Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
[I sent my special correspondent, Kate Teegardin, to cover the 5 Seconds of Summer concert Wednesday night at Lakewood. Kate is a rising junior at Rivers Academy and an aspiring music photographer/journalist who is dedicated to documenting rock 'n' roll history. She has been a 5SOS enthusiast since their debut on YouTube in 2012.]
BY KATE TEEGARDIN
Summer is pretty great, even if you only have 5 Seconds of it. Yep, that’s right, Australia’s biggest export, 5 Seconds of Summer played a thrilling show for Atlanta fans Wednesday night at Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood.
The boys kicked off their tour, “Rock Out With You Socks Out,” last month with opening band Hey Violet, and plan to tour through September.
5SOS’ songs speak to everyone as they sing about being outcasts at school or in the world, and how you need to embrace who you are. At the heart of the revolution is their mission to keeping guitar music alive and on the radio.
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
On Wednesday, Atlanta fans officially crowned 5SOS the “Kings of the New Broken Scene.” They have earned the title. The band returned to Atlanta with a new voice, the songs were tighter, and the music rocked more.
When the Australian boys hit the stage, the crowd was ecstatic. They came out and played “End Up Here” and then went straight into “Out of My Limit,” both off their self-titled debut album. Luke Hemmings (lead vocals and guitar), Michael Clifford (lead guitar and vocals), Calum Hood (bass and vocals), and Ashton Irwin (drums and vocals) came out looking fresh and clean to later be melted away by the heat of Atlanta.
Hood said, “I don’t think I’ve ever sweat this much in my life,” and the other boys had somewhat of a “sweatiest T-shirt contest.”
After ramping up the crowd with some of their hit singles, the boys brought fans back down with a few of their slower songs. Every fan in the crowd sang along to “Beside You,” “Amnesia” and “Wrapped Around Your Finger.”
Once 5SOS finished their slower songs, they sang “Rejects,” one of the more edgier-sounding songs which was released on an EP in January.
While singing the song, the guys picked a fan from the crowd who was brought on stage to play a few chords on Clifford’s guitar. The young girl said she was in a band called The Authentics and when Clifford asked her what kind of sound they had she said, “We try to sound like you guys.” The crowd cheered for her after she played a few notes, and then Clifford quickly took his guitar back so they could finish the song.
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
The band also played a cover of Green Day’s “American Idiot,” which excited fans. Playing to the local crowd, the guys attempted to make a song about Atlanta. The song was pretty silly, but the crowd still sang along and enjoyed the attention.
The show ended as they sang their new single “She’s Kinda Hot,” which was released on iTunes last month, followed by their music video earlier this week.
The encore consisted of another one of their hits, “Good Girls,” followed by a cover of the classic ‘80s Romantics hit, “What I Like About You.”
Opening the show was Hey Violet. The band is made up of lead singer and bassist Rena Lovelis; guitarist and keyboardist Miranda Miller; lead guitarist Casey Moreta (the only guy in the group); and drummer Nia Lovelis.
Hey Violet was the first band signed to 5SOS’ record label Hi or Hey Records back in March. Similar to 5SOS, the eclectic group played punk-pop songs which were fun to dance to. It will be interesting to see the group grow with the help of Hi or Hey Records.
For more pictures check out @teegardinphotos on Twitter.
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