3 November 2022 – The Forum Melbourne – words and pictures by Ashlea Caygill
Seeing a band play at the magnificent Forum in Melbourne is always such a treat and being able to see one of my favourite bands, Parcels play there was going to be such an amazing experience.
Despite it being a weekday, the crowd was keen and you could feel the excitement building as I checked into the box office. I got through the crowd just in time to catch support Velvet Trip and their lush psych-rock inflected set.
But everyone was there to see Parcels, touring off the back of their latest release Day/Night. With a perfect storm of strobes and primary coloured lighting the band kicks off with ‘Lightenup’ and ‘Gamesofluck’ with the band all up on the drum riser. Everyone went nuts when they heard the intro notes of ‘Comingback’.
“Let’s make it a little warmer, the aircon is a little too cold. Beautiful venue, I always wanted to play here. Thanks for selling it out for us…” we are told and the venue is washed in warm red lights. Everyone is singing along “lets get down to work” to ‘Tieduprightnow’ and having a great time with phones out and plenty of dancing.
The thing that I notice about this gig is the consideration that has gone into creating an atmosphere with the lighting complimenting each song perfectly. The set runs through ‘Theworstthing’, ‘Shadow’, ‘LordHenry’ and ‘Overnight’ setting up for a brilliant cover of Spiller’s ‘Groovejet’ with the stage awash with pink and orange.
Running through what was a huge set, we got ‘Bemyself’ among others and what I thought would be their final song ‘Famous’ but the party continued and we got a further 5 songs that included ‘IknowhowIfeel’ and finished with ‘Somethinggreater’.
Parcels were an absolute delight to see live, their interactions with the crowd made everyone feel part of the show, joining in to create a great atmosphere “…put your hands in the air we are turning this into a club!” and “…have you still got more in you Melbourne?!” And the crowd did.
