Live Review: We The Kings w/ Skies Collide & Avastera @ Eatons Hill Hotel
Opening the night of pop-punk at Brisbane’s northern most venue Eaton’s Hill was Skies Collide. Funnily enough I have this band’s first EP in my car (I’m actually not even sure how it got there, I seem to have a small collection of local band CDs in my car that just magically appear). They put on a good show. All the members got into it and were dancing around. Sadly, it was difficult to hear the lead vocalist Brittany Wilson, which was a shame because from the recordings I’ve heard she’s got a great voice. The crowd seemed a little unsure of what to do while watching a band, but I think this was largely due to the fact that most of the audience seemed under the age of 18.
The next up were melodic rockers Avastera. They seemed quite pop-punk and the singer had those belty, almost soulful vocals that are reminiscent of the likes of Patrick Stump and Brendon Urie. The band incorporated elements of electronic music into their performance too which I thought was neat. Their song Breathing Hope seemed to be the unofficial crowd favourite. At one point in the set they announced they were from Perth, saying “we don’t have electricity yet…We just found out about the Internet!” – Is that an accurate description of Perth?
In the changeover time between the end of Avastera’s set and the start of We The Kings’, Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off came over the PA. The response from the audience was intense, with the voices of a hundred teenage girls singing the lyrics back. It was probably the most the crowd had gotten into music at the show so far. Whoever made the changeover playlist picked the target audience of that show well…
“They handled the set list well, ensuring there was a nice dynamic flow to the show, with a sprinkling of acoustic numbers amongst the crunchy electric ones.”
The PA music stopped, and the lights were dimmed. Silence broke over the crowd before a shrill screaming started. This was only magnified when the lights came back on and the band was illuminated. We The Kings put on a good show. They played both their songs and the audience well, encouraging the crowd to dance and jump around. They handled the set list well, ensuring there was a nice dynamic flow to the show, with a sprinkling of acoustic numbers amongst the crunchy electric ones.
My only criticism is that there was maybe too much sexual innuendo present for an all ages show. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not prudish; sex is a very normal, natural thing. But hearing the frontman Travis Clark making statements such as “I’m not sure if I was ready for the emotional and sexual energy you guys put off” while several 12-year-old girls screamed and whooped back at him made me feel a little uneasy.
They pulled off a great cover of Jimmy Eat World’s The Middle, which the crowd seemed to love. Of course their most famous song Check Yes Juliet was left until the final song of the encore. The first chords of the song caused a collective cheer from the audience, and the band played a very tight rendition of their biggest radio hit. The smiles and chatter coming from the crowd as they poured out of the venue was proof that it was a good show for We The Kings fans.
Check out our Photo Gallery HERE
