Live Review: 'Fuck ScoMo' Chants & Pink Socks: Inside YUNGBLUD's Melbourne Show

The UK's rowdy pop-punk rebel Dominic "YUNGBLUD" Harrison is already a hero in Melbourne. On the same day that Falls Festival in Lorne, Victoria was cancelled due to extreme weather conditions, he and promoters hurriedly organised two back-to-back fundraising gigs for rural fire services at The Tote. Tonight's sold-out official all-ages sideshow at The Forum has the same energy. But, saliently, it turns into a spontaneous protest of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's dire response to the climate emergency. Harrison has been quick to discern the sentiment of Australia's Gen Z. Indeed, his fans (known as the Black Hearts Club) have brought "Fuck ScoMo" signs and, later, there are chants (footage of which goes viral). It's not OK, boomer.

Harrison's opening act is Kira Puru – an intelligent choice in that she has her own vibe: empowering, soulfully resonant R&B, disco and pop. And the emo audience loves the Why Don't We Get Along queen.

Kira Puru @ The Forum. Photo by Andrew Briscoe.

YUNGBLUD, bolstered by a tight band heavy on guitar, bursts onto the stage right on time with the title track from 2018's debut album, 21st Century Liability, leading into Parents. Like slowthai, the Northern lad references Britain's punk heritage as well as hip hop. But, though he often evokes the Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten, Harrison extols emotional truths and progressive social momentum over nihilistic iconoclasm. Either way, his brand is being "really fookin' loud". The rager acknowledges his local following, thanking Melburnians (well, Aussies) for supporting him as early as 2017. He talks passionately, too, about LGBTQIA+ inclusivity.

Harrison plays his YUNGBLUD canon – most notably the ska I Love You, Will You Marry Me, a poignant tale of a working-class Romeo And Juliet and gentrification. Even bigger is the punk-funk bop Anarchist. Then there is Harrison's unlikely, and sobering, hit Polygraph Eyes, about dismantling toxic masculinity – something he describes as "very important".

YUNGBLUD @ The Forum. Photo by Andrew Briscoe.

However, Harrison also draws solidly from October's EP, The Underrated Youth. The single Original Me works exceptionally as a live anthem with its EDM dynamics, as does 2019's loosie Loner. The crowd at the front parts for Harrison as he performs a bare Kill Somebody, punters singing along… cheerfully. Back on a platform, Harrison reconfigures his Machine Gun Kelly collab I Think I'm Okay as a solo cut and pulls out the recent Casual Sabotage, which, on this occasion, sounds less like Lil Peep than Brit-pop – the muso picking up an acoustic guitar. 

The greatest surprise comes when the BBC Music Sound Of 2020 nominee revisits that acclaimed cover of Death Cab For Cutie's 2000s emo ballad I Will Follow You Into The Dark from triple j's Like A Version – which, again, shows his versatility. Harrison's three-song encore is the ideal climax. During the sanguine Hope For The Underrated Youth, he bounces around with a rainbow flag. The showdown is Machine Gun (Fuck The NRA). Harrison announces that, as is ritual, he'll meet his Black Hearts in The Forum's alleyway post-gig. Outside, hipster parents wait patiently for their kids.

Australia is burning. To donate to the Red Cross' Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund follow the link here.