For many of us, The Met Nightclub has become a traditional stop on a night out in Brisbane’s infamous Fortitude Valley, however, every now and then the venue gives us the opportunity to ditch the heels and trade them in for our dancing shoes as they play host to some great live acts such as Charli XCX, twenty one pilots and now Circa Survive with guests PVRIS.
As the tour was being hosted by Soundwave Touring, fans who had already purchased a Soundwave Society membership were treated to a very special pre-gig event. This featured a 2 song acoustic set with Circa Survive (who wanted to turn the event into a ‘tickle party’) and a group photo with the members of PVRIS. As there was no other support act on the bill, the meet and greet was quickly wrapped up so PVRIS could head backstage to prep while the rest of the ticket holders quickly piled into the two storey room.
Despite it being their first visit to Australia, PVRIS (pronounced Paris just in case you were wondering) needed no introduction when they took to the stage as it was clear they had a majority of crowd’s support already judging by the screams. While many would have preferred to see the band play their debut album White Noise in full and perhaps even at a show they were headlining, they chose their best tunes to play to fans, opening up with anthem ‘Fire’. Without taking a breath the band lead into their most popular song ‘St. Patrick’ that saw vocalist Lynn Gunn (Lyndsey Gunnulfsen) have a proud smile on her face throughout the song as the crowd sang it back to her. It was clear that not even the band knew just how many fans they had in Australia as Gunn continuously thanked the crowd for coming along before ripping into ‘My House’ making their set finish off with a bang.
While PVRIS had drawn a crowd, people seemed to appear out of nowhere in preparation of rock legends Circa Survive. Hailing from Philadelphia, and fronted by vocalist Anthony Green, the band played an energetic and undeniably interesting set that featured 14 of their best hits that was opened up with ‘Child of the Desert’. It’s clear that Green is a very spiritual person and while it was difficult to decide whether we were at a gospel preaching or concert, the bands performance never faltered making it evident the band is used to this by now and the crowd just went with it all, adding to their experience of the night. After a speech that had the intention to inspire the crowd to imagine an Australian flag blowing in the wind behind the band, ‘Stop the Fuckin Car’ and ‘Nesting Dolls’ were played before the band left the stage with a final goodnight to the crowd. It was a weird and interesting night, but everyone got the best experience they could have possibly imagined and that much more.
Two years after their critically heralded debut album Separation, Pennsylvanian band Balance and Composure return with their most ambitious and intensely cathartic release to date.
