11 Mar 2018 // A review by ShelleySketch
I arrived at Backbeat on K’Road at the perfect time, the doors have just opened. Heading up the stairs I am surrounded by music memorabilia. I get to the top of the stairs to be greeted by the guys from
Silence The City. After I get stamped with the
Resilience logo and have a little catch up I head on to the floor to secure myself a spot. At first, the crowd is circled around the edge of the floor. But
Meridian Vibe take the stage and the crowd moves in.
This 4-piece from Auckland wasted no time and dived straight into the set. The only times they stopped playing were to give a shout out to the other bands and thank Silence The City. The set list seemed to go from new material to older tracks. Meridian Vibe definitely got the crowds energy building and played a great set.
Next up were
Dead Beat Boys. The first thing that sticks out was the lead vocalist, James, wearing a colourful button-up shirt covered in bananas. But then I completely drowned it out as they kicked off their set as the energy was so crazy. They played hard and James really made use of his space. He jumped out on to the floor multiple times to be right in front of the crowd, amongst them and he would drop down on to the floor. The screams in James’ vocals were strong. Though it clearly got a bit hot as he unbuttoned his shirt with a member of the crowd saying, “take it off”. He said they wouldn’t want to see that. But he grabbed one of their merchandise tea towels to wipe the seat then draped it on the front of the drums.
The set was broken up with James talking in between some songs, though he would get to the point where he would just laugh and stop as he found himself rambling. I had a little chat with a member of the crowd and he said they made him think of The Hives and he wondered if they liked them. It turns out they did, playing a cover of a song by The Hives. It was a great set and clearly it had to end with something a bit crazy. James jumped on the bar and performed from the bar top before jumping down and collapsing on to the floor. The crowd took a quick break before the headliners took the stage.
Silence The City were up! Their new album came out in November last year and the guys decided to finally celebrate the release with a little NZ tour. Tonight, was the first night. The band seemed ready and the crowd all gathered back in. The stage was lit in a range of different colours, particularly red and the backdrop was the band name in a Stranger Things style.
They kicked off the set with a few songs off their new album which the crowd clearly enjoyed. But the older throwbacks they threw in were definitely much appreciated as well. The crowd had moved right up to the front and the room was definitely full. For such a small stage the band definitely made use of it. Lead vocalist, Justin Pitt has such a great vocal range and hit all the notes. He moved around quite a bit, even dropping down to the floor himself. Justin also does big gestures when performing which really add to that particular note or part he is singing. About midway through the set the guys clearly got comfortable, enough for Justin to remove his shoes and perform in his socks.
Silence The City were all smiles during the show and they definitely deserve to be. The energy from the crowd and the band were great. This new album definitely has something for everybody to enjoy and everyone should definitely go see them live!
Review written by Shelley Te Haara