Reviewed on Saturday May 30 (photo by Ashley Mar)
It’s been a little over two years since Against Me! last visited Australian shores, coinciding with a period of rejuvenation for the band. Their most recent album is a welcome return to form, and fans were chomping at the bit to hear it live.
Sydney’s own Mere Women opened up the show with a series of hypnotic post-punk tunes. The aggressive female vocals were complemented with rhythmic drumming and some angular guitar. The crowd seemed largely unfamiliar, but warmed up towards the end of the set.
Joyce Manor were up next, and with a handful of devoted followers up the front they launched straight into a set of short and fast pop-punk tunes. Fans had fun climbing on top of each other, pointing their fingers to every lyric they knew. The set featured their latest album heavily, as well as some deep cuts, and a B-side Weezer cover for good measure.
From the opening chord of the title track from Transgender Dysphoria Blues, Against Me! had the entire Metro Theatre in the palm of their hand, and spent the next hour or so blazing through song after song, only taking the smallest of breaks before launching into the next one. The set covered the entirety of the band’s career, with songs like ‘I Was A Teenage Anarchist’ and ‘Pints Of Guinness Make You Strong’ getting thrown in next to each other without losing a beat. The mixing wasn’t ideal, with everything Laura Jane Grace said in between songs coming out as a mumble, but the fans were more than happy to make up for a lack of vocals with their own.
The encore featured a song by The Replacements that Against Me! recently covered with Miley Cyrus, and closed with their sing-along classic ‘We Laugh At Danger And Break All The Rules’.
Against Me! are a band that are just as firey, intense and passionate as they were back when they started over a decade ago. They’re as tight as they have ever been, despite major lineup changes, and are still the same powerhouse that everyone on this side of the world originally fell in love with.
