The release of Evermore’s third studio album, Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show has received so much mixed attention from the band’s diehard fans.

Drastically moving away from the styles of previous releases, Dreams and Real Life, Evermore’s latest release is considered a concept album, which is intended to be played live from start to finish. The difference being that Truth of the World is a rock n’ roll news broadcast, and Evermore are the reporters. So how exactly would a concept album such as Truth of the World translate to a live performance? A show at Melbourne’s Palace Theatre would reveal all.

An late start time for Evermore saw the three Hume brothers arrive on stage backed up three large panels of – œtelevision’ screens. The brothers arrived on stage with Dann sporting thick rimmed glasses and moustache, Jon with bleached hair, and black sequined jacket and of course Peter, a blue vest and shaved head. Gone were the classic Evermore boys, and welcomed to the stage were the Evermore of 2009.

A unique backdrop for the band, animated images, – œpropaganda’ and even the Hume brothers themselves made appearances as the visual aspect accompanied the music the boys played. Because the show was the album in its entirety, there was no surprise as to which songs would feature in the set-list. Rather, it was more a surprise to see which songs would work as part of the show.

Plugged In began the show, which was followed by the first appearance of Donovan Earl, aka Dann Hume as the Truth of the World’s reporter in Tonight on the Show (Truth of the World Part 1). With perfect synchronicity, every line of Donovan Earl’s report flashed up on the giant wall of television screens, his news report leading into Evermore’s first single from their third album the brilliant Between the Lines.

Following on this was the odd Max Is Stable, a song reminicient of The Beatles strange tune For The Benefit of Mr Kite. The song serves as an intro to Evermore’s second single, and most popular track from the album, Hey Boys and Girls (Truth of the World Part 2) a crowd moving dance track which featured some of the most stunning use of the TV backdrop.

The Hume brothers began The Lonely One, a song which – œurges’ the lonely ones to tune into the Truth of the World, with visual images of Truthogen appearing in the background. Girl With The World On Her Shoulders and the incredibly mellow Front Page Story/Diamonds In The River, followed. Dann played an incredibly active role in these songs. When he wasn’t portraying Donovan Earl, he was on drums, or playing a piano behind the – œnews desk’.

The third edition of Donovan Earl’s Truth of the World came in the form of Infotainmentology where Dann gave out samples of Truthogen, tossing them into the crowd. (Don’t worry; they were not real drugs, just Tic-Tacs). During this, the song lead into Join The Party and Everybody’s Doing It, where Peter Hume took to the microphone, and jumped down towards the crowd, singing with fans. Chemical Miracle/Faster lead the show towards its end, with Evermore’s latest single, Can You Hear Me? becoming the Truth of the World’s finale.

Following the completion of the album on stage, the Hume brothers departed for a brief hiatus, before returning for what Dann called – œsome vintage Evermore’. The three Hume brothers played three fan favourite tracks from their previous albums, including the classics Light Surrounding You and Running from their second studio album Real Life, and the memorable It’s Too Late, their first single from debut album Dreams.

Speaking with Dann Hume after the concert, I asked him what he thought about the whole experience. He told me, – œIt is surreal and amazing to play the entire CD from start to finish’. I commented on how amazing the visual backdrop for the concert was. He told me how the light and video backdrop was only a small portion of what they intended it to be, and that their previous show at the Metro used the entire set. I was already overwhelmed by the experience I saw, so I can’t begin to imagine how amazing that would have been to see.

In regards to whether or not the brother’s new musical direction works, the simple Truth of the World is that Evermore have pulled it off. I was sceptical at first, but convinced by the end. Although it is certainly a huge change in direction of the music, their concept album works brilliantly in live atmosphere.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE