Visiting Cleveland, “Oh-hee-oh” from the land down under, Australia’s Between You & Me is currently rocking across North America on the second leg of their Sh!t Yeah tour. This is the group’s first ever US headliner tour and I’ll start here by saying it better not be their last. Along for the ride at Mahall’s was Young Culture, Homesafe, and Cherie Amour. This show was so good I ended up going to see it twice – but we’ll talk about that later.
The show kicked off with Cherie Amour, a nu-punk band from Baltimore, Maryland. I had originally thought that I didn’t know them, but when they started their song “Love’s Not Your Thing” I instantly recognized it but couldn’t figure out where from. Through much research and debate (read: “fighting” with my boyfriend and he went and asked their guitar player), I finally figured out that they were at Pittsburgh’s Four Chord Music Festival two years ago, but I only got to hear their set (not see them) because I was working. Anyway, these guys brought some killer energy to the room and were a really good opener, especially for this crowd.
Homesafe was up next, traveling from Chicago, Illinois (one of my favorite cities) to bless our ears with some cool jams. I definitely didn’t know them ahead of time, but when I saw the lineup I immediately went and saved a handful of their songs so I could know at least some of the words. Totally different vibe live than their recordings but in the best way possible. They were a lot more mellow than I expected from a band on this bill! I really enjoy their song “Save Me” – go check it out!
Third on the bill was Young Culture from Albany, New York. I’ve been a pretty big fan of Young Culture for a couple years now and this was my second time seeing them live. I think wearing my YC hoodie may have helped, but these guys are always so sweet to their fans and love to hang out and chat before & after the show. Their set was definitely a favorite, with the whole room screaming the entire time and nonstop crowd surfers. I’m not sure of their history of shows in Cleveland but assuming the proximity to New York, I’m going to take a wild guess that a lot of the people here were early fans and have been following the band for a while. After their set I even heard about some people who were following them for most of the tour… crazy, who would do that?? (apparently I would do that)
During the changeover I somehow made my way to the front row to photograph the first 3 songs and let me tell you, that experience was unforgettable. You know when you’ve waited a really long time for something and then the time finally comes? I can’t say 2 years was a “really” long time, but it’s longer than I’ve had to wait to see most of my favorite bands (perks of the genres I like) so waiting 2 years for BYAM was a lot!
They started their set with “Dakota” which was honestly genius to get the crowd going. I thought for sure this would be their last song so to open with it was wild! They continued on with a good mix of songs from their albums, and even played an unreleased song called “Kill My Vibe,” that just came out this week. Another unexpected twist that I probably should have known at this point, but during the quiet part of “Deadbeat” Jake came out into the crowd and started a wall of death and I didn’t even drop my camera during it!! They closed with another favorite, “Butterflies,” and then had “Goldfish” as their encore.
I left the show thinking I felt complete, until that post-concert depressy hit and I knew something had to be done. My sister lives in Philly, and by some miracle the BYAM Philly show lined up perfectly with her plans to come visit family for the holiday weekend, and thus a plan was born. I’ll spare the details here but let’s just say that one week after seeing this show in Cleveland, I was in Philadelphia seeing it all over again. Only this time, there was a barricade at the front and a few low hanging support beams above us. I wonder if you know where I’m going with this…
Lots of crowd surfing, moshing, and overall fun times. Bassy did a shoey. Yes it was gross. The wildest part? The same part of “Deadbeat” came around and I was wondering how Jake was going to get out into the crowd. No big wall this time – he (allegedly) jumped into the crowd, surfed a little, and then climbed up onto the support beam and continued singing.
I never underestimated them, but I definitely wasn’t expecting that.
Needless to say, both Between You & Me shows that I attended during their Sh!t Yeah tour were insane. Tons of energy, nonstop fun. Even my sister, who had never heard of any of these bands and had never been to a show like this before, left laughing and joking about how silly crowd surfing and moshing is. That’s right, BYAM can even get the boygenius and Noah Kahan girlie to enjoy a pop punk show.
So, do I recommend going to catch any of their remaining shows? Shit yeah.
To view more photos from the show, click on the album below. Photos & article by MEGAN MCGINNIS.
Live from the Pitt 