5 Seconds of Summer return to the stage in Manchester for their Meet You There Tour

As 5sos take to the stage, the flashes of purple lights and smoke matching the artwork of 5SOS recent album, Youngblood, fills the O2 Apollo and immerses you into the performance. The set starts with track five, Babylon. You almost can’t hear Hood for screams as he starts to sing the first lines of the heartbreak anthem.

We can see how much the band has matured in the three years they’ve been away. Instead of looking like teenage boys in their band t-shirts they’re featuring more of an edgy style – designer silk shirts with the pop rock staple black skinny jeans. 

5 Seconds of Summer are an Australian pop-rock band that rose to fame from posting covers and original songs on YouTube in 2011 and 2012. The band consists of Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin.

They rose to international fame in 2013 after touring as the support act for pop band One Direction. With the release of their self-titled first album in 2014, it was clear that they were wanting a different audience than their clean cut 1D tour mates due to the more rock ‘n’ roll style lyrics. They have since released a further 2 albums and been on three world tours. 

‘Here in the UK is where the band really took off for us,’ Clifford tells the adoring crowd before the fans start to cheer when they pay recognition to their previous album by singing the songs ‘She’s Kinda Hot’ and ‘Waste the Night’. They continued with new songs ‘More’ and ‘Better Man’. 

It’s with these new songs I realised the band I grew up listening to were no longer young teens and their audience wasn’t either. Whilst there was still some young fans in the crowd, there was more people late teens to mid-twenties who were drinking cider with their friends. It’s with this audience that I believe 5SOS aim their sound at. 

One of the highlights of the night was when the band sang ‘If These Walls Could Talk’. For the third chorus, lead vocalist Hemmings held the microphone to the audience encouraging them to sing the iconic lines. After the crowd roaring back to the band you could see them beaming as the fans broke out jumping in unison to the rest of the beat. 

When the loud bass is switched for a soft acoustic guitar, you can really feel the intimacy between the band and their devoted fans. When Clifford sings the first lines of fan favourite – The Only Reason – acapella, the crowd starts bellowing the lyrics back to him. After years of begging 5SOS to add this lost B-side track to the touring set list, it had finally made it. 

As the encore started, 5SOS blasted their first big hit from 2013 ‘She Looks So Perfect.’ I felt proud watching them dominate the stage to the song that changed their lives. The happiness around the room was contagious. For the final sendoff, the four boys stood center stage arms around each other gazing into the crowd – the applause was deafening.