Sleeping With Sirens, Lower Than Atlantis, The Faim @ Fowlers Live, Adelaide 24/4/2018
It’s Anzac Day eve, there’s no school tomorrow and Sleeping With Sirens are in town. Which means for most of the audience tonight, there is only one place to be. That’s Fowlers for Kellin Quinn and his band of merry men.
Opening the show is The Faim who are fresh out of Perth, kind of. They were once known as Smalltown Heroes and these guys have it all. Good looks, youth AND copious amounts of talent. Bastards.
Lead by Josh Raven on vocals, the band are electric, leading the crowd in arm waving, bouncing, foot tapping melodic rock. It was a set list that was all killer and no filler, every single song pulling an impressively positive response from the already near full Fowlers. These guys are fun, their music is excellent, they are going places this year, so watch out for them.
England’s Lower Than Atlantis have an inconspicuous start, arriving on stage after two false starts. Promoting current album Safe In Sound, they have a tough spot to fill with the crowd still buzzing from The Faim and preparing for the headliners.
It’s not this bands first rodeo though and they get straight into the set with Had Enough. Songs like Emily and Another Sad Song keep the groove ticking along in what is a polished set. Fans as young as seven were clearly enjoying the band perform, however a lot of the audience were waiting for another band.
When the aforementioned other band appeared in the shape of Sleeping With Sirens, the decibel level of the crowd went through the roof. Starting with the rather understated We Like It Loud, vocalist and teen heartthrob Kellin Quinn leads the audience like a circus ringmaster.
The show was moved from Thebarton to Fowlers which certainly made for a more intimate setting and connection with the band. Quinn takes the opportunity to jump off stage, getting right into the crowd to the shrieks of joy of those down front.
However it’s not just good looks here, there is some serious talent and songs here as well. Better Off Dead, One Man Army and Trouble are electric while a slower acoustic section including the tracks Roger Rabbit and The Strays.
Every single song was greeted enthusiastically by a crowd that jumped, danced and screamed right back at their heroes. The biggest sing song of the night came for the birthday boy himself, Kellin Quinn. The whole audience in unison wishing the frontman a happy birthday, which was quite a sight to behold.
After a short interlude where the decibels reached fever pitch again, the band came out and performed the classics If I’m James Dean, Your Audrey Hepburn, If You Can’t Hang and Kick Me. Every corner of the room singing and bouncing along with every word and beat of the band.
It was a real party atmosphere at the show, the fans, many of them this could’ve been their first gig, looked drained, sweaty however deliriously happy that Sleeping With Sirens came to their town to perform. The energy levels were electric all night and many of the audience would’ve found themselves sleeping later than to the sound of their heroes still ringing in their ears.
Live Review by Iain McCallum