STAND ATLANTIC ‘WAS HERE’ AS THEY TAKE FRANKSTON BY STORM

LIVE REVIEW | STAND ATLANTIC w/ Cry Club and RedHook | PIER BANDROOM, FRANKSTON by Kayleigh Nickson

After the success from their newest album ‘WAS HERE‘, Stand Atlantic hit the road on a regional tour across Australia. I managed to catch the Sydney based pop-punk band headline the Pier Bandroom in Frankston, Victoria on Saturday. They were joined by Cry Club and RedHook. 

Cry Club are a queer bubblegum punk band who opened up the show. I knew nothing about this band before the show but I was impressed and they will be added to the forever growing The Hidden Playlist. The trademark red glittery tears and the expressive performance caught my attention but the music had me immersed. They performed some of their hit songs including ‘DFTM‘ and ‘High Voltage Anxiety‘. ‘DFTM’ explores the ongoing issue of people not respecting physical boundaries at concerts and High Voltage Anxiety is their newest single which was released 29^th November 2024. It’s a shame that not everyone had gotten into the venue while they were performing because I know more people would’ve loved to hear them.  

RedHook clearly have a big following in the area because the response from the crowd gave me chills. The rock band from Sydney had everyone engaged and rowdy. If I didn’t know that they were the support band, I would’ve assumed that they were the headliner just by the crowd’s reaction. By the third song, they had a bubble machine going off and a few people in the front row were joining in by blowing bubbles, I didn’t expect it but it definitely added to the atmosphere. Bubbles, headbanging and great stage presence is all they needed to have the crowd in the palms of their hands. They finished their set with ‘Bad Decisions‘ which was the perfect ending with everyone ready for the main act. 

I had seen Stand Atlantic support Waterparks in the UK in November 2023 and I didn’t think they could out-do that performance but clearly they are more in their element at their own headline show.  

They opened their set with ‘WAKE UP-SIT DOWN-SHUT UP‘ and I was instantly mesmerised, I knew I was in for one hell of a night. They played the first handful of songs back to back before taking a minute to get the audience participating for ‘SEX ON THE BEACH‘, everyone screaming “hell yeah” along with the music.  

They played a mix of old and new songs, it felt like the perfect balance. About halfway through their set, they slowed it down by performing the first half of the classic song ‘Toothpick‘ before changing it to a cover of ‘Drops of Jupiter‘ by Train. Prior to performing ‘NOSEBLEED‘, lead singer, Bonnie tells the audience that she’ll be starting the song facing away from everyone because the song starts with only her, her guitar and the crowd – the rest of the band join in later – and the crowd always sings out of time and it distracts her and makes her mess up.  

For ‘Pity Party‘, Bonnie requests that the audience helps their crew member Andrew crowd surf during the song she adds “Please don’t drop him, we need him”. They tried their best but it didn’t last long before he disappeared into the sea of people. It’s not a pop-punk show without crowd surfing or moshpits and this show was no different, there was an attempted wall of death for ‘Dumb‘ and I personally think it would’ve been more successful if it was during a different song.  

They finished the show with ‘GIRL$‘, with Bonnie telling everyone to get down until the beat dropped and usually when bands try this, not everyone joins, but this is the most I have seen a crowd participate. Everyone I could see was down and ready for the beat to drop and everyone went crazy.  

Overall, I had an amazing time at the gig and Stand Atlantic gave stadium show energy for a 1,200 capacity venue as well as amazing vocals and the bassist and guitarist spinning around. The energy never faltered during the 20 song set and I am already excited to see what’s next for them. 

The deluxe version of ‘WAS HERE‘ will be released on 16^th May and features 2 remixes and 2 new songs including ‘I’M THE MAN‘ featuring Lauren Sanderson which was released 4^th April. 

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