, if lovelytheband with their fun, summery vibes sound like your thing find out more about them here.

As the lights dimmed, the cheers began and the excitement levels increased it was time for the moment everyone had been waiting for. Coming onstage and straight into Babylon taken from their latest album Youngblood the energy soared, Luke Hemmings vocals were passionate mixed with powerful guitar and drumlines it was a winning opener, especially with the big musical drop.

It’s never about the way a band look but with it being Halloween we weren’t sure if Luke and his Strictly Come Dancing-esque shirt were dressing for the occasion or just because he liked the shirt. We weren’t convinced and we don’t think the other guys were either. Sorry, Luke! Michael got everyone a little bit into the spooky spirit donning a blue wig pretending to be either Halsey or himself in 2015 before encouraging Luke and Calum to get involved. Fan participation led by Ashton Irwin saw a girl dressed as a cat and another dressed as what she called a pineapple (It was definitely a banana) to give a break in the night’s musical antics.

With a setlist spanning all their discography, including most of Youngblood, they even take us right back to The Only Reason but this time with a Kanye West vibed twist as Michael gained a robotic voiceover to open up the track. It was strange, it took a little while to get our heads around and honestly? We’re still not sure what happened. From the not so convincing to the emotionally powerful Lie To Me, which saw Luke take his place on a piano to serenade us with vocals sending a shiver down our spine.

Why Won’t You Love Me provided one of the standout moments of the night and flaunted the progression and growth the quartet have had over the years. Luke has become even more confident in revving up the crowd holding his mic stand to the air to get the crowd volume even higher. Whilst Calum and Michael provided soaring guitar lines to complement the driving drums of Ashton. As a unit 5 Seconds Of Summer are full of not only strength but confidence not only in their only abilities but of their bands mates and we love it.

We could sit here and tell you every single reason why this might have been our favourite time we’ve seen the Aussie quartet live but instead, we’re going to summarise a couple of our favourite setlist highlights. Meet You There; the title track of the album was remixed to provide a heavy instrumental section in which moshpits erupted, Ashton played the feistiest drum section of the night, the lights were erratic and you forgot you were at a 5 Seconds Of Summer show and not a rock show. Waste The Night; a personal favourite but also a magical moment as arms were bouncing and we went right back to the early days of the quartet. The light show for If Walls Could Talk reminded us why small venues and light shows are a great combination. Throw in fans chanting back the catchy chorus then you’ve got a great moment in the set. Notable mention goes to fan favourite and tear-jerker Amnesia, just because who doesn’t love the venue being lit up with Calum not even needing to sing as the crowd are THAT loud.

The last time 5 Seconds Of Summer were headlining in London was for their small show at Heaven which saw fans treated to new at that point yet to be released from third album Youngblood. Tonight everyone and we mean everyone in the room was singing back each and every word to tracks both old and new. With the night drawing to a close ending the main set was comeback single Want You Back; which obviously the whole crowd did as soon as they left the stage. Returning to the power duo of She Looks So Perfect; the ultimate pop-track with singalongs galore throwing us right back to 2014, smiles were on not only the crowd’s faces but also the bands seeing how triumphant their set has been. Giving it one last hit with Youngblood the prowling across the stage from Luke, Michael and Calum was captivating showing the confidence oozing out of them. Explaining to the crowd that there’s a sound restriction in the area surrounding the venue Luke instructed everyone to ‘be as loud as possible’ and of course, they obeyed. Ashton determined to not miss out on the fun was on his feet, sticks in the air and giving every last ounce of energy even not wanting to leave the stage once the show was over. 5 Seconds Of Summer might have just put on our favourite show of the year. It was clear that every member had enjoyed each second of their night whilst putting all their strength and passion into performing it meant the crowd, in turn, had a great time.

5 Seconds of Summer and their Meet You There tour feels like a turning point in their career, the start of a new era filled with confident onstage personas, slicker instrument skills, matured lyric content and a real feel-good factor which made a smile become fixed on our faces. Everybody grows up and it seems as if 5SOS and their fans are just going to continue growing up together as there was no shortage of support for each track whether new or old tonight. Musically and seemingly personally the quartet are stronger than they’ve ever been before, we won’t forget tonight for a long time to come. If you’re reading this 5SOS we definitely want you back sooner rather than later.

Have you seen 5 Seconds Of Summer on their Meet You There tour? Tweet us @CelebMix and share your favourite memories!

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