The energy in 170 Russell was tangible and bulging with a sellout crowd excited to see Northeast Party House do their thang.
Zach Hamilton-Reeves as a front man is humble yet brilliant. When the lights dimmed, he appeared as if he had stumbled onto the stage by accident weaning a distinctly cool pink leather jacket from the Melbourne-based designers Frank Forever. Many other members were also wearing items from the Frank collection, easily recognized by their standout FF logo. Originally from Melbourne themselves, it’s refreshing to see the Northeast boys supporting local creatives.
Fashion aside, Northeast Party House are a band with energy. Keeping up such bravado for an entire show is a tough task, but it seems as if the band feeds off each other, were and quite literally having the time of their life jumping, running and even hopping their way across the stage.
An impressive 90-minute set list was a highlight of the evening. Bands nowadays are seemingly playing shorter and shorter shows but with a mix of the old stuff including tracks from Any Given Weekend, their new album Dare and even a few covers.
Opening with ‘Any Given Weekend’ this piece showcased everything Northeast Party House is about. A banging bassline, heavy synths, loud drums and smooth air-tight vocals. Old tracks such as ‘Sick Boy’ and ‘Embezzler’ were popular.
About halfway through the show the crowd is treated to a cover of ‘Dammit’ by Blink-182 but with a Northeast twist. The combination of two bass guitars is a brilliant take on an old favorite. Moving on to play one of their most well-known tracks ‘The Haunted’, the thick bass lines resonates through 170 Russell. In the vein of a club-style rhythm, this track gets the entire crowd dancing, crashing and jumping on top of each.
Without a doubt, one of the great features of the evening was the mosh pit. It was something like you might see at a metal-head concert with dudes climbing over each other, crowding surfing and full drinks thrown in the air. Shirts and inhibitions were thrown out the window with the thumping tunes of from the Northeast boys taking things to even greater heights.
Material from their recently released album Dare is somewhat different their older offerings. Notable newies such as ‘Heartbreaker’ and ‘Your House’ feature distinctively sexy basslines and catchy riffs. However, there’s a notable shift to a somewhat more commercial-radio style of music, rather than the crunchy riffs of the earlier works.
Finishing with a cover of ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd illustrated how much fun the boys have on stage. Out of nowhere, Jack Shoe (Guitar/Bass) and Mitch Ansell (Guitar/Bass) pretty much just started playing the riff and in an instant, all of the other band members joined in. The 170 Russell crowd loved every moment of it.
It was a finish that summed up Northeast Party House well. It’s evident the outfit is talented to the point where it’s almost as if they can mind read and not afraid to take risks to push musical boundaries time after time.
