By Lindsey Russo
I’ve always found magic in the small moments. A breeze off the ocean on a late night, laughter with friends that causes cramps in your stomach, the perfect bite you’ve craved all day. This weekend I found magic again; the magic of live music, while attending my first real concert since the COVID-19 pandemic. That concert was 5 Seconds of Summer’s Take My Hand World Tour.
I have been a fan of 5SOS since the “She Looks So Perfect” days, when I was a simple-minded middle schooler with massive crushes on the 4 guys (pictured left to right, lead guitarist Michael Clifford, bassist Calum Hood, lead singer Luke Hemmings and drummer Ashton Irwin). However, my appreciation for their musical prowess and creative growth as a group did not fully form until November 2020. Since then, 5SOS has been my favorite band; with songs that transport me into another world and a charisma that keeps me aching for more.
This past weekend proved that likeability and rocking music are not the only great qualities of this group. I attended 5SOS’ Take My Hand World Tour in Irvine, California at the FivePoint Amphitheater on June 18th, with an anticipation that I couldn’t (and still can’t) put into words.
The Take My Hand Tour is a rescheduled iteration of the band’s No Shame Tour, which was supposed to occur in 2020, but was promptly postponed due to the pandemic. The beauty of this tour is that it is multifaceted in nature. It doubles as the first time fans are hearing songs off their 4th studio-album CALM live, released March 27, 2020, and a way to promote their new record 5SOS5, debuting September 23, 2022.
It’s clear that I love their music. However, what a common fan fails to understand as a mere listener is the importance of the live show. 5SOS knows how to put on a great concert because they understand what their fans want.
As a major Queen fan, this 5SOS show totally reminded me of Queen’s iconic Live Aid set in 1985. What made Queen the showstoppers in Wembley Stadium on that historic day was Freddie Mercury’s iconic showmanship and their ability to jam-pack a 20 minute set with 6 iconic songs. They crossed crowd-captivation with brilliant music choices to make the audience fall in love with that performance. This is how 5SOS’ concert felt for me.
The band performed a whopping 24 songs, blending the end of one to the beginning of the next. They played the perfect snippet of each song to get as many hits in as possible, and did so with proficiency and musical genius. Crowd interactions were hilarious and heartfelt. The guys made all 12,000 audience members feel that they were genuinely happy and grateful that we were in attendance that night.
I don’t know what my favorite part of the concert was; I sang and danced my head off to every single song. Perhaps my favorite performance was their tour’s namesake, new release “Take My Hand”, or the powerhouse closer “Youngblood”, where every soul in that audience jumped up and down with pride – a new core memory of mine.
The ambiance was magnetic. The evening was electric. The music was breathtaking. I was already a huge 5SOS fan, but I feel even more connected to not only the members of the band, but the songs they produce. Every lyric they sing and every melody they play all tell a story. And the ability to experience that story on a beautiful night, surrounded by similarly enthusiastic fans, and the fearlessness to have an amazing time is magical.
That’s the magical small moment I was trying to describe above; how concerts make you truly appreciate the art of music for a couple of hours. It’s irreplaceable.
