The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Boyband in the World: A Commentary on Fame in 5 Seconds of Summer's Everyone's a Star Tour

I've come to greatly appreciate the thought that goes into planning tours, as more and more artists take on the storytelling approach to their performances instead of just playing through their discography. 5 Seconds of Summer is the perfect example of how this storytelling can not only be used to frame the structure of the show, but can also comment on topics impacting our world, the band, or their fans.

5SOS opened their Austin show in the most predictable way possible: by being late to their own set. What better way to keep their fans entertained than by playing silly songs that they can dance to. However, the crowd got quite the shock halfway through dancing the Macarena as the arena went dark and the screens behind the stage roared to life with the documentary style intro visuals.

The show opens with Act I - The Peak. This part of the set chronicles the band's greatest successes, including coming onto the stage via limo, playing some of their greatest hits, and overall hyping up the stereotypical boyband aesthetic that they were placed into since their start in the industry. They opened with 'Not OK' from their newest album, followed by 'Obsession' and 'Teeth', even surprising fans (and the photographers) with a confetti blast in the first few songs. I was still in the photo pit and I've never experienced a moment that felt like this in live music. Everyone was in a state of euphoria as confetti rained down on us. I took a moment to take in the arena around me and I will never forget the buzz of energy that was somehow louder than the screaming of lyrics all around me.

With the closing of 'Teeth', we descend into Act II - The Fall. Here, the cracks within the band start to become more apparent. Despite events that would portray as the peak of their careers, the angst and grittiness of their time as a band becomes more apparent. The first half of this act opens with 'Easier', leading into 'More', 'istillfeelthesame', and closes with 'No Shame'. Then the band takes a brief intermission to present a powerpoint on the city they're in, discussing how they spend their time while in the city, the places that they visit, and just taking a moment to be present with the fans.

Following the powerpoint break, they seem to lean into the boyband of it all, trying to suppress the negative feelings and animosity that come with the increased fame. The band plays more of their hits, starting with 'She's Kinda Hot'. Following the closing of She's Kinda Hot, the band accepts the "Boyband Of The Year" award from a lucky fan on stage. The camera follows them around the stage as they accept the award, even allowing them a moment to thank their fans in an acceptance speech before they bust into 'Boyband', 'Telephone Busy', and 'Evolve'.

The arena definitely feels the emotions starting to bubble up leading into Act III - The Yearning. Playing songs like 'Bad Omens', 'Ghost of You', and 'I'm Scared I'll Never Sleep Again', the crowd went wild screaming the lyrics while also in tears. The short-lived act follows some of the bands most beautiful, haunting songs about love. The tension in the arena definitely built, the emotions from the band and the crowd alike coming to a head leading from this act into Act IV.

Despite their best efforts to suppress these emotions, the band ultimately falls apart as we come into Act IV - The Breakup. A bit of satirical comedy cut the dramatic tension in this part, with cues back to the documentary with each band member finding out that they were "breaking up". This part felt as though it was poking fun to the Jonas Brothers' Chasing Happiness documentary and the story of them recounting their brief breakup. The documentary led to an eruption of giggles from the audience prior to the start of the songs for this set.

During this part, each band member plays a song from their personal projects solo at the front of the circle catwalk. From Luke, we heard 'Starting Line'. We saw 'Have U Found What Ur Looking For?' From Ashton. Next, 'Don't Forget You Love Me' from Calum. Finally, 'Enough' from Michael. This was such a beautiful part of the set to experience as a more casual fan watching for fan reactions here. I feel like often when bands form, especially boy bands, everyone will have their favorite band member, and if the band goes on to do solo projects, only parts of the fanbase will engage with their solo work. However, each and every fan was engaging and singing the words to the solo songs for each of the guys. The fandom truly loves each of them both solo and together and it was so refreshing to see that energy projected onto them.

Much like real life, after going solo for a little while and experiencing what that life feels like, the band decided to reunite in Act V - The Rise. After their reunion, they play one of the most popular songs from their self titled 2014 album, 'Amnesia'. This personally was one of my favorite parts of the show, simply because that song went triple platinum on my iPod nano. Before the show started, the screens displayed a QR code for fans to scan and vote on a surprise song that would play after 'Amnesia'. However, the Austin show was special. The fans still got to vote on the surprise song, but the band completely vetoed the vote and took control for Fathers' Day, playing 'Cool Dad' as the surprise song, celebrating half of the band as fathers.

The end of 'Cool Dad' leads us into the final part of the show, Act VI - The Beginning. Here, the band revisits many of the songs that formed their careers and where many of the fans joined the fandom. With songs like 'English Love Affair', 'Voodoo Doll', 'Waste the Night', and 'Jet Black Heart', the fans had forgotten any of the animosity and drama that occurred earlier in the night and absolutely screamed their heart out. Finally, we hit the last song of the setlist, 'She Looks So Perfect'. I will admit, this was my first time hearing this song live and I was in tears at the pure stream of dopamine from the nostalgia of finally hearing them play this song after 12 years of listening to this band. It seemed as much of the venue felt similarly, with everyone of all ages screaming the words around me.

There was this older mom in front of me with her young adult daughter absolutely having a blast during this song, and that moment solidified that this is what live music is about. The guys have done an incredible job of creating this environment for their fans that celebrates their fans and their attachment to their music, no matter which era the fans joined in. It was such a special experience and a dopamine high that I have been chasing since the show ended.

Finally, after the lights went dark in the arena, the fans erupted in the "5SOS! 5SOS! 5SOS!" chant. That moment was so powerful to take part in. The concept of an encore is really overplayed at this point in live music, as artists always do the same thing, they leave the songs that they obviously are going to play until the very end and then they fake end the show with an obvious second ending coming shortly after. For many shows, I think fans tend to not play into the bit anymore but this crowd was so genuinely excited for the band to come back out and play. Their energy was absolutely electric from the moment the guys left the stage until the moment they walked back out to play 'Everyone's A Star' and 'Youngblood'. This combo of songs in an encore was so iconic and was one of the most fun parts of the set. I got to dance and scream alongside the fans beside me and it felt like peak #girlhood. I think these memories made at this show will play in slow motion in my brain forever.

If you haven't bought tickets to see 5SOS yet, catch the rest of their tour dates on their website and keep up with their music wherever you stream music (or below!). Finally, make sure to check out our full gallery from the show below.

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