5 SECONDS OF SUMMER AT PNC BANK ARTS CENTER IN HOLMDEL
The hills of the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ truly were alive with the sound of music, as Australian pop-rock band, 5 Seconds of Summer, made a stop there yesterday as part of their massive “Take My Hand World Tour”. The band have been on this tour since the beginning of April, and while there’s still quite a bit left, their stop in Holmdel still had such a fresh feel to it. With support from Pale Waves, patrons had quite the night.
Starting the show off were Manchester based rock band, Pale Waves. As they started their set, fans moved along with the music and gave them the attention they deserved. During parts of the set, vocalist Heather Baron-Gracie seemed limited with motion when playing guitar, but the minute she set the guitar down and stepped away from the mic stand, her performance came to life. Throughout the performance the band had a really great sound and the members meshed well together. Pale Waves is definitely a band to keep an eye out for.
When the time finally came for 5 Seconds of Summer to take the stage, the 13,000 person crowd lost their minds. I swear the deafening screams could have blown the roof off the amphitheatre. 5SOS consists of vocalist/guitarist Luke Hemmings, bass guitarist Calum Hood, drummer Ashton Irwin, and guitarist Michael Clifford. The group took the stage under laser lights and opened their set up strong with “No Shame”. Throughout the performance the audience took special care to show love to every single member of the band, cheering them on with every solo and every time someone took the mic. It was overall a very warm, and loving environment. The band’s stage set up consisted of lit up riser steps, and two LED screens (one across the back and one across the top) that displayed simple, yet effective and beautiful visuals. To top it all off, the band sounded amazing on stage. The pure talent of the group is so incredible.
The setlist was fairly varied, spanning across their entire career as a band. They played tracks from each album that’s been released, so it was great to hear old favorites alongside the new ones. They performed tracks such as “Want You Back”, “Amnesia”, “Castaway”, “Wildflower”, and my personal favorite, “She Looks So Perfect”. They even performed a cover of The Chainsmokers’ “Who Do You Love”. As I watched them perform song after song, it was truly beautiful to look around and see their fans time and time again scream in excitement at the start of each new song. Even more beautiful was seeing the whole venue light up with phones during “Take My Hand”. The lights shined bright for the boys as they jammed out on stage. When it was time for the encores, the group closed the night out with “Ghost of You” and “Youngblood”, leaving fans satisfied with a whopping 26 song setlist. It was my first time seeing 5SOS live and I’m already anticipating the next time they’ll be touring in the area again. This is definitely a group to see if you enjoy any type of pop-rock music.
Nicole DiBenedetto is a photographer based out of New Jersey. She likes making new friends and meeting new people so catch her out in the pit and say hi!