After breaking up in 2009, The Getaway Plan reformed for two performances for charity, news that sent kids everywhere into a frenzy. The Getaway Plan was at their peak last year when they announced their breakup, leaving fans everywhere devastated. Titled REVIVAL – This Is Not The End Of Your Story, the proceeds from these two shows were donated to the non-profit movement To Write Love On Her Arms, as well as being a stage for TWLOHA to share their mission with the audience. TWLOHA is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. It was encouraging to see that the 18+ show sold out the same day tickets were released and that the under 18 show was at near capacity.

Opening act for the night, Cheerleader, played a relatively interesting set. Unfortunately, they just didn’t tick the boxes for me and I wasn’t won over by their songs or live performance. That’s not saying that they were bad performers or that their songs weren’t good, it just wasn’t captivating enough.  Lead singer, Simone Gustafsson, has a strong voice and the melodies were well suited to her vocal range. There’s nothing more annoying than singers who write melodies that they can’t hit live. She not only handled vocal duties, but also played bass and synth on some tracks. A girl, who not only sings, but also plays bass? I definitely have respect for her. However, some of the synth parts were pretty unnecessary and regular bass would have sufficed. The only song where I felt the synth was necessary was the last track of the set, “Oh Earthly Ghost”. The synth line was interesting and creative, and used well to add to the atmosphere of the song. Perhaps the most notable player though was Aaron Barnett, of The Getaway Plan fame, playing drums. A quick lurk of Cheerleader’s myspace confirms that he is indeed their permanent drummer, but a new member to the group. He wasn’t his usual overly enthusiastic self when performing, and he didn’t draw my attention to him and have me mesmerised like he usually does when he’s drumming. Other than one or two interesting parts, the drumming felt a little average to me.  Guitarist, Paul Tripodi, seemed like the most enthusiastic player and seemed to really be enjoying himself on stage. I liked that his guitar lines were minimal and quite simple at times, and that he could add so much with just that. There were also some nice guitar parts on his behalf. There was a slight balancing problem and he was a little too loud, which was grating at times, but other than that, a good performance. The second guitarist of the band, Stuart Grigg, was awkwardly placed stage right just a little too far away from the rest of the band. But unlike Tripodi, his guitar was definitely not loud enough and it was hard to hear his part. There was one song where he opened the song with a little guitar line, but other than that, I can’t say I could hear what he was playing. Overall, each musician of Cheerleader was great in what they did and were pretty solid in their performance, but it just didn’t spare any interest for me. However, it was good to see that there were a number of members in the audience who were digging it. I guess their brand of catchy indie pop just wasn’t my thing, but there are others who were perfectly content with it.

Up next we had Secrets In Scale who I have seen a handful of times this year already and I never cease to be amazed by them. They remind me of a mellower The Fall of Troy, as well as having tendencies to sound a bit like Queen and Muse. They are very talented musicians who write very challenging songs which are both interesting as a finished product but also exciting technically. They opened their set with singer/guitarist David McGuire playing an intro on keys which was pretty impressive. It was more epic, classical sounding than jazz/bluesy. D. McGuire has a very unique voice, with a great tonality and impressive vocal range, which is showcased excellently in Secret In Scale’s songs. Drummer John McGuire is a joy to watch as he seems to enjoy himself so much when performing. His drumming supports D. McGuire well and they complement each other and maintain a good balance of sound all the time. The drums on “This Love”, especially the part with the floor toms, melt my heart. “This Love” is particularly The Fall of Troy-esque, especially with its seemingly changing time signature, musical break and frantic guitar lines. The most impressive song technically has to be “Hero Boy”. It seems to be ridiculously written with a 9/8 time signature and floats effortlessly between that and 4/4.  This song also boasts an impressive running guitar line, which D. McGuire manages to nail whilst singing at the same time. Secrets In Scale predictably closed with “Monkey Island” which uses a pre-recorded drum sample and gives drummer J.McGuire a chance to sing, showing off his surprisingly impressive voice. The song then leads to singer D.McGuire having a little drum break and then ends with the performers dancing around stage like monkeys whilst making complementary monkey noises, which is always fun to watch, especially if you’ve seen it before and watch how everyone else reacts to it. Some of you might not know that Secrets In Scale is in fact a two piece and have a revolving guest bassist for live performances, and tonight on bass was Beau McKee, guitarist of local band Closure In Moscow. He did a notable job on bass and performed well with the McGuire boys.  Secrets In Scale have a bunch of solid songs up their sleeves, full of interesting tricks to keep their audience interested as well as impressed. I don’t think tonight’s crowd were as won over by them as I was, but they did seem to have their handful of fans in the crowd. Secrets In Scale once again definitely did not fail to deliver, and I would recommend that anyone who has a chance to go see them to definitely take that opportunity and grab their ep for free of their myspace.

