Midway through his Thursday night show at Enmore Theatre in Sydney, Luke Hemmings looked slightly lost for words.
For the boy from New South Wales who rose to become a global phenomenon as part of 5 Seconds of Summer, one of the world’s biggest boy bands of their generation, a solo show in his home state was a very big deal indeed. Here he was, presumably performing in front of family, friends, and faces who walked the same streets he once walked. Making his own music, on his own terms.
“Sydney, how the bloody hell are ya?” Hemmings asked the Enmore Theatre crowd. Dressed in an almost vampiric-looking suit, he looked very different to the burgeoning boyband member that starred on posters on childhood walls around Australia a decade ago. With his bleach blond hair, painted fingernails, and sparkly eye makeup, he was a formidable presence on stage.
Earlier this year, Hemmings released his new solo project, boy. The record contained a collection of songs Hemmings wrote about questioning everything in his life up until this point. The life of someone on the scent to global pop stardom has its many benefits, but it also means you miss out on a lot of things other people take for granted.
With boy clearly being very personal to Hemmings, he performed the record’s songs with power and passion inside Enmore Theatre.
After a lively and fun opening by The Buoys, Hemming’s kicked his set off with “A Beautiful Dream”. Swinging out onto the stage like an experienced ’80s rocker, Hemming’s sung of wanting someone to stay with him for a little longer. Next, he jumped into “Motion” off his 2021 album, When Facing the Things We Turn Away From, a song about the blurring of reality and not being able to trust one’s own thoughts.
The beauty of Hemming’s singing voice really came to the fore in these songs, although at times during his set, the loudness of the music threatened to swallow up his vocals.
@supercutfeelings too good 😭😭😭 #lukehemmings #sydney #concerts #5secondsofsummer #5sos #fyp #fy @enmoretheatre
♬ original sound – soph
Later in the night, Hemmings spoke of how he usually must introduce himself as “Luke from Sydney, Australia.” But being in that very city, as Hemmings noted, had “a bit more meaning.”
“I usually have to try to speak a bit more American so people can understand what I’m saying. But here I don’t need to do that,” he happily told the crowd.
Speaking of his love for his home country, he later said, “I have flown 16 hours just to walk into a coffee shop and say, ‘G’day mate, how are ya, could I please order a flat white?’ And have them know what I’m talking about!”
It was during these moments where Hemming’s ease with the crowd could clearly be seen. Here was a performer who has worked many a room, from the Annandale Hotel to Wembley Stadium. He knew exactly what to say and what to do to get the crowd going.
A cover of The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love” went down very well, before Hemmings jumped into one of his most popular songs, “Shakes”.
“I wrote a lot of these songs in other places about wanting to be in this place [Sydney]. So, to get to be here, in the place I wanted to be and sing them in front of my family and friends is very special,” Hemmings said, the emotion evident in his face.
Luke Hemmings’ boy is out now.
