3 November 2023 – Forum, Melbourne – words by Shayla Clarke – pictures by Nicole Smith-Walker
The Vanns kicked off their ‘Last of Your Kind’ Australian tour on Friday night, playing to a packed crowd at the Forum Melbourne.
Launching the night was the Brisbane-based band, Shag Rock, who were the perfect group to support such a show. An incredibly large crowd got in early to see their set, full of indie-rock tracks. Their fans erupted when they played their most popular track ‘Sunbleached Girl’ which has clocked up over 35 million streams on Spotify.
Then it was time for the headliners. The Vanns took to the stage where they opened with ‘Ever’ – a song that comes from their most recent album release that dropped in May of this year. This is a song that I’ve personally had on repeat since I first heard it, and it was perfectly performed.
Jimmy Vann would have to be one of the best live vocalists I’ve seen in recent times. You could have closed your eyes and thought you were listening to the songs through your headphones.
The second track for the night was ‘Mother’ which is one of the most popular songs that comes from their debut album ‘Through the Walls’. This song was the band’s guitarist, Cameron Little’s, time to shine. He performed a guitar solo that absolutely captivated the crowd, with the person standing beside me turning to their friends to say, “he is one of the best guitarists I’ve ever seen”.
There was plenty of crowd interaction throughout the night, with the band stating that the Forum Melbourne was a great venue to kick off their tour. Having recently played at local venues like Festival Hall and The Espy, this venue is one of the most recognisable ones to play in Melbourne (and definitely the most beautiful in my opinion).
A song that took me by surprise was ‘Last of Your Kind’ which is the title of the most recent album. There were moments that involved the vocals of everyone in the band, where they all shouted the lyrics “take my hand, take me home”. Everyone in attendance had no issues shouting those lyrics out also.
The band then performed their cover of Bon Iver’s ‘Hey, Ma’ which they famously covered as their triple j Like A Version back in 2020. Phone torches were being waved, people were on shoulders, and the crowd were singing this back at the top of their lungs.
‘Fake Friends’ was the most electric song of the night and is undoubtedly their most popular song – and rightfully so. This song culminated the night in the sense that everyone was belting this one out and the presence on stage was phenomenal. The vocals, the guitars and drums, the lighting – everything. This track was my favourite performance of the night.
Not long after, the band left the stage. The passionate crowd were chanting and stomping for one more song to be played. If you’ve ever been to the Forum Melbourne, you know that the stomping makes the whole venue shake. Shortly followed the return of the band to the stage where they wrapped up the night with ‘Haunted’ and ‘Sunday to Sunday’.
It’s been amazing to see how this band have progressed over the years and it definitely wasn’t the last time that I will see them.
The Vanns will be continuing the rest of their Australian tour during November with shows in Fremantle, Sydney & Brisbane still to come – it’s definitely a show worth seeing.
