By Scott Gilchrist
After a five year hiatus alternative rock band Anberlin returned to Australian Shores. They’re from Winter Haven, Florida USA and are best known for the tracks “Feel Good Drag” , “Godspeed” and “Impossible”
I headed down to Fremantle to check them out.
As I arrived between bands the stage was empty for a few minutes… Then the lights went out, and Stephen Christian (below) came racing out to Godspeed
Image: Enmore Theatre
Wow. Their stage presence and live sound hasn’t changed a bit. Stephen Christian sounded as good as he did at Soundwave when I first saw them back in 2009.
They kept that stage presence and high energy performance through “Never Take Friendship Personal”, “Paperthin Hymn” and “Hello Alone” before moving into a slower part of the set.
Image: Volume Media
The slower part of the set started at the end of “Adelaide” which was one of the classics, and would have been well received at their show in South Australia.
(The Symphony of) Blasé, Inevitable, and The Unwinding Cable Car gave the audience a chance to get their phone lights out and wave them around.
After a quick break to engage with the audience and tell stories about Yellowcard (the guitarist Ryan Mendez joined them on the Australian leg of the tour) they ramped it up again with some newer heavier tracks from the more recent albums Lowborn and Devotion.
Image: Volume Media (Ryan Mendez)
After a few more heavy hitting songs, “Disappear”, “Someone Anyone” and “The Resistance” Anberlin continued the high energy set with “Dismantle Repair”, which starts off slow and soft and has a huge chorus and ending.
They followed it up with my personal favourite, “Feel Good Drag”, which is probably their most popular song, and would have been a great one to go out on. They left the stage briefly and I wondered what they’d finish with as an encore.
Image: Volume Media
Then (*Fin) came on. What. A. Song. Perfect way to end the show. It’s got a really soft introduction for a couple of minutes then really gets going at the 3 minute mark.
All in all a fantastic show, it amazed me how well Anberlin kept their sound tight during the hiatus.
The Ox Radio "From OUR STREET TO YOURS" 