Live Review: Motion City Soundtrack – 29th August 2015 – Maxx Watt’s, Brisbane, Australia
3 min read
The night was a cause for celebration, praise and high morale. Motion City Soundtrack’s second studio album Commit This To Memory turned 10 years old this year, and Brisbane was lucky enough to bask in the glory of the band’s most popular album played through its original ordered entirety. As soon as the curtains opened to reveal Justin, Josh, Jesse, Matt and Claudio, they walked towards their instruments wasting no time with introductions, and blasted the first track of the record ‘Attractive Today’.
It was clear from the very beginning that no song would be left unsung. Justin spent half the gig letting the crowd scream the words while he flung his arms about like an orchestra conductor. In between the set Justin asked the audience: ‘Were you different from the person you were 10 years ago?’ The existential question perfectly summed up how everyone felt in that moment, united through Motion City Soundtrack’s music that have motivated, moulded and shaped them into the people they were today. This wasn’t your average crowd, just like this wasn’t your average headlining act. They interacted like old friends catching up and hanging out like they used to.
The rest of the album set list went by lightning fast. Each member brought forward their A-game in performance, filling the room with nostalgic riffs and synth ditties that smoothly eased the crowd from one track to the next. While Justin was busy belting out the words and strumming along on his iconic Fender Telecaster, Jesse yelled and head banged over his array of midi keyboards. Claudio had wind machines next to his drum kit, flowing through his hair, making it look like a fluffy cloud floating on stage. And Josh, lead guitarist, and Matt, bassist, were stationed on the edges, their swaying and powerful back up vocals holding the band together like a tight group hug.
As they finished playing ‘Hold Me Down’, the final track of Commit This To Memory, Justin bowed and the guys left the stage. But the crowd wasn’t done singing their favourite tunes. An uproar of chants like ‘One more song!’ turned into ‘Five more songs!’ and in the end as Motion City Soundtrack came back and flooded the stage, the crowd had started yelling ’10 more songs!’
Justin introduced the encore with the track ‘TKO’ off their new album Panic Stations and the crowd welcomed it like one of their favourites. The band hammered on, playing classics like ‘Her Words Destroyed My Planet’ and ‘This Is For Real’. Intense amounts of spirit and energy emanated throughout the entire venue. Some songs played like ‘The Future Freaks Me Out’ and ‘Capital H’ were more than 10 years old, but everyone in the audience still knew every single word. And the singing didn’t stop with the lyrics, people sang along to every guitar and keyboard solo as well.
Once again, the band tried to say farewell, thanking the support acts and thanking the crowd for supporting local music, but the audience still wanted more. ‘One more song!’ chants started rising up again and Motion City Soundtrack delivered. ‘One more song, and then that’s it!’ said Justin. It was a song everyone had been waiting for: ‘My Favourite Accident’. Waves of people moshed along to the 12 year old track and the crowd was finally satisfied. The show was on its high point from beginning to end, standing true to the saying that ‘Time flies when you’re having fun.’
