On the 13th of January, YUNGBLUD took over Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl as part of his IDOLS World Tour. This was the second stop on his tour run in Australia, performing in Sydney the night before, with Adelaide, two shows in Brisbane and one show in Perth to follow. After seeing clips from Sydney, I’m sure it’s safe to say Melbourne was ready for our turn! Concert-goers of all ages made up a seemingly never ending line down the tan paths from the venue gates, in passing I overheard two 13 year old girls saying this was their first concert, what an intro to live music.
Tasked with the massive job of opening up the night was Brisbane’s own Dune Rats. Although people didn’t seem to know too much of their music, they kept the audience engaged with their stage presence and seemed to have won them over as they covered The Angels’ Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again which had the crowd passionately screaming the lyrics back at them, a perfect way to get everyone warmed up.
As Black Sabbath‘s War Pigs played out on the speakers, the seated rows got to their feet in unison, awaiting the show to commence. The stage was now equipped with band members and an ensemble of string players, at this point the venue was already in a state of euphoric screaming. We then caught a glimpse of YUNGBLUD making his way through the lights and smoke, dressed in a vest and sunglasses and tight leather pants and that tension only escalated as the fans grew louder and he kicked off the night with the nine minute anthem Hello Heaven, Hello. It was a fitting start, opening the show just as it does the album. He strutted back and forth across the stage, pouring a drink over himself. When the mic slipped from his hands, he carried on, it barely mattered, and this kind of chaos is what really makes a YUNGBLUD show. It took all of one song for the vest to come off and the crowd went wild for it as he played into the second track The Funeral.
YUNGBLUD‘s superpowers is his unwavering energy, no matter what, from start to finish, he is always at 110% capacity, and along with that his connection to his fans, and bringing them along for the ride, ensuring that they’re meeting him with the exact same intensity throughout the whole show. He took a moment to reminisce on the fact he played to 50 people his first time here, and now there were 12,000 people in front of him and often during the set he stood taking in the massive growth he has had since then with disbelief.
With a few nods to past work, the setlist really celebrated his latest release, IDOLS. With this album, it is clear he has tightened his craft, both lyrically and vocally, which translated seamlessly to his live performance. Throughout the night, he maintained a great balance of running through the setlist, whilst creating space for interactions with his fans. He worked the crowd encouraging participation by getting people on shoulders or standing on chairs. During a segment in his show, he called out everyone to stick out their tongues, singling out a guy that looked too serious and then a woman to stick out her tongue, quickly following it up with “Not your tits, your tongue!!” which had everyone cracking up. He is the epitome of a rock star, not only with his incredible vocals, but also backed up by the way he really owns the stage with such confidence, along with his cheeky nature which draws you in even more.
“Melbourne, you’ve been getting me in trouble” he joked during a break in songs, referring to a TMZ article as he was caught by paparazzi partying nude on a boat in Sydney a few days earlier. He then proceeded to cover himself, making fun of the situation as the audience laughed along with him.
During the second half of his track fleabag, he disappeared off stage. Anticipation grew as everyone looked around trying to guess where he would pop out. Screams led our eyes to the rocker standing on top of the sound shed, propped up by security guards as he sang the rest of the song. The lucky fans surrounding him got more than they bargained for, never imagining they would be able to get that close to him. After exclaiming how much he loved Australia and chanting “Aussie Aussie Aussie” with the crowd, he made his way down the steps towards the stage, greeting fans as he passed.
Phone lights lit up the venue as we joined him in a powerful tribute to Ozzy with Changes by Black Sabbath. Once the song had finished, we sat in the emotion for a moment, before he effortlessly brought the mood back up with his song Fire, as he swung his mic around by the cord and danced his way across the stage. He ended the night on one of my personal favourites and one of his bigger hits Zombie, which had the fans singing along even louder than I thought possible.
He gave a heartfelt thanks to everyone, and sent the fans wild when quickly slipping in a tease of his festival Bludfest making its way to Australia. As he disappeared off stage, we all turned to get ready to leave, and he yet again ran back on, saying in 30mins he will be meeting everyone by the pond before slipping away again. Not only does he give everything to his fans on stage, he also then dedicates time to meeting them after really just showcasing how much his fans mean to him, setting him apart from other artists of his calibre.
The current online debate is whether he really is the next generation’s Black Sabbath, AC/DC etc, and to that I have to say; being in the vicinity of him, watching him deliver an incredible performance with such an authentic rockstar energy, it really made you feel as though you were witnessing an artist who is on the path to being one of the greats. With promises of always returning to Australia every 18 months, we have no doubt about his love for this country and his fans and the feeling is mutual. We are ready to get him in trouble any time!
