In a few short weeks the SCENEzine crew will be jetting off to Las Vegas to attend the biggest emo/pop punk festival the world has ever seen – When We Were Young. But tonight in our home city two of the bands from the festival; Boys Like Girls and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, are playing Sydney’s Roundhouse. This is yet another one of those tours that was meant to happen back in 2020 and is finally taking place. With tonight’s show in honour of Boys Like Girls’ highly regarded self-titled album.

It’s a rainy Friday night in Sydney as hundreds of fans line up outside the venue waiting for the night of emo nostalgia to begin. Although there was no Aussie support band, we did get a double hit of American rock.

It wasn’t long before Red Jumpsuit Apparatus appeared on stage and began their set. Kicking off the night with ‘False Pretense’ taken from their debut album Don’t Fake It. With the rest of the set predominately leaning on the bands earlier material, vocalist Ronnie Winter paused before ‘Cat & Mouse’ explaining that the song was featured in the hit TV show Vampire Diaries. The crowd went absolutely crazy for ‘Face Down’ with Ronnie wanting to well and truly shake off the one hit wonder tag by asking anyone who came here for that one song to now leave. With the set finishing with a heartfelt acoustic version of ‘Your Guardian Angel’ as the glow of the crowds phone lights lit up the moment.

Next up the moment had arrived. A huge backdrop adorned the back of the stage stating in large bold letters “BOYS LIKE GIRLS”. Then to a flood of light, the Boston Massachusetts pop-rockers bounded onto the stage met with screams from the crowd. Now usually a band would save their (arguably) biggest hit to the end of the set. But tonight since they are playing their self-titled album in full and in order, they set the bar high straight away with ‘The Great Escape’.

Immediately the entire audience had been transported back to 2006; a time when swooping fringes, skinny jeans and discovering bands on myspace were all that mattered. Listening to these songs it not only shocked me that I still knew every word, but reminded me of how solid the entire album is. I’d mention which songs gained the best singalong response from the audience, but genuinely with every track the room was in full voice. Singer Martin Johnson was very appreciative that people held onto their tickets since this show was supposed to happen two years ago.

The self-titled album set ended with ‘Holiday’ as Martin explained that “the record meant a lot in our lives”. He talked about how much he loves being on stage with his best friends and that they have missed Australia a lot. Although the album set was over, this was not to be the end just yet. Before they started the encore, the bands new bass player Gregory James indulged in a shoey to the delight of the Australian crowd.

‘Heart Heart Heartbreak’ started off the encore before leading into ‘She’s Got A Boyfriend Now’. The boys then played a brand new song titled ‘Outside’. Although Taylor Swift wasn’t in the building the crowd still loved hearing ‘Two Is Better Than One’ live. With the band finally leaving us with ‘Love Drunk’ as a sea of phones were thrust into the air. Around a minute into the song the band stopped playing to say “wait – everybody put your phones away forget about your ticky toks and lets all just live in the moment like we used to”. What happened next was a moment of pure joy, a moshpit began, the crowd voices got even louder and it became a shared cherished moment that a phone can’t replicate.

Boys Like Girls left Sydney feeling on top of the world!

(Photos by Christian Ross)