Amy Meredith wrapped up their 17 date Higher Education tour at the ANU bar on Friday night. The pop rock five-piece were joined by fellow Sydney bands Bridgemary Kiss and Tonight Alive. All three bands were determined to finish off their six week tour with a bang.
Four-piece band, Bridgemary Kiss opened the night. The band were new to most of the audience, but they won over the crowd with a short, energetic set of melodic pop rock and four part harmonies. A cover of Basement Jaxx’s ‘Where’s Your Head At?’ gave the crowd their first sing-along of the night.
Tonight Alive were next on the bill. With two EPs behind them and a new album on the way, the pop-punk five-piece fronted by Jenna McDougall, a small, blonde singer with a powerful voice, are gaining a rapidly-growing fan base. The band performed an enthusiastic set of short, fast-paced songs. The audience responded well to the new single ‘Breaking And Entering’ but the crowd-favourite was the 2010 single ‘Wasting Away’.
Headline band Amy Meredith launched into their set with the single ‘Pornstar’, which had the young, excited audience singing along from the first line.
The band were not afraid to accessorise, frontman Christian Lo Russo’s big, red bow tie matched his big, red hairdo. But my fashion favourite of the night was drummer Kosta Theodosis’ rainbow suspenders.
The setlist spanned the band’s career from the first song they ever wrote, ‘Black Eyes’, to the yet-to-be-released, ‘Ready To Kill’. The band is currently at work on their new album and fans will be happy to know the new songs that were showcased on the night were just as catchy as their previous singles.
When Lo Russo wasn’t behind the keyboard he was jumping manically around the stage which he was able to do while giving an impressively strong vocal performance, making a guitar-driven cover of the Gnarls Barkley hit ‘Crazy’ their own.
They took audience involvement to the next level when they invited one fan to the stage to be serenaded to a stripped-down, acoustic rendition of, ‘Kiss Me Quick’.
Stand out song of the night was the top ten single, ‘Lying’, that had the whole room singing and jumping along. Amy Meredith were joined by their support acts for an encore performance of ‘Young At Heart’, ending the night and the tour on a high note.
