The ultimate hot summers eve and thousands of screaming teenage girls lined up for miles in front of the Molson Amphitheatre just to catch Hey Violet, One Ok Rock and 5 Seconds of Summer. As I stood outside the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre out of the blue I heard dozens of ear piercing screams, apparently Ok One Rock decided to do a little fishing and were spotted. I got quite the laugh out of this remembering seeing my favourite band a million years ago.
I have to give props to Rena Lovelis and Casey Moreta from Hey Violet for bouncing around on the stage in the blazing hot sun. To which Rena even made mention of “hey guys the sun is still shinning”. Wearing white pants and a long sleeved black shirt I am pretty sure she was feeling the heat. Their set was fairly short to say the least, but the audience was appreciative of their set.
I had to laugh at some of the parents looking a little embarrassed at their children’s behaviour. They were screaming and running around the venue in anticipation of 5 Seconds of Summer hitting the stage. The line up for the beer was a long one to say the least. I did see one gentleman in a Slipknot T-shirt and a yellow/green mohawk which I can only assume he was one of the many parents in attendance. He is a little early, that show isn’t until the 19th of July.
Next up was One Ok Rock, which I have to say I was a bit disappointed not to be able to shoot these guys. I have never seen them before and was kind of looking forward to the shoot. When they hit the stage it was to deafening screams. The audience seemed more into being there, forgetting about the heat. They were standing and waving their arms in the air singing along to the lyrics.
I didn’t mind One Ok Rock, their music is a bit heavier and more grungy guitar based than the other two bands for the evening. They didn’t have a problem getting the fans into the evening at all, they were full of energy even jumping in the air numerous times doing the splits mid air while playing. 4 guys on stage giving it their all managing to fill the Molson Amphitheatre stage with their endurance and stamina.
After wiping the sweat of their faces they slowed the set down with one of their new songs “Suddenly”. Honestly I can’t blame them, it was a pretty tough evening for everyone with the heat. During their second last song the bass player had his in ear monitors dangling from his neck and wrapped up in his bass strap and he kept playing and running around on stage while his tech frantically tried to untangle them. I definitely will try again to shoot this band now that I have seen them live. Hopefully they will come back soon.
Wow do these young ladies know how to scream and don’t mean the nice young lady scream I mean ear piercing, deafening screams, the one that actually hurts your ears or the one where only dogs can hear. This happened just about every second of 5 Seconds Of Summer’s set. They came out on stage and everyone in the audience jumped to their feet. The air had cooled down just a bit but, from the sheer energy of the crowd it heated back up the Molson Amphitheatre on its own. They started their set with “Carry On”. Luke tried to make everyone feel included during the evening by asking “How you feeling right now? Even the people in the back?” “Is anyone else as sweaty as I am…?” Just before they started “Long Way Home” they let their fans sing the lyrics without them then was promptly followed by those deafening screams I have now grown accustom too. At times these shrieking screams over powered the band. While I was sitting there I was actually trying to decide which member of 5 Seconds of Summer got the loudest scream but, each time they took the mic the screams seemed to be even all across the board.
Every single one of 5 Seconds of Summer was giving it their all and leaving everything on that stage, sweat pouring down their faces, and their shirts drenched from the humidity in the air. The air was pretty much stagnant, I have to give them props for being under those hot lights in this heat.
Sitting in the audience I had a chance to look around and the young women were singing their hearts out while the parents stood a bit awkward trying not to sing along, only knowing the words because of what they have to listen to at home.
Michael Clifford put his foot in his mouth and I laughed, over the mic Michael said to the 12-15 year olds in attendance “I want everyone here to love some tonight… Not make love but to love someone here tonight” Oops probably not the most appropriate thing to be saying at a crowd full of kids with parents in tow but hey I got quite the laugh.
This was 5 Seconds of Summer first Canadian date this year and from the looks of the fans it won’t be their last. All in all it was a good show and I give all the bands who played much respect.
Once again thanks to the crew because without them there is no show!
