New Empire @ The FactoryTheatre, Sydney (29/10/11)

Sun 30th Oct, 2011 in Gig Reviews

New Empire’s gig at The Factory Theatre was an event not to be missed. The crowd was excited and were screaming at the drop of a hat, at one point a song on the speakers between sets won quite a few screams. The crowd’s excitement mixed with the band’s energy and music made the Factory Theatre vibrate with the sound of this band and their fans.

There were three opening bands and first up was a man called Jake Nauta. He played an acoustic set and there were a surprising number of crowd members singing along to his songs. He was playing songs from his recently released From These Hands, of which Grandpa Song seemed a favourite. Adding in impromptu, short mini-covers of Bruno Mars’ Lazy Song and Jessie J’s Price Tag, all attention was on him in the hall with even the parents at the back smiling at the likeable man. Nauta finished off his set with a round of high-fives for the excitable girls and guys in the front few rows.

The second opening band was The Jefferson and they welcomed in the first big crowd scream of the night. The Sydney pop rock band played a dynamic set, though at some points the lead singer was unable to be heard. This looked to be a technical issue and was dealt with well by the band. An already excited crowd was happy to sing a long to songs such as Tell Me your Name, a crowd favourite. The set also featured a song called Superstar, which had the bassist jumping around and the crowd with their hands in the air.

For Our Hero have been the touring support for New Empire and they certainly know how to work the crowd. The recurring microphone issues continued but that didn’t stop the band yelling at the crowd to jump and the mosh pit happily obliging with screams and hands in the air. Geoffrey Taylor on the bass was chatting with the crowd and was very skilled at getting energy levels just that much higher than I thought possible for a support band. Stand out songs from the set include Don’t You Dare, a guitar driven song made to sing a long and dance to.

New Empire came on stage at 10:10 to a crowd writhing to be closer to the band they loved. Walking on stage with metal bins in the air and drumsticks pounding, the band created a very memorable entrance. This faded into fan favourite Across the Oceans, of which every word could be heard echoed by the adoring crowd. The lights were glowing and flashed blue and red, creating a growing tension.

The guys of New Empire are comfortable on the stage, and they used that to their advantage. They were dancing like they were the only ones there, encouraging the crowd to do the same, sing and jump. This made it all the more amazing for the crowd to watch. By the time New Empire moved into their second song, Worth the Wait, even the parents at the back of the theatre were standing and smiling at the band on stage. An advantage of seeing New Empire live is that Jeremy Fowler’s vocals can honestly not be appreciated fully in a purely recorded format; he has an incredibly strong voice that rarely faltered.

Moving into Ghosts the night slowed down its frantic pace to a reflective atmosphere. Playing a short acoustic number of songs including, Hero, a cover of The Killer’s Mr Brightside and Long Way Home, the band thanked their fans for coming out to see them. As one member saying “You honestly don’t know how much this means”.

Upping the energy, the crowd once again started stirring and moving to the band’s Staircase. The atmosphere in the room an odd mix between frantic excitement and calm, the band finished their set with Take Me Back, a high energy jump-worthy song. The night was completed with an encore of Imagination and One Heart, Million Voices, a sure fan anthem.

New Empire bought everything and more to this set and the thoroughly satisfied crowd showed that. The lights were distracting, as seeing the band was impossible for part of the set, but overall it didn’t really matter compared to the energy, the music and the absolute love for the band in the theatre.