The last time Against Me! were in Australia, they were fronted by Tom Gabel; a heavily tattooed punk rocker, husband, and father who, unbeknownst to the band and their fans, had a secret.
Gabel had transgender dysphoria and was going to begin gender realignment to become a woman. It caused headlines across the media and now seven months later, tonight was going to be Melbourne’s first glimpse at Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace.
To say there was an aura of curiosity in the air would be an understatement. Conversations overheard regarding Tom/Laura were a hot topic.
The Smith Street Band have been making waves and creating quite a bit of a name for themselves over the last 12 months. Their unique style of alternative rock was well received by the audience and the band sounded great, playing a set packed with powerful songs full of sweet melodies.
Leaving the crowd floored with an attack on the ears using distortion and harmonies, The Smith Street Band are well on their way to bigger things. A very tight and impressive band.
The excitement was definitely building as the audience got themselves ready for Against Me!, or more importantly, the presence of Laura Jane Grace. Five minutes earlier than expected, they came on stage to huge applause and wasted no time in getting straight down to business.
Kicking off with ‘Pints of Guinness Make You Strong’ followed by ‘White Crosses’, the extremely vocal crowd wasted no time in getting involved with sing-alongs that were actually louder than the band themselves.
The audience was hot; moshing, crowd-surfing, screaming out the words at the top of their lungs, getting down and with it whilst the band had only been on stage for a mere five minutes. If this was a sign of things to come, all were going to be exhausted very quickly and the Hi-Fi were going to be doing quite well over the bar sating the dehydrated audience.
Refusing to stop for a breather, Against Me! tore through song after song, delivering favourites like ‘Don’t Lose Touch’, ‘I Was A Teenage Anarchist’, ‘New Wave’, ‘Americans Abroad’, and ‘Miami’ to a highly appreciative audience.
Tonight was also as good a night as any to unveil some new tracks to give the fans a taster of what the band have been doing since 2010’s White Crosses. ‘Osama Bin Laden Is The Crucified Christ’, ‘Black Me Out’, ‘True Trans Soul Rebel’, and ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ all went down a storm, showcasing that the band have grown in leaps and bounds with these new tunes. Their forthcoming album will surely be something special.
Grace’s ‘come out’ song, ‘The Ocean’, was definitely a crowd pleaser, with the masses roaring with appreciation as Grace sang the lines about her being born a woman.
Finishing with ‘Because Of The Shame’ and ‘Thrash Unreal’, gig-goers were not ready to let the band leave just yet. Screams and cheers demanding the band return to the stage had Grace come back for a solo rendition of ‘Joy’, followed by the band’s return to bash out timeless classics ‘Cliché Guevara’, ‘Piss and Vinegar’, and ending with ‘Sink, Florida, Sink’.
They looked as though they wanted to stay and play all night, and if curfews weren’t all the rage, the band would have happily obliged. Full of smiles and happiness they came and undoubtedly delivered one of the best shows of 2013.
