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Inside Between You & Me’s Energetic SH!T YEAH Tour Stop in Philadelphia

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MusicLive CoverageInside Between You & Me's Energetic SH!T YEAH Tour Stop in Philadelphia

Inside Between You & Me’s Energetic SH!T YEAH Tour Stop in Philadelphia

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“Philly on a Monday” was a phrase the patrons of the Foundry at the Fillmore celebrated the night Australia’s Between You & Me rolled through town. Despite the typically dreary connotation of the weekday and the band’s being 10,000 miles from home, the spirit in the room ran as high as their pop punk-fueled, pogo stick-level leaps through the air. Absorbing their energy like the warm rays of an Australian sun, the crowd’s consistent crowdsurfing right out of the gate indicated we were all in for an enthusiasm-packed night.

The band began their set by hopping (literally) into “Dakota,” a fan favorite from their very first record titled Everything Is Temporary; and that ‘fan favorite’ status shined. The moment guitarist Chris Bowerman let Between You & Me’s staple opening riff chime was the very moment everyone’s excitement bubbled over and spewed from every corner of the venue. Enticed by the liveliness of the crowd, vocalist Jake Wilson ejected himself off the stage and joined the smiling faces in the front row so they could sing the words with him. Immediately, the space between the barricade and the crowd was eliminated. We were in this experience together.

As beams of anticipation for what the rest of the night would hold radiated into the room and crumbled the roof above us, the warm and fuzzy butterflies of good news trickled in. Here, the band officially welcomed us to the SH!T Yeah tour, their very first US headliner. Pasted in bright, bold red letters above drummer Jamey Bowerman’s head, these two words of exclamation became our mantra for the evening thanks to the band’s frequent calls of “Can I get a SH!T YEAH?” to which the crowd responded with a resounding chorus of lighthearted profanity every time.

Welcoming their newest and fully independent endeavor, this tour acts as a roadmap with Between You & Me’s soon-to-be-released EP aptly named SH!T YEAH as the destination. To reward our support, the band rolled down their windows and blasted three tracks from the EP back to back. The bubbly warmth of “Nevermind,” “In The Middle,” and “YEAH!” provided a trio of springtime anthems fit for sun-soaking, fresh air breathing, and joyride cruising, making the April release’s timing feel like a perfect fit. Hearing these easygoing tracks live was all the proof we needed to hop in and let the band drive us away while we lost ourselves in the soundtrack of our trip.

Between You & Me’s sonic warmth wasn’t the only element to prompt a positive environment as the band’s interactions with the crowd set a scene of friends sharing laughs together through hijinks-laden conversation. During one moment, someone yelled up to the stage that it was their dad’s birthday. The dad, whose name we’d come to learn was Christopher, was summoned by the fun-loving nature of the band. “Tell your dad to get in the front and shake his ass. Happy b-day Christopher, come join the circle pit,” they shouted right before the lights went ogre green for a cover inspired by the deep swamps of DreamWorks.

As everyone prepared to place a finger and a thumb in the shape of an L on their forehead, the band exploded into a cover of “All Star” by Smash Mouth, a song whose reputation has become synonymous with the beloved Shrek series and whose upbeat energy clicked with Between You & Me’s like a puzzle piece. As they injected their own into it, they did so too with the witnesses of this era-melding performance who started a playful conga line and snaked it through the crowd, bringing the spirit of the song with it.

Between You and Me Sh!T Yeah Tour

This same feeling remained for the band’s next song, an old one from early in their career that had us revisiting the days preceding full-length Between You & Me albums. Doing quintessential pop-punk justice, 2017’s “Overthinking” extracted a steady stream of crowd surfers from the sea of listeners actively feeding off its bounce. Members of the band followed suit as bassist James “Bassy” Karagiozis spun around like a torpedo, spinning his way right into the part of their set where the band decided to slow things down for a moment of sentimental gratitude.

Armageddon changed our lives,” Jake shared about their most recent record. Discussing how appreciative he was for the support he felt from everyone in the room, he expressed how powerful it was to him that the band’s music reached avid listeners in