Gallery And Gig Review: Neck Deep @ Metro Theatre Sydney December 1st 2018

NECK DEEP have become the most successful UK band in the history of the pop punk genre, earlier in the year they appeared at Download Festival and alongside Good Charlotte (read our review). Now the pop-punk lords have returned down under for a string of their own headline dates, the first since The Peace & The Panic dropped in August of last year. Tonight they play the Metro in Sydney in a show that can be descried as ‘one hell of a ride’.

Joining Neck Deep on their ‘Straya’ tour are locals Stand Atlantic, Between You And Me & Stateside. Wow three support bands and all Australian what an epic night of pop punk we have on our hands.

First up you have Brissie band Stateside fronted by super talented vocalist Erin Reus (read our interview) these up and comers had the early crowd bouncing along to their cover of Skater Boi by Avril Lavigne and left us wanting more with their hit The Way We Were.

Next up was Melbourne 5 piece Between You & Me these guys are just high energy pop punk, front man Jake Wilson has perfect vocal abilities capturing the sound of the pop punk genre, he was consistently jumping from the stage to the barrier getting the crowd amped up and finished off the set strong with one of our favourites Dakota.

Finishing of the all Aussie support slots are Sydney siders Stand Atlantic it was only a year ago we saw them support New Found Glory on this very stage since then the band has blown up. It’s easy to see why, with the soaring vocal talents of vocalist/guitarist Bonnie Fraser this band packed a punch as they came on stage and power housed through their set. With the title track from their debut album Skinny Dipping they really lit up the place up and the audience becoming most vocal.

The crowd begin to chant We Want Neck Deep! and the band wasted no time answering the call opening up with Motion Sickness, over the barrier they begin to pour, our energy lifted even higher then before. Neck Deep really wanted to take us on ride tonight a up and down roller coaster of high energy pop punk tracks like Happy Judgement Day ,What Did You Expect even their cover of Torn by our very own Natalie Imbruglia had the pit moving, but it was on tracks such as 19 Seventy Sumthin that vocalist Ben Barlow showed great vulnerability as he opened up about the songs meaning and expressed how music is therapy, something I saw the crowd really feel in their hearts.

The ride would be picked up again with set closer In Bloom our singing voices would shine through once again as they had all night before. Starting the song Ben had fun with the crowd over the whole oddity of how an encore plays out even jokingly trying to trademark the name claiming that its a Neck Deep exclusive and no other band does this lol. Of course the encore comes and goes and in it we are delivered an old school treat with All Hype, No Heart.

Up on the Metro stage tonight it was easy to see the talent and dedication Neck Deep possess, their show is a perfect mix of humour, vulnerability and spectacular musicianship. Placing them on a trajectory of unbridled success. A zeitgeist-capturing band of the pop punk scene delivering one of the best shows of the year.

Review – Chad

Photo Gallery – Christian Ross