You Me At Six, Holding Absence @ The Gov, Adelaide 29/1/2025
If this was their final ever Adelaide show what a way to go out!
You Me At Six are close to finishing their final Australian tour with Welsh rockers Holding Absence. Whilst there was a bit of sadness that their journey is coming to an it definitely was a celebration of a mighty career that has seen them play Soundwave, Groovin’ The Moo, supporting Bring Me The Horizon not forgetting the number of headline tours here in Australia. The Gov was packed early, the line for merch was crazy long, the drinks were flowing and everyone looked like they were up for a big show. What was very noticeable compared to a lot of shows at The Gov was how big this production was with a bigger stage and lighting set up.
Holding Absence was just what this show needed to get fans “warmed up” playing a lively and spirited set. They only had forty minutes wasting no time at all ploughing through Like A Shadow and with front man Lucas Woodland prompting the crowd to get their hands up reminding them that their job is to get you “warmed up”. Gravity was killer and Australian fans are very lucky being able to see these guys for the third time in three years, there is a definite affinity between Australia and Holding Absence. False Dawn was stellar and what is a positive sign is plenty of new fans are connecting and finding out about this band after Woodland asked the crowd to some noise “if you don’t know who we are” adding that “they are passionate here!”
Woodland took every opportunity to engage the crowd saying that they are far away from home and that the more fun the show is “the least bleak our lives are”. Birdcage and Aching Longing packed plenty of punches and with the crowd feeling a little more limber it was followed by another belter in A Crooked Melody. The magnitude of where they are at in their career and the significance of this tour was not lost on them either showing an abundance of gratitude reflecting on starting touring in 2010 and “leaving our bedrooms” for the first time. The band pulled out a couple big guns in Afterlife and Wilt to top off a great set.
The stage had been warmed and the excitement for You Me At Six was right up there. Front man Josh Franceschi welcome Adelaide to the finish show before ripping through a massive twenty two song set list covering a career spanning twenty years. With eight albums to draw upon creates an an abundance of riches which started right from first drop with Room To Breathe, Loverboy, Stay With Me and one for the old school fans in Save It For The Bedroom. Deep Cuts is an incredible song which lifted the collective spirits of the crowd backed up by Give. The snippet of Queen’s We Will Rock You in Night People was awesome.
After Fresh Start Fever a moment that won over the crowd was when Franceschi said “I don’t want a gold star for this, we’re pleased to be here, but I can tell you for free we weren’t meant to go Adelaide or Perth. Fuck that! Now we are here don’t waste this beautiful opportunity.” I think it is refreshing to hear that brute honesty as we all well know we get shafted here more often than not with international tours. The hits kept coming and songs such as Straight To My Head, Lived A Lie and Crash proved popular. Franceschi pointed out that the next part of the show being about the “moshpit” and a celebration of that was his favourite firing some big salvos with SUCKAPUNCH and MAKEMEFEELALIVE. The crowd stepped it up getting right in and amongst it. There were moments of reflection during the show but one that stands out was when Franceschi spoke of validation, understanding and acceptance of five guys from the UK travelling the world for the last twenty years by just coming to Adelaide on a Wednesday night. Mixed Emotions (I Didn’t Know How to Tell You What I Was Going Through) was the perfect song to capture that sentiment.
With the crowd egging him on to do a shoey Franceschi asked who was seeing the band for the first time saying “late as fuck” jokingly adding that “no one does it better than you Adelaide” reflecting on all the shows they have played here reminiscing on how the band started out ultimately becoming a “quadpod”. The acoustic flavoured Liquid Confidence was stunning as was Take On The World where the room was lit up with everyone’s mobile phone lights. After set closer Beautiful Way was followed by the bold statement by Franceschi “always been, always was and always will be You Me At Six”. The encore was emotional as the stark reality was that this was it and three songs left to savour the live experience of this much loved band. It was epic with Bite My Tongue, Reckless with a teaser of The Killers When We Were Young bringing the Adelaide chapter to an end on Underdog. It was great to celebrate a career well done for You Me At Six and kudos to The Phoenix for making this possible.
Always been, always was and always will be You Me At Six…
Live Review By Rob Lyon