Concert Review: 5 Seconds of Summer at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
The Australian four-piece brought their eponymous show (and a giant dice) to The Woodlands on September 9.
Written by Arundhati Ghosh
Photos by Lauren Stephens
Mainstays in the pop and pop punk scenes for the past decade, 5 Seconds of Summer can always be depended on when it comes to putting on a fantastic performance. The unchanging lineup — frontman Luke Hemmings, bassist Calum Hood, drummer Ashton Irwin, and lead guitarist (and soon to be girl dad) Michael Clifford — brought fiery energy, on-the-nose gag videos, an absolutely massive red song dice, and boundless amounts of nostalgia to their tour stop in The Woodlands. The band members polled the crowd on who’s been a fan for over 10 years more than once, and were met by rousing cheers from the majority of their audience each and every time. With a performance as earnest as it was fun, it was and is easy to see why the quartet have maintained such a loyal following for so long.
Lights dimmed promptly at 7:45 p.m., signaling the beginning of opener Meet Me @ The Altar’s set. The two massive screens on either side of the platform lit up, with the band’s name outlined in neon pink. Drummer Ada Juarez took the stage first, getting a steady, thumping beat started to herald in Tea Campbell’s electric guitar. Finally, frontwoman Edith Victoria ran in, starting the night off with “Same Language.”
The girls’ combined stage presence was overwhelming in the best possible way as they led the audience in clapping, repeating song lyrics, and chanting throughout their set. The drums remained balanced, bass and guitar maintained their dynamic quality, and vocals stayed blemish-free as they ran through “Need Me” and “Try” before running through covers, including Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” and The Jonas Brothers’ “Burnin’ Up.” They closed their set with “T.M.I,” “Say It (To My Face),” and “Kool.” Every instrument melded beautifully with the frontwoman’s voice, and the openers’ performance was boosted by their knack for crowd work. Meet Me @ The Altar finished up at 8:10 p.m., with the lights turning on once more as the anticipation for the main act came back tenfold.
At 8:40 p.m., every screen in the pavilion came to life with an advertisement for “5Sauce,” the first short silly video of the night. Luke, in a dress and hair curlers, acted as Ashton’s housewife and Calum’s mother, while Michael was the latter’s boyfriend, ready for a home-cooked meal with his partner and their parents. In between food-related banter and general confusion on Michael’s behalf (“Who are you all talking to? There’s nobody there!”), each man took turns breaking the fourth wall to alert the crowd of nearby exits and general audience etiquette, in what evidently was their pre-show safety announcement. It would be 10 more minutes of palpable anticipation before the lights dimmed for the show itself.
With incredible precision, the stage darkened at 8:50 p.m., resulting in a rapid escalation in crowd volume. The screens played a video of 5SOS taking a car ride through empty country roads as an announcer introduced them member by member. Just as the video came to an end, the one thing separating the fans from the band, a giant red curtain with “The 5 Seconds of Summer Show” emblazoned across it in black and white, dropped to the ground with a thud. With no prior warning, the band jumped right into “Bad Omens” off of their most recent studio album, 5SOS5, with Hemmings’ voice ringing clearly over the crowd as they sang along, word-for-word.
Hood’s dulcet backing vocals and Clifford’s masterful fingerwork on the guitar rounded out the introductory song, heralding in Irwin’s pounding drumbeat as he provided a seamless transition into nostalgic single “2011.” The camerawork shifted into a softer, more sweeping gaze as the screens’ colors faded to black and white. As the band began the final, rhythmic repetition of the line “back to the days when the days were better,” color flooded the screens. The instruments and vocals worked in tandem as they gained traction, powered by the fans’ buoyant chanting, and at the apex of the song’s conclusion, orange, pink, and white confetti began raining down.
The shift from “2011”’s high-energy finale to the more sultry nature of “Caramel” was jarring, but the crowd’s screams bridged the gap between the songs. Hemmings shed his black blazer to highlight his blood red button down as Hood and Irwin’s instruments engaged in conversation, the bass and drums creating an unimaginable harmony. Hemmings closed out “Caramel” on a sustained note before coming to the first true break in the show, using this opportunity to introduce “Lone Star Boy” Calum Hood (a reference to the bassist’s concert outfit, a tank with a single star on the chest), “absolute bloody legend” Ashton Irwin, and his “favorite,” Michael Clifford. Though no longer a Sydney fixture, the frontman’s Australian accent slipped through once in a while.
“Easier” came next, with Hemmings’ falsetto whistling through the air. He raised his microphone stand up in the air and directed his mic towards the crowd at the bridge, letting fans sing out “The hardest part of all / Is that we're only built to fall” before Clifford’s vibrant guitar solo rang in the staccato chorus for a final iteration. The “Easier” instrumentals morphing into those of “Babylon” reflected upon Hood’s tone, making his voice seem slightly flat at first, but as the song progressed into itself, he transitioned into a more harmonious place. A brash, but pleading, track, Irwin seemed to be drumming for his life as he raised up Hood’s lyrics, supplemented by Clifford’s downright gnarly solo. The sound and the energy were equally electric.
