Photo Credit: iTunes Festival, London 2014
The iTunes Festival annually brings some of the biggest names in music into the small surroundings of Camden’s Roundhouse. Tonight was no exception, with Aussie pop-rock outfit 5 Seconds of Summer headlining the show.
Opening up for the arena rockers was Charlie Simpson, bringing an acoustic infused set it’s a chilled out start to the night. Track Down Down Down allowed the first chance for a boogie tonight, and a sing-a-long from the fans hidden in the depths of the 5sos audience. Cheers came as Simpson introduced fan favourite Farmer And His Gun to the crowd and they continued throughout. The set featured sincere vocals, infectious guitar lines and a sense of being part of something very special.
From the moment Ashton Irwin’s drum kit was wheeled onto the ground to a groundbreaking scream, it was clear that the reaction when the band actually came onstage would potentially burst our eardrums. Bounding onstage to debut album track 18, the young lads wasted no time in firing into action. Following with Out Of My Limit and fan favourite Voodoo Doll the energy was electric from the word go, with Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford and Calum Hood causing screams with every step!
After an upbeat, energetic start to their set the acoustic guitars came out, the sea of jumping teenagers turned to a sea of swinging hands and the tempo dropped down. Latest single Amnesia a sincere, heartfelt affair was performed with slick integrity whilst tugging on the heart strings. It’s a great move as the quartet flow into another ballad track Beside You.
Bounding across the stage throughout the infectious energy peaks with second single Don’t Stop. As Hood and Hemmings momentarily share a microphone, once again causing a roar of cheers, the obligatory chant of “Hey” begun. With their vocals almost completely drowned by the audience it was clear that despite selling out arenas for their headline tour next year, the band were taken aback by the response as ear to ear smiles graced their faces throughout. Singing a set full of lyrical matter about heartbreak, wishing to be older, using fake ID’s and going behind parents backs to meet a boyfriend, it’s clear why the audience consists mainly of teenage girls; quite simply the quartet are real, singing of real life situations with added sickly sweet melodies and contagious choruses. Quite frankly, it’s genius.
The stage presence shown has been perfected due to their huge repertoire of touring, as shown by crowd teasing, with them thanking iTunes for letting them play their “terrible music.” Openly admitting to gaining inspirations from acts such as Blink 182, there’s elements clearly inspired by them in their set with synchronised guitar swings, jumping about like monkeys throughout with drummer Irwin twiddling his drumsticks, longing to get involved. We’re even let into the secret of the bands first gig in London which happened to be Muse, with Clifford proclaiming “when I was drunk and underage” with Hemmings tutting over the message being spread to fans. Oozing with confidence and sheer delight, vocal highlight came with Heartbreak Girl displaying spine tingling, beautiful melodies during the introduction. Something truly special about this outfit is that not just one or even two members provide vocals, but all four at one point or another in the bands discography have taken a vocal role.
Ending the first segment of their set with Good Girls, Irwin ignites a full crowd hand clap and chant of “she said to me forget what you saw” as the band leave the stage to a roar of applause; but everyone in the room knew they’d be coming back for more as that song about American Apparel underwear is yet to be sung! Led back on stage by Irwin settling down behind his drum kit the well known drum beat of The Romantics’ What I Like About You fills the Roundhouse. Becoming a set regular, it’s a loved fan favourite for fans of all ages becoming a standout set memory as the band jumped across stage having the time of their lives.
The quartet made tonight even more memorable and monumental for those in attendance by providing the debut live performance of track End Up Here. The rapturous response to this anthemic vibed track saw fans beaming with happiness and the odd tear flowing, whilst singing back word for word religiously as done consistently tonight.
Tonight showed 5 Seconds of Summer as headliners in their own right, stepping away from the ‘One Direction’s support act’ label gained. Yes, it wasn’t a faultless show with the odd lyric forgotten and a few outfit mishaps (Tip: don’t dye your hair red just before playing a sweaty show it’ll leave you a red mess, as Clifford saw).
As the set drew to a close, nothing could have prepared us for the pandemonium to follow with debut number one single She Looks So Perfect. If you haven’t heard this track you’ve probably been under a rock. With a few thousand fans in the room singing back word for word it’s a testament to how 5SOS have truly made huge waves on the music scene already, they’re a huge deal. Fact.
9/10
Written By: Nicola Craig