Will Marshall
Before that, rising alt rockers Halflives treat the Ballroom to a short but sweet set showcasing why their star is quickly on its way up. Frontwoman Linda Battilani is has the presence of a rockstar in the making, giving it her all while the other two members deliver their parts with gusto. Sneaking in a cover of My Chemical Romance‘s classic ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ is a bold move, but one that pays off without overshadowing the remainder of their set thanks to them playing it as a stripped back piano piece. The lack of a live bass player does rob them of some impact but not enough to derail a strong performance. Opening bands often have to contend with lacklustre crowds but that isn’t the case tonight; Battilani’s shouts to make some noise more than pay off and it’s abundantly clear they’ve got more than a few fans – new and existing – in the crowd.
Opening with recent single ‘Walk Over My Grave’, Australia’s Yours Truly waste no time; packing seven songs into their short half hour set, they strike a fine balance between new material, songs from their 2020 debut Self Care and their subsequent Afterglow EP. Vocalist Mikaila Delgado is a livewire and easily the most fashionable person in pop punk by miles. Guitarists Teddie Winder-Haron and Lachlan Cronin are just as energetic, tearing through fan favourites like ‘Circles’ with grins permanently plastered on. Dipping into the aforementioned debut for ‘Funeral Home’ and ‘Siamese Souls’ ensures mass singalongs, especially with the latter which brings the energy levels up substantially. Latest single ‘Lights On’ goes down a treat and is easily the high point of their set, at least until they close with fan favourite ‘High Hopes’. With minimal chatting between songs they speed through their set, half an hour flying by in a blink.
“Strobe lighting in use” declare the signs around the venue; that really doesn’t do justice to the intense assault on the eyeballs that starts Against The Current‘s set with ‘That Won’t Save Us’. Vocalist Chrissy Costanza has as much energy as the previous two bands put together but even she’s outmatched by the crowd who go wild from the very start. Having missed the last couple of shows with an injury, drummer Will Ferri is back onstage and the announcement he’s back is greeted by some of the loudest cheers of the night and the band launch into ‘Running With The Wild Things’.
In a little over an hour the band pack in a mammoth 18 songs, including a cover of Taking Back Sunday‘s ‘MakeDamnSure’ – the second cover of the evening, bringing their pop rock polish to the emo classic. Though they understandably lean heavily on latest EP Fever, they pull out plenty of cuts from their back catalogue like fan favourites ‘Talk’ and ‘Gravity’. The balladry of ‘Almost Forgot’ is driven by fans singing every word almost as loud as Costanza herself, while ‘Lullaby’ (despite the name) and ‘Burn It Down’ bring the energy levels right back up. ‘Voices’ is all bounce and the crowd move practically to the bar at the back to its danceable funk inflections. They also make time to thank their crew as well as the support bands to ensure they get the love they deserve after the hardships of the past two years. By the time the quartet close with both their League of Legends collaboration ‘Legends Never Die’ and ‘Weapon’, the crowd are barely flagging – though there’s definitely some showing their exhaustion after – and the band leave the stage clearly elated, a show well done.