Another immediate transition brought about “If Walls Could Talk” as Hemmings put his hands together, asking the audience to do the same. The lyrics resonated with the room, especially as the first verse closed out with an intoned “It's bound to get loud / 'Cause all these bodies are hoping to get addicted to sound.” Just as with songs prior, 5SOS played directly into “She’s Kinda Hot,” a silly and flippant condemnation of the idea that one must always be working as hard as they can to be valuable to themselves and to society. Just as in the recording, band members shouted out ad-libs while performing. Right before the song ended, during the instrumental break, all three guitarists huddled together on Clifford’s side of the stage (historically on the left, from the audience’s perspective) in front of one microphone before Hemmings finished the song riffing off of Irwin’s rapidfire snare.
The stage darkened once more and the four men, now in surgical scrubs, lit up the screens in another pre-recorded skit. Filmed from a first-person point of view, the audience watched as 5SOS peered down at them, before notifying them that they had “removed the flannel from around your waist,” a callback to the stereotypical concert attire of a 5SOS fan in the year 2014. The band “diagnosed” the crowd, through its singular lens, as “a 5SOS fan” before Irwin prescribed that “we gotta slow it down…”
This served as the perfect lead-in to heart-wrenching early track “Amnesia” off of the band’s self-titled debut album. The softer strumming and gentle drumbeat laid the foundation for a far mellower tone than earlier in the night. A lone spotlight danced settled on Hood as he gently strummed his bass while passionately crooning the third verse. Halfway through his lines, the bassist took out his in-ear, making sure he could hear the fans as they sang along, not a note left unsung. Irwin’s steady hand rounded out the heartfelt song, and, in turn, began gaining pace and heft as he drummed the band into “CAROUSEL.” Clifford and Hood’s in-time, stagnant riffing, as well as their harmonized backing vocals, raised Hemmings’ initially purposefully soft voice up above the crowd.
As the other three members continued playing against each other, Hemmings switched his electric guitar for an acoustic before moving into “Who Do You Love,” a collaboration with The Chainsmokers. Irwin’s cymbal work and his ability to keep on pace with the EDM beat made his actions flow like water — he was poetry in motion at his seat.
Though 5SOS transitioned into the next song, “Vapor,” as they had with most other tracks prior, “Who Do You Love”’s lighter tone and higher vocals made for a jarring switch-up. The guitar in “Vapor” was so mellow, but simultaneously so forceful, that crowd members could feel every aspect of the rhythm in their chests. Clifford and Hood serenaded Irwin towards the end of the love song, pleading with him to “Make you sound so sweet / When you lie to me.” Just as “Waste the Night” bleeds into “Vapor” on Sounds Good Feels Good, the former waltzed smoothly into the latter during the show.
A more animated song than its predecessor, “Waste the Night” saw Clifford and Hood climb up onto the boxes and speakers on either end of the stage. The underlying drumbeat slithered through the standing room and up into the seats and the lawn as Hood pleaded with the subject of the song, singing that he didn’t want to waste the night as he took his in-ears out once more. One funky beat switch and insane rhythm work on Irwin’s end later, all four members jammed out to “Don’t Stop,” a song famously considered to be one of their silliest endeavors with its upbeat runs and simple lyrics. Just before the end of the track, the screens turned bright red, ironically showcasing the word “STOP.”
It was time for the dice roll.
After another short video, in which the members were in a casino and discussing their luck, 5SOS unveiled a massive red six-sided dice with a song on each side: “Voodoo Doll,” “Heartache on the Big Screen,” “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” “If You Don’t Know,” “Heartbreak Girl,” and “English Love Affair.” As the dice passed through the pit and the seats, with fans bobbing and swerving to get a hand on it (or to avoid getting hit in the face by red plastic or a title letter), the band reminded everyone that, if the dice wasn’t back on stage in under a minute and a half, they would choose the next song.
Houston’s audience managed to send the dice back just as the last second slipped by, watched with bated breaths as Hemmings straightened it out to reveal that the next song they would play was “English Love Affair.” The entire pavilion was transported back in time with this high-powered remnant of the band’s pop punk days nearly a decade ago. Clifford’s vocals had a cheeky quality as he grinned through the salacious lyrics, and Irwin thrashed at his drum set, drawing forward as much sound as he could.
Before the next song, Hood brought the energy back to a calmer state as he spoke of how, in his next life, he would “reincarnate as a Texan.” This talk of afterlife endeavors became the perfect lead-in to “Ghost of You,” a devastating ballad that reminisced on a dead relationship’s better days. Hemmings closed the final verse by backing it with his acoustic guitar, before transitioning into “Want You Back,” a song thematically similar to the previous track, but far brasher in its instrumentation. All three guitarists climbed up to the upper tier of the stage, joining Irwin on his level as they played.
