Four Year Strong @ GaelicClub, Sydney (23/02/2010)

Sun 28th Feb, 2010 in Gig Reviews

With so much going on at the moment it was a pleasant surprise to see a large, lively crowd at the newly-renovated Gaelic for this gig. With half the back section of the Gaelic now occupied by a brick wall, the smaller venue looked suitably full with punters keen to see the two Boston bands, A Wilhelm Scream and Four Year Strong. Surprisingly, even though they’re from the same state – this Australian tour is the first time the two bands have played together.

This is only the second time A Wilhelm Scream have been to Australia (actually it’s the second time for both bands tonight) and they’re thankful to the Soundwave organizers as otherwise they wouldn’t be able to come here. After putting on a solid show at Soundwave, tonight is no different. They tear into songs mainly from their two most recent albums Ruiner and Career Suicide.The Kids Can Eat a Bag of Dicks is followed by Me Vs. Morrissey, then they play a few new songs, Our Ghost and Australias (with emphasis on the ‘s’ at the end). Famous Friends and Fashion Drunks from their first album gets a really good response and is introduced by saying ‘this was written before punk had scenesters’. The King is Dead was a real crowd pleaser as was the closing song The Rip. It’d be great to see A Wilhelm Scream in Australia more often and it’s surprising that even after three studio albums, they’re not visiting more regularly.

I have definitely underestimated how friggin’ into Four Year Strong the crowd is. FYS offer a unique blend of pop punk and hardcore – harmonic singing from up to four vocalists and cutesy keyboard melodies go surprisingly hand in hand with uber-tight, fast guitar solos and the occasional hardcore roar. This band is all about timing and they don’t miss a beat in this set. Four Year Strong’s debut album Rise or Die Trying is proof that a strong first record is more than enough to win you fans for life. The crowd isn’t huge but damnit we are dedicated. Every song is turned into an anthem with everyone singing along – a plus side to having a limited selection to choose from to begin with.

They run through pretty much every song from Rise or Die Trying, perhaps simply because they have such good titles including Prepare to be Digitally Manipulated, Men are from Mars Women are from Hell and Abandon Ship or Abandon all Hope. Surprisingly they only play one cover from their 2009 cover album Explains It All – Semi-Charmed Life.

Proof of how dedicated their fans are comes when they play two songs only reased very recently online. Set to feature on their new album, Wasting Time and It Must Really Suck to be Four Year Strong Right Now go off like they were old hits. There’s moshing, hardcore dancing and a helluva lot of singing along. It’s all building up to their closing songs Maniac and Heroes Get Remembered Legends Never Die.

Having so many other gig options jostling for punters attention during Soundwaves week worked out for the best, weeding out all the ‘fair weather fans’ and leaving only the Four Year Strong die-hards beaming as they leave the venue.