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Name me a band that can do all of the following in 2007 (P.S.: You already know that the answer is Marianas Trench, right?):

- invite singalongs so consistently riotous and loud that the singer (in this case, Josh Ramsay doesn’t even have to sing at all

- cause girls to maul and fall over each other trying to catch half finished water bottles and guitar picks, not to mention outright fainting. I saw at least three completely limp girls being carried out by security, potato sack style

- bounce from their signature pop-punk style to acappella in perfect harmony (And So It Goes) and then to covering classic The Beach Boys

- have a singer with so much charisma and influence that the audience is silent when he speaks and does silly things like untie his shoelaces when he wafts through the crowd

- be so over-the-top genuine and nice that they man their own merch table for over an hour after the show, patiently selling and signing merch for every last person in line, long after the venue doors have closed

Marianas Trench were absolutely on FIRE tonight. I can’t believe they didn’t sell out of merch - or maybe they were expecting it. The Opera House was rammed with fans, 98% of which were completely decked out in Marianas wear. The band played for a full hour and the crowd was super excited right from the start - singer Josh Ramsay likened it to sex, saying “you don’t just stick it in right away…gotta have some foreplay. We’re at about second base now. Let’s see if we can round homeplate by the end” and then launching into September. They proceeded to ramp up the intensity as they cycled through the majority of their catalogue.

When the band left the stage just before 11pm, there was an immediate chant absolutely DEMANDING Shake Tramp. Before they played it, though, they offered up a cover of The Beach Boys‘ Good Vibrations…and it sounded superb! Then came Shake Tramp, and I kinda feared for my life at that point; the room was shaking so much and the audience’s fervour completely peaked, with the sweaty masses pushing their way to the front to inch closer to the stage. Openers Birds Of Wales toppled on stage to dance and scream along…they were frighteningly into it. And I have to admit that hearing a room of teenagers scream Try a little more, little more, little more / Slap you like a bitch and you take it like a whore at the top of their lungs was more than a little odd.

Then Josh announced that he wanted to ‘hang out’ with everyone after the show, so the band would be heading over to the merch table to chat with fans. I don’t think he anticipated that literally the ENTIRE crowd was going to rush the merch stand the moment he uttered the words. It was a bit of a shitfest - security trying to usher people out, a huge swarm already forming near the front exit, and people trying to guess which way Josh & crew were going to exit off the stage in order to get first dibs on pics and autographs. The crowd was thick and hardly moved at all.

Nearly an hour later, the venue had to be evacuated, so drummer Ian made the announcement that they’d continue signing stuff and taking pics outside (pictured above). People got trampled as girls rushed outside to form a line to meet the band.

I really can’t get over the sheer insanity and dedication of these fans - I haven’t seen mayhem like this over a band since, I dunno…Backstreet Boys, maybe? It was like Beatlemania or something. Josh Ramsay could possibly be the new JT.

Here’s a pic that Josh took of the pair of us!!

Posted on Friday, October 5th, 2007 at 12:03 am by Wendy and is filed under Concerts & Events.

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