The last note dropped harshly into “Disconnected” in a manner that was as haunting as it was beautiful. Irwin drummed the next song in rapidly, with Clifford and Hood climbing back onto the speakers for “You Don’t Go To Parties.” This shift from their first album’s more electric, youthful style into the music of their most recent — far smoother, with matured voices and lyrics — made their growth, both as artists and as people, glaringly obvious.
The band took another break from the music so Irwin could ask the question at the forefront of their minds: “Who’s been following this band for over a decade now?” As expected, the sea of faces turned into a tide of hands shooting up. Heavy cymbals signaled the start of “Me Myself & I” as Hood and Clifford switched stage sides. Hemmings’ voice, in near-constant use throughout the concert, remained just as even and sheeny as it had at the start. He slid easily from note to note, and glided through “Why Won’t You Love Me” as if it was a simple feat.
“Best Friends” began without instruments, with Hood and Hemmings harmonizing vocally before Irwin and Clifford came in with the drums and guitar, respectively. As they sang and played, camerapeople directed their efforts towards the crowd, catching glimpses of fans singing and dancing together on the Best Friend Cam that covered the screens. The next facet of the show, “Meet You There,” was Irwin’s drumming solo, which the band framed as a competition between him and the crowd. He played, gaining points on an on-screen noise-o-meter, and then waited as the crowd first clapped and later screamed in an attempt to beat him at the game of sound. Irwin won both attempts (in a rigged competition!), leading to the three guitarists pulling out giant ketchup and mustard bottles and spraying red and yellow confetti over the crowd. “Get Sauced” blinked across the screens.
A stark contrast to the drum-clap-scream cacophony it followed, the next song was “Teeth,” with its rousingly repetitive underlying melody and beat. Hemmings’ falsetto was seamless, and the bass under the bridge could only be described as musically debonair. This song’s staccato stylings made the silence right after even more discomposing. It was time for the most stirring moment of the show: Michael Clifford’s monologue, and “Jet Black Heart.”
He asked the crowd to make noise for themselves, and for each of the members, including himself. Clifford asked their fans to be louder for themselves, repeating the crowd-facing cheers more than once. For the second time in the night, he posed the question of who had been around for over a decade, and for the second time in the night, the majority of the audience cheered in solidarity. Eventually, he stood up alone on a high platform, with every light and every eye on him, and sang the opening words to his song: “Everybody's got their demons / Even wide awake or dreaming / I'm the one who ends up leaving / Make it okay.” Hood, Hemmings, and Irwin joined in as a group, letting their instruments add body to Clifford’s soul.
Finally, the time came for setlist mainstay, “She Looks So Perfect.” The devoted lyrics highlighted how every member’s voice has stayed youthful, and once again transported everyone in the vicinity years into the past. With numerous massive drumbeat flourishes and a closing riff from all four instruments at once, the show was over. The band set their guitars or drumsticks down, taking time to throw picks into the pit. They waved goodnight and walked off, prepared to settle down in their hotels for the night.
The fans, ever so impervious to the idea that The 5 Seconds of Summer Show was really over, began chanting for an encore, with the word being thrown around so constantly that it morphed into a singular, repetitive yell for “5SOS! 5SOS! 5SOS! 5SOS!” The lights dimmed yet again, just as everyone had expected, and, for the truly final time of the night, the screens played a video of the band members. They were dressed in matching fluffy white bathrobes, but were locked out of their hotel rooms. The concierge stated that she wasn’t sure if she could help with that at the moment, but she did have a key back to the stage. Upon hearing the fans chanting their names, they agreed, and the video ended just as all four men traipsed back onstage, this time in bathrobes covering their clothes.
They threw the robes off before beginning “Outer Space,” with soft and soothing melodies alongside vocals that rang out through the arena bringing the audience back to Earth. Every member layered his voice against his bandmates’, creating a dazzling harmony in which every note was purposeful. Irwin knew just when to pull back and just when to push forward with the beat, and the song cascaded over the crowd like a waterfall of remembrance. Hemmings then switched his guitar before the last song, taking pause to once again ask about how many people had been fans for as long as a decade (and how many had seen him perform when he was 16 and had acne), before carrying out minor conversations with pit members (a highlight of which included him saying he has “no rizz,” before asking that audience members not publicize the fact that he said the word “rizz”).
“Youngblood,” the real final girl, began with Clifford’s lone guitar before delving into a glorious multi-part harmony. The power ballad showcased Hemmings’ vocal strength as he purposefully slurred words together and pulled them apart, fashioning a perfect rendition of their own hit song. As the concert truly came to a close, white confetti shot out, bathing the fans as they sang, reborn again in the music of their childhoods. The men of 5SOS came together at the front of the stage to hold each other in a sustained bow before saying goodnight once and for all.
It was simultaneously 10:30 p.m. on September 9, 2023, and some time, some day back in 2011. 5SOS has grown, but their hearts, and their fans’ hearts, have remained in tune, all these years.