When We Were Young @ Rosemount Hotel
Saturday, October 22, 2022
Timed to coincide with the epic Las Vegas festival When We Were Young last weekend, local musos hit The Rosemount on Saturday night celebrating all things emo, pop-punk and screamo.
If we couldn’t have the bands themselves, what better way to celebrate than with some of Perth’s best tribute bands, headlined by My Chemical Romance and Paramore cover acts, House of Wolves and Paraless, respectively? Perth was out in force, with black fingernails painted on and mascara set to running.
House of Wolves headlined the event with a full hour of power, complete with six-piece band, make-up and theatrics. Nothing short of a world-class tribute act, they should legitimately be taking this show on the road and touring the globe. Their expertly structured set featured Helena early on and an epic midway run of fan faves Mama, Teenagers, Disenchanted, Welcome to the Black Parade, I’m Not Okay (I Promise) and Famous Last Words that was all hits and no miss. Close your eyes and it could’ve been the real thing.
Led by charismatic frontman Paul Bousfield and bassist Paris Spark on back up vox, they nailed the harmonies more than any other band on the night, and kept the energy up for the show’s entirety. Only thing missing was a run through of latest single The Foundations of Decay, and perhaps a couple of Black Parade ballads like The End and Cancer. When you’re left wanting more from a cover band because they leave tracks out, you know they’re doing something right.
Rachael Mallen may not normally lead Paraless, but with usual singer Paige Savill unavailable, she did an outstanding job. With a nice mix of old and new Paramore singles (nothing too new), Brick By Boring Brick was an early standout, and we’re still totally into Still Into You. Timeless.
Digging back as far as Paramore’s debut album for the true believers, and as far forward as Ain’t It Fun for an all in singalong, it was closing track Misery Business that sealed the deal on a terrific set as they got the rest of the night’s performers up on stage in a nice show of camaraderie.
Plenty of musicians filled multiple roles on the night, with Paraless singer Mallen and drummer Aaron Muller also shining throughout the hands in the air, singalong set that was Avril Lavigne-tribute, Anything But Ordinary. Sk8ter Boi, Complicated, Girlfriend and I’m With You played out like a hit parade. The odd band out on the bill, they put the pop in pop-punk and the crowd lapped it up.
Jimmy Eat World tribute Salt.Sweat.Sugar were one of the night’s most anticipated acts after Jimmy Eat World were forced to cancel literally the week after we went into lockdown in March 2020. We couldn’t have asked for a better setlist, with several Clarity cuts next to the obvious Bleed American standards, of which The Middle and Hear You Me were highlights. In true emo fashion, what they lacked in polish they made up for with raw emotion; in all they sounded one guitar and a couple of rehearsals short of the peak time Rosemount slot, but you could just tell there weren’t any bigger Jimmy Eat World fans in the room than the four guys onstage. A personal thank you from this reviewer for Lucky Denver Mint.
Openers Sharp Objects featured several members of House of Wolves but lacked the impact of the headliners, covering The Used. Finishing early and not hitting on all the obvious choices, they still shone on All That I’ve Got and had a healthy early crowd considering the 6:30pm start time.
Much better was the A Day to Remember tribute called, yes, A Night to Remember. It’s hard to remember the Rosemount being so packed pre-8pm since before COVID, and the six-piece band had the room moshing and sweating up a storm. Turns out the Night version is even heavier than the Day version, and ear plugs were required for a ball-tearing set that peaked on their cover of Kelly Clarkson’s Since You’ve Been Gone and evergreen track The Downfall of Us All. Finishing on early fave The Plot to Bomb Panhandle, this project has a lot of promise, proving it as they left us on the refrain: “Right here with my friends.” It was a vibe that was consistently felt all night.
HARVEY RAE
