The Getaway Plan, TonightAlive, Secrets In Scale @Metro Theatre, Sydney(11/2/11)

Tue 15th Feb, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Secrets in Scale are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yes, they are scheduled to be performing at quarter past four in the afternoon here at the Metro, but it just doesn’t feel right. The band’s kinetic, ocassionally spastic energy, is all but lost on an audience that is barely out of school – literally; there’s more than a few school uniforms around the place. This doesn’t detract from the quality of the music itself, which brings together crunching post-hardcore in the style of acts like Protest the Hero and The Fall of Troy with the kind of wailing falsetto that the surviving Gibb brothers would clench their testicles in fear of. It was wild, intelligent and exciting rock & roll – but it went mostly ignored. Secrets in Scale would have been a revelation if only they’d gotten more than a tiny round of applause.

Tonight Alive are back from the States, having recorded their debut album with Mark Trombino. After honing their craft supporting everyone from The Wonder Years to Amy Meredith, the five-piece are ready to shrug off comparisons beginning with “P” and ending with “aramore,” and looking to define themselves in 2011. They haven’t quite gotten there just yet, but at least they’re putting on consistently energetic and engaging live shows. Jenna McDougall has toned down the “if you know the words, sing along” shtick and has refocused herself as a strong frontwoman with a commanding presence. Her soaring, pitch-perfect voice leads the band through a slab of tracks from their latest EP, All Shapes and Disguises, as well as a handful of tracks from either end of their spectrum (brand new or from the beginning of the band). Having played their fair share of AA shows, the band knows exactly how to get the kids onside and involved with their particular brand of slick pop-punk. This afternoon’s set is no exception – leave your premonitions at the door and enjoy.

The last time The Getaway Plan performed in Sydney was actually meant to be exactly that – the last time. Having reunited briefly for a benefit show some months back, the four-piece have now decided to give it another go-around. The band’s first set in Sydney since 2009 was a mixed bag that unfortunately did not cease the obvious doubts involving a tour like this (if it will last, if it’s just for the money); nor did it particularly emphasise exactly why the band needed to reunite.

Things started out well enough. Streetlight was a hit with the audience, as frontman Matt Wright prowled the stage and slunk into various feline poses while hitting the high notes with a moderate success rate; while the metallic pop of Sleep Spindles saw the first – and certainly not the last – singalong of the set. After the first handful of songs, however, the energy simply seemed to drop off. The new songs were mostly uninspired mid-tempo numbers – save for a serene ballad recalling Jimmy Eat World at their most tender, featuring Tonight Alive’s McDougall on harmony vocals. Placing all the slower, plodding songs together really brought the energy down, and not even an inspired rendition of Shadows could bring it up again. It felt over-rehearsed and contrived in parts, as if the band were so focused on getting the songs right that they somehow forgot to enjoy the process.

Business picked up again with the band’s biggest single, The City Meets The Sea, which was given a sprightly run-through and a singing of the chorus that threatened to drown out the band themselves. It was the standout moment of the set, it left an exciting vibe in the air and it…well, sadly, it pretty much died off once again from there. There was no It’s Going To Get Worse, no The New Year despite multiple, very loud requests for it… nothing to pack a punch to send the audience on their way.

Instead, the band opted for Other Voices, Other Rooms closer Transmission. The song is notorious amongst fans for being one of the most rarely-played songs in the band’s canon of work, but if they proved anything with this rendition, it was exactly why that was so. Half performed in an awkward karaoke style by Wright, he was later joined by the rest of the band one by one. Cheesy, ham-fisted and other derogatory things involving food, it was quite the disappointment that the band would end on such a bum note. Then again, it was far more reflective of their overall set than they were willing to let on.