With a show that both celebrated and deconstructed stardom, 5 Seconds of Summer brought a certain self-aware humour that felt uniquely their own to Montreal on June 3rd. Through elaborate skits – fake news reports, mock award ceremonies – and a setlist spanning their entire career, the concert was a huge hit and a remarkable reflection on their working experiences with fame, a tongue-in-cheek production that was as playful as it was introspective.
Text by Jamie Xie
Photos by Louis Alson
If there ever was a band qualified to speak on the inevitable highs and lows of rising to stardom in the twenty-first century, it might just be 5 Seconds of Summer. On June 3rd, at the Montreal Bell Centre, as a part of their Everyone’s a Star world tour, 5SOS brought with them a self-aware theatrical performance of fame, nostalgia and reinvention. What unfolded was a carefully constructed narrative on what it means to not just survive but live for fifteen years in the spotlight of the public eye.
Structured in six distinct acts, the show acted like a concept film, complete with music, comedy and spectacle. Each era of the band was reframed through momentary skits that acted as visual interludes between songs. From explosive pop to satirical “behind the scenes” segments, 5SOS demonstrated a mastery over the stage, letting the setlist guide the conversation as a timeline of their evolution as a band.
The night opened with Act 1, The Peak, immediately situating the audience in the present moment, where they are at the height of their current creative era. “NOT OK,” from their latest album, set the tone for the rest of the concert with an electric punk element. Set to a neon-bright circular stage that surrounded the audience, the band created an immersive environment that brought superfans intimately close. High atop a limousine-like platform was Ashton Irwin on drums, anchoring the visual centrepiece of the opening sequence, while the rest of the band moved freely along the ring of the stage with controlled chaos and precision. The performance was electric and a testimony to the stardom of the boy band. “No.1 Obsession” and “Teeth” gave the audience a new direction as electric rock ballads carried the momentum forward and established the grand scale theatrical ambitions of the show before Act 2, The Fall, would give way.
“Easier” would show off the band’s range, with a stripped-back, falsetto-heavy sound. The band offered the crowd a pop anthem that spoke to all too relatable anxieties of heartache. To embody a sleek, introspective tone, the stage took on a moody lighting. “More,” “istillfeelthesame,” and “No Shame” followed to reframe the band’s polished pop era through a lens of emotional distance and reflection. The visual language was softened, and fragmented close-ups that mirrored the emotional throughline of the performance would underscore the performance.
Midway through the show, a tongue-in-cheek “PowerPoint Break” was given to the audience, customized to Montreal specifically. “We are prepared, we are professional, we are French Canadian,” Luke Hemmings, lead vocalist of 5SOS, exclaimed. In the form of a simple four-step guide, the PowerPoint playfully chronicled how to become a star in Montreal. 5SOS did their homework to infuse the night with a personalized Quebecois charm to make the audience feel welcome and seen. They engaged the audience with down-to-earth and referential humour that drew upon the audience’s high valence as well as their honed improv skills to express a genuine appreciation for the distinctly Montreal context. From “becoming fluent in French Canadian” to “finding the best poutine,” the band took the audience on a journey through the quintessentials of the city. They cited Celine Dion as a great inspiration and heroic coach that would guide them ultimately to a satirical boy band of the year award set to the song “Boyband.” Lights strobed like paparazzi as mockumentary interviews were sent on, and a fan was brought on stage to give them the award.
If there is one thing 5SOS is keenly aware of, it is the lived experience of fame and the glamour that comes with it. In many ways, the performance acted as a parody of stardom, fixating on the self-consciousness of public image and how the media interprets people. Through Act 3, The Yearning, the stage lights took on a gold recolouration and confetti cannons were set off to the audience’s screams. In “Bad Omens,” the band granted the audience access to their secret brotherhood of teenage dreams come to life. Followed by the dreamy “Ghost of You” and “I’m Scared I’ll Never Sleep Again,” 5SOS brought dreamy camerawork to the stage and revealed that fame might not be all that it’s cracked up to be.
In Act 4, The Break Up, the concert took a dramatic turn. Through a mockumentary-style skit, the band took on a segment where they would announce their breakup, playing on the online speculation of the group’s disbanding. The following section of the concert would consist of four songs, each from one of the band members’ solo releases, with the stage taking on a different affiliated colour for each one, allowing them to shine individually. Luke Hemming’s “Starting Line,” Ashton Irwin’s “Have U Found What Ur Looking For?”, Calum Hood’s “Don’t Forget You Love Me,” and Michael Clifford’s “Enough” each offered something new for the audience. Primarily being ballads, each member of the band offered the audience a taste of their personal sensibilities apart from the music they make as a collective to provide a sense of their individual visions—a clever move to give character to the members and break up the monotony of the conventional concert format.
Act 5, The Rise, recovered the narratively broken band and brought the concert full circle with the band’s breakout hit “Amnesia.” To the laid-back acoustic sound of Michael Clifford’s strumming, the band layered harmonies to create a heartstring-tugging performance that a tear-filled audience of fans who grew up with their music would not soon forget. As a part of a concert tradition, the band would then release their mystery song of the night. Held in a dramatic briefcase aptly labelled 5SOS, a fan from the audience was selected to unveil to the rest of the audience the choice of song that was voted on at the very beginning of the night. In bold impact font, “Don’t Stop” was revealed. The announcement was met with an immediate eruption into full celebration as the band leaned back into the playful energy of their earliest era.
Closing out the concert was Act 6, The Beginning. A tribute to their earliest phase and what made their success so imminent, the crowd was treated to a barrage of metatextual references to fandom in-jokes as 5SOS recovered from their Act 4 parody breakup narrative. In many ways, the sixth act of the concert was a study on what made 5SOS, 5SOS. It was packed with crowd-pleasers like the punk-driven “Voodoo Doll,” the soaring rhapsody of “Jet Black Heart,” and the unmistakable chart-topping “She Looks So Perfect.” The segment transformed the Bell Center into a kinetic celebration of their earliest identity with giant inflatable balloons released into the crowd during the final song. After thirty shows on the tour, the band appeared deeply attuned to the scale and intimacy of their performances, yet still paused to acknowledge that this night felt especially significant.“I know what you’re thinking—he says this every night—I don’t,” Hemmings remarked, “This is your last chance. I don’t know when I’ll see you again. Leave it all here on the dance floor tonight.”
