Now I hear you thinking what the hell is MTRBWY doing here?! I know, right! What you have to remember is that we cover every genre of rock music, even pop rock (which we have a not so secret love for) also remember that Walk The Moon were up for ‘best rock video’ at the recent MTV awards. So regardless of all that we love this kind of stuff and in having seen these guys before are aware of how good they are, and now back with a new album ‘Talking Is Hard’ and on somewhat of a promo run ahead of their return in 2016 I’m looking forward to hearing them this time around.
Within seconds of hitting the stage and a group sing along of ‘The Circle of Life’ the crowd are peaking, straight into ‘Jenny’ and to say there’s energy up on stage would be an understatement. These four guys and their pop rock goodness are set in and this is gonna be fun. Although super keyboard heavy there is that Killers element to these guys and I dig it, ‘Sidekick’ gets the drums going and keeps the energy high and I must say they know how to command an audience.
‘Avalanche’… now this is killer, big hook, great groove and sound, it’s catchy and I love it. Note to self, self, check out that song after. The guitar gets turned up for what felt like a bit of Zeppelin but alas, ‘Spend Your $$$’ is up, and although this one does rock it up more than the previous tracks I have to say I’m digging this more as each song takes its place in the set. The very excitable crowd continue to exude love and the band happily accept it.
‘Different Colors’ is the newest single from latest album ‘Talking Is Hard’ and watching everyone into this one is pretty cool and although the balance musically doesn’t kick any one instrument out to the front this allows the music to shine, the keys, bass and guitars just work. ‘Tightrope’ got the reaction I expected as this was many people’s introduction to the band and oh how I love a crowd clap along with the awkward ‘when do I stop?’ moment and I got that with this one, always a good laugh but excellent clapping, crowd. That was the biggest reception of the night thus far.
Um… Did an electro pop rock version of Rage Against The Machine just hit the stage? That little heavy riff was killer, unexpected but killer, so we have ‘Up 2 U’ holy shit a guitar solo, ahhh now that I liked, nice. Now as the bass player swaps his bass for a guitar and as the keyboards start ‘Work This Body’ now complete with harmony guitar solo, it’s actually great hearing these guys live as the songs do take on a rockier edge which of course I like. *insert crowd eruption*
‘Portugal’ is a big one, in terms of sonically as its very bass heavy and again watching everyone react to the band is nuts. Slowing it down for ‘Aquaman’ which allows everyone to have a bit of a rest, oh I just audibly ‘oohed’ as there was a key change, one of my favourite things! +1 to Walk The Moon, also the outro guitar solo can +1 also just because this is rockin.
“Alright Sydney, you got any rock and roll left in you?” front man Nicholas asks to a resounding yes, of course… as this crowd is lapping this set up and rightfully so. ‘Lisa Baby’ is a catchy little ditty. This extremely extended intro including an ‘initiation’ and random high fiving of the crowd then sees the band launch into ‘I Can Lift a Car’ which is another great middle of the road rocker and actually I have to say that I like this one the most tonight. Sold.
Now to be fair, the song that pretty much everyone here was here to see is ‘Shut Up and Dance’ and it was as big as you’d expect. The energy that hasn’t let up from the beginning just got even more energetic, if that’s even possible, but this slab of pop rock goodness is truly meant for the stage and the way that the band played it tonight was perfect.
The chants of ‘one more song’ start as soon as the band walk off stage and only moments later they return to give us that one last song… ‘Anna Sun’ is that one more song and we’re gonna rattle this ghost town indeed, this house almost fell apart with the reception the band got when the set was done.
Look, in all honesty if you haven’t seen these guys and just like a great night of catchy pop rock tunes, catch them in January when they come back to much bigger shows, this band is a lot of fun and damn good live.
Essential Information
Venue: Oxford Arts Factory – Sydney
Presented by: Chugg Entertainment
Date: September 13, 2015
Website: http://walkthemoonband.com/
Set List:
Jenny
Sidekick
Avalanche
Spend Your $$$
Different Colors
Tightrope
Up 2 U
Quesadilla
Work This Body
Portugal
Aquaman
Lisa Baby
I Can Lift a Car
Shut Up and Dance
Anna Sun
All Walk The Moon January Australian tour dates and details are here
