The Getaway Plan @ The Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW Australia 15/09/2017 written by Brendan Lewis.
Let’s flash back to ten years ago, Melbourne rockers ‘The Getaway Plan’ release their debut
album ‘Other Voices, Other Rooms’, which screamed the message that these guys are taking over
the alternative-rock scene in Australia, and that they’re a force not to be reckoned with. Now ten
years later, the band are celebrating that momentous occasion with a tour, playing the album in its
entirety plus a second set of other loved The Getaway Plan hits! Get ready, for this is ‘The
Reckoning’!
The band stroll onto the stage to cheering fans whilst the lights were still on which caught me by
surprise. The band start this crusade with ‘The Reckoning’ off their second album, this built my
excitement immensely as I’ve seen these guys many times and ‘The Reckoning’ makes a bold,
powerful statement to bring the energy straight away! I was let down a little, sadly, as lead singer
Matt didn’t seem to hit the incredibly high, sustained note that ignites the explosion of the first
chorus that leaves you with euphoric tingles. I have heard Matt hit that note at other shows, so
why not now? Normally when Matt hits that euphoric note the lights pulsate to the beat, sending
shockwaves through the crowd, but tonight the lights are dull, and even for low budget solid
circular coloured lights, weren’t conducted well to compliment the music. This added with the
sound mixing making it difficult to hear Matts’ voice through the bass unless he hits a loud
powerful note, did let my excitement down slightly. It really kills me to say anything negative about
these guys as I adore them!
With a quick thank you to the audience, the band proceed into their first ever single ‘If The
Suspense Doesn’t Kill Us, Something Else Will’ followed by ‘Move Along’ via an
acknowledgement to the support band and a revving up “how the f*** are you Sydney?!” which
did help raise the excitement. ‘Move Along’ featured a hauntingly beautiful crowd sing-a-long to
these sad lyrics, plus some amazingly accurate vocals from Matt. But again, the bloody lights! The
shotty lighting would’ve easily been over-looked if guitarist Clint wasn’t the only one rocking out
on stage like a rock band does at least noticeably, but it seemed Matt and bassist Mike were busy
concentrating on their instrumentalism instead of rocking out. The sheer energy which I’ve seen
many times at The Getaway Plan shows, which was lacking in this show, was seemingly evident
by the audience being completely still zombies around me.
For the rest of this small set, saw some amazing songs like ‘Dark Horses’ off their latest album
giving a sway-like contrast to the show, plus other hard hitters, but I couldn’t help but notice the
audience around me talking during the performance maybe due to the lack of energy from the
band. When the band strolled off the stage completing the first set, I felt conflicted. “Am I just
noticing these things now because I’m analytically picking the show apart?” “I swear these shows
had more energy before, are they just having an off day?”
After a lengthy gap and a sound check as if The Getaway Plan had supported… The Getaway
Plan, the band re-emerge with The Getaway Plan set 2.0, the set fans came to the show for, the
debut album in its entirety.
As if this was a game of football, it seemed like the band had a team huddle at half time and went
over their game so far and made adjustments, because when the band rode into their first single
off their debut album ‘Streetlights’, there was no lack of energy and charisma! Matt moved around
the stage like it was his arena, waving his arms to the audience and revving them up in the bridge
section, building the suspense for the the growling vocals that lead into the home stretch of the
song. With Matts’ wild long hair like a lion mane and his alpha-lion growls that resemble one
majorly pissed off kitty, plus him hitting the high notes in the chorus perfectly, it seems the lion
has finally awoken!
Next on the bands debut album is their defining hit ‘Where The City Meets The Sea’ but of course
they’re not going to play their biggest hit just yet, so it’s skipped for now to nightmarish angsty
power-punch ‘Sleep Spindles’. This crowd favourite got the crowd fist pumping finally and
featured more complimenting lighting to the intense energy from now shown by all the band
members. See, even basic lighting can play a big part in the show to add a bit of spice. Although
when Matt went to do his lion roar, it was crackly and cut short… hair ball? It did sound like there
might’ve been a vocal effect on the microphone that failed a bit, but never the less, the energy
surges on.
Now that the energy is reaching climatic levels, it’s lowered temporarily for feel-good track, ‘New
Medicine (Stay With Me)’ that got the crowd singing along in surprisingly perfect harmony with
Matt. The sound mixing does seem as if it had been improved in the half time break, as Matt’s
vocals aren’t as dominated by Mikes’ bass and are more adequately mixed.
Next up, you guessed it, much loved alt-rock anthem ‘Shadows’. This flared a deafening roar from
the crowd, no hair balls for that kitty! Along with the bands on-stage energy that was feeding off
the audiences energy perfectly, and Matt pausing his singing to let the crowd sing “so it all came
crashing down” leading into the chorus, sparked a massive cheer and got the crowd jumping insync
to the chorus. I’m sure with the analogies of lions so far, you’re imagining a crowd of lion
cubs jumping up and down to the alpha-lion on stage aren’t you?
The crowd had been won over by the alpha lion by this stage, so their new found energy was not
interrupted even by the slower, more emotional track ‘A Lovers Complaint’ that the whole crowd
chanted the chorus to, before the musical energy crept back up to aggressively climatic levels for
‘Red Flag’. No hair balls this time for the alpha lions’ growling vocals in the bridge section of ‘Red
Flag’! Matts’ fierce growling were precise and sent shockwaves through the audience. Even Clint
on guitar joined in on the lion display, flicking his wild hair around to this incredibly powerful song
with clear sound!
The crowd are a pack of happy purring kittens by this stage from the power, great sound and
engaging performance the show had evolved into, but all good things must come to an end sadly.
The final two songs ‘Rhapsody On A Windy Night’ and of course the bands most defining hit,
‘Where The City Meets The Sea’. ‘Rhapsody On A Windy Night’ featured the band rocking out for
the home stretch like it was their last show ever, and got the crowd fist pumping and mimicking
the bands on-stage energy.
‘Where The City Meets The Sea’ as you would imagine was the pinnacle of what this show had to
offer, great sound, great energy, the crowd singing along to every word whilst fist pumping/
clapping to the beat, and even had a surprisingly attractive, conveniently single blind guy counting
in to the chorus in perfect timing during the gap between the first verse and chorus, which I think/
hope added to the cheer in the audience. And what would a good ol’ rock show be without a
crowd surfer or two? The energy galore plus the band pausing their performing to let the crowd
sing them into the last chorus made this a perfect closing song for any rock show!
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! The audience cheer the band back on stage for the final song off
their debut album ‘Transmission’ to close the show on a good note, with an explosive, climatic
finish!
The start of this show was quite shaken and a let down, but like a good athlete they stuck the
landing and well and truly made up for it thus winning over the crowd in the end. I always look
forward to seeing these guys again and again!