The last of the supporting bands for the night, Stealing O’Neal, were greeted by a very enthusiastic crowd. Stealing O’Neal is a band who is pretty big on the circuit, having scored impressive support slots for bands such as The Used, The Ataris and All Time Low, and I’m a fan of their previous EP’s but I stopped really following them a couple of years back. They are back this year with the upcoming release of their debut album, and it seems the kids are keen to see them. Stealing O’Neal opened their set with two new songs from their upcoming album, and these tracks perfectly exhibit their catchy pop-rock sound. Guitarists Jack Tosi and Tim O’Keefe seem to have mastered their writing skills and have crafted some riffs very typical to the Stealing O’Neal sound. Singer Chris Scott also still has his ridiculous, yet very entertaining, accent when he sings. They then decide to throw in an old song and play “Chin Up Baby”, which the crowd seemed very impressed with, and enjoy the hell out of. Drummer Ryan D’Sylva is still as impressive as always and I am absolutely captivated by his performance. He isn’t necessarily playing anything too technical but he performs with such energy and really puts his all into it.  Between songs, Scott paces back and forth and works the crowd up, he definitely has a strong personality. A couple more new songs were played, and overall these songs are sounding very solid and I am now looking forward to picking up their album Don’t Sleep when it comes out next month. Stealing O’Neal close their set with “Bedroom Eyes”, the opening track off their first EP, and it’s a good choice. Bassist Tom Fleminghas a great bass line in this song and he steps up and performs, nailing his bass part. Stealing O’Neal exit the stage leaving their fans happy, satisfied, and excited for the new album. For such a short set, I think they’ve perfectly ordered their song choice with both new songs and old ones, and they gave a great, solid performance.

And then, the band everyone was waiting this whole night for, The Getaway Plan. Almost 18 months since their break up, everyone in the room was buzzing with excitement to see these boys play again. They exploded into their set with single “Streetlight” and that got the crowd moving. At the very start of the set I felt like singer, Matthew Wright, was perhaps struggling a little bit and that his voice wasn’t as strong as it was the last I’d seen The Getaway Plan, but as the set progressed he seemed to find his voice and gradually got more comfortable. The Getaway Plan was as tight as ever and played their songs with as much energy and enthusiasm as every other time that I have seen them. To slow things down a little, they played “The Tempest” which Wright stated was his favourite song that they’d ever written and that most of the crowd probably wouldn’t know it. And he was right, most people didn’t know it but it felt like a good way for the crowd to stand still and just absorb everything. There were a few fans who knew the song though and they sang along loud and proud. Following this was “Shadows” which is another single from debut album Other Voices, Other Rooms and a good choice to get the crowd pumped again. The only other old song in the set was “The New Year” from 2006’s Hold Conversation EP, and this left me a little disappointed at the lack of older songs from the demo and EP days.  After a few more songs, The Getaway Plan closed with “Where The City Meets The Sea”, only to return to the stage for an inevitable encore and closed with “Rhapsody On A Windy Hill”, which in my opinion is a much better set closer than “Where The City Meets The Sea”.

The Getaway Plan gave a solid and very enjoyable performance, and it was a pretty amazing experience to be seeing a band, whom a lot of people have grown up with over the past 5 years, one more time. Drummer Aaron Barnett was once again an outstanding performer for me. He plays with such passion and enthusiasm, I always find myself so captivated by him. Guitarist Clint Splattering always flourishes with his little guitar parts that add a very nice texture to songs (see “A Lover’s Complaint”, second verse). My only criticism is the small guitar interlude part in “Where The City Meets The Sea” sounded a little off. Bassist Dave Anderson was rocking a pretty badass moustache, and was cool and collected as always.

But the last 18 months did have their effect on the band as a whole. As musicians and performance wise, The Getaway Plan were pretty solid and I have nothing but mostly praise for them. But as a group, they just didn’t seem as cohesive as they once were. The last 3 tours on the back of Other Voices, Other Rooms , The Getaway Plan not only played great music but they had developed a way to make themselves look like a group, using set, coordinating outfits as well as other elements.  This time around, Barnett and Anderson seemed their usual casual selves, Wright’s getup was clearly influenced by his indie side project Young Heretics, and Splattering was sporting a Hopeless t-shirt, a band that his new band, The Amity Affliction, have recently toured with. They looked more like a bunch of musicians playing together, rather than a group. But at the end of the day, it is about the music, and amid speculations that The Getaway Plan are getting back together,  it should be interesting to see how the time off and other musical endeavours will affect them if they do indeed reform and write new music.

We must not forget the purpose behind this gig though. Organised by Staple Management and Jacquie Redfern in partnership with To Write Love On Her Arms, Revival was put together to raise awareness for youth depression and all proceeds from the gig were for TWLOHA. TWLOHA is a non-profit that we at positivexposure fully support and even covered an interview with founder Jamie Tworkowski in our very first issue. During the night between bands there were representatives from TWLOHA speaking to the audience and it’s always hard to get up at a gig and try to speak to people, but I think, and I really hope, that their message got through to some people. TWLOHA’s growing presence at music festivals and gigs in Australia is encouraging to see, and I hope this is something that continues to grow.

If you, or anyone you know, are dealing with these issues, please know that you are not alone and seek either professional help or open up to someone that you trust in your life.  You will be surprised by the support that you can receive if you let yourself open up.  For more information and resources visit www.twloha.com.

THE GETAWAY PLAN SETLIST:

Streetlight
Sleep Spindles
New Medicine (Stay With Me)
The Tempest
Shadows
A Lover’s Complaint
The New Year
Red Flag
Where The City Meets The Sea
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Entr’acte
Rhapsody On A Windy Night