Highly Suspect
12th November 2023
Trusts Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Doug Peters.
There was almost widespread panic when tickets were first announced for the Highly Suspect tour of Aotearoa, and then promptly sold out. Venue owners had seen nothing like it, as this rather unconventional rock band added more dates to the tour.
For those that are fans however of the boys from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, it makes perfect sense. Not only are they one hell of a fine rock band comprising of members that can give you shivers when they play, but they are led by a ruminative front man who has no fear of shooting straight from the hip with his lyricism.
And for those that follow Highly Suspect (often seen sporting MCID tatts, which stands for My Crew is Dope from the title of their third album) it is this sheer honesty and ability to share exactly what is on his mind without qualm that is half of the band’s appeal.
Trusts Arena was positively heaving when the first band of the evening arrived and then proceeded to tear the stage apart.
Banks Arcade are a band who were rather well known to many in the audience last night having previously been based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Now based in Melbourne the heavy metal stalwarts have only become stronger.
Led by the charismatic Joshua O’Donnell who not only displays exceptional range and control, with the ability to turn it on when he needs to but who also happens to be handy at wielding a guitar and it was obvious to see why they snagged the coveted position of support act for the tour.
With a set that included new single ‘Change’ and stage presence that left jaws gaping, Banks Arcade are a band that is going somewhere and fast. If you haven’t already got a copy of their album Future Lovers released last year, you should be seriously questioning why.
Trusts Arena are a venue that like to keep to a tight schedule, so Highly Suspect hit the stage exactly when advertised. What greeted them were thousands of expectant admirers who were more than ready to give it everything they had and more.
Sorting out the day one fans from the rest, opening track ‘Claudeland’ from their 2015 album Mister Asylum saw those down front lose their minds as they shook themselves like rag dolls to the unadulterated rock n roll undertones.
Having recently been interviewed on local radio station The Rock, lead vocalist Johnny Stevens discussed how the band had been working on new material and that New Zealand would be one of the first to hear it played live.
Keeping his promise and following a downright blistering version of ‘Bloodfeather’ that saw the crowd throw back their heads in united song, Stevens introduced ‘Blue Eyed Devil’ which was then dedicated to New Zealand “forever and always”. Not a bad way to start the night and they were only a few songs in…
There is a magnetism to Johnny Stevens that cannot be denied; unpredictable, he almost prowls the stage, his guitar anchored to him and yet at times seemingly just another limb with how naturally he pulls melodies and solos from it.
Vocally, Stevens can move from a whisper to a husky scream that always sounds like it comes straight from the heart. This is not an easy feat when one considers how often a band plays certain songs across a tour, yet he manages to deliver it each and every time.
Flanked by Rich Meyer on bass and his twin brother Ryan Meyer on drums, Stevens often plays off them both, the trio having been together from the start and the relationship shows. More ‘recent’ additions to the band in the form of Matt Kofos on guitar and Mark Schwartz on keys only elevating their overall intricate sound.
Moving into ‘Canals’ with poignant lyrics revolving around the atrocities of Trump and Putin, and the crowd chanted back ever single line with reverence, Stevens truly testing their tenacity when he moved into ‘Natural Born Killer’ and then promptly stopped the song pointing out that he knew for a fact that it had made it into The Rock 2000 Countdown and that he expected everyone to do better.
Kiwis love to prove their favourite band right, and so as the song restarted a wall of sound rose from the bowels of the arena, bringing a sly grin to Steven’s face.
‘Lost’ proved that bassist Rich Meyer has quite the talent when it comes to vocals too, his rich, velvety octaves welcomed by all, ‘Serotonia’ coming in behind and taken over by the crowd as they sang the opening verse word for word which appeared to highly amuse Stevens as he later mused on the fact that New Zealand must be quite the experts at masturbation considering how enthusiastically they sang along.
While track after track kept the audience whipped into a frenzy – Stevens even starting a circle pit later in the set to really keep things moving – Highly Suspect also ensured that it was no ‘paint by numbers’ night of musical revelry.
Some of the best highlights of the night were when the band went off on a tangent, Stevens lost in his own guitar from which he elicited dulcet tones before taking it into aching chords of loss and regret, at one point he even played it on the floor.
These moments almost seemed private, as if you had opened the wrong door and stumbled in on a jam session between friends, the ever-shifting tempos of certain tracks ensuring that nothing was as expected.
Finishing the set on yet another new song by the name of ‘Suicide Machine’ the band went to leave the stage for the usual encore game, however due to strict curfews, they instead promptly picked their instruments back up and launched straight into it, Stevens joking that everyone “must have to go to bed or something”.
‘My Name is Human’ was accompanied by killer stage lighting and of course thousands of voices singing along with them, before Johnny laid down his guitar and began to pace the stage, his demeanour one of urgency. As ‘Pink Lullabye’ from their last album The Midnight Demon Club exploded across the stage, patrons took the opportunity to lose it one last time, the track easily one of the heaviest in their repertoire and the closest the band comes to actual metal music.
There is no question that Highly Suspect have moved from strength to strength with each and every album, their live performances always something to witness. One can only imagine what delights the new album will bring!
Highly Suspect:
Banks Arcade:
Were you there at Trusts Arena for this high energy rock gig? Or have you seen Highly Suspect perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Claudeland
- Mexico
- Bloodfeather
- Blue Eyed Devil
- Canals
- Natural Born Killer
- Lost
- Serotonia
- Bath Salts
- Lydia
- Wolf
- Suicide Machine
- My Name is Human [encore]
- Pink Lullabye [encore]
Note: Ambient Light was provided passes to review and photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only. This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase a product using an affiliate link, Ambient Light will automatically receive a small commission at no cost to you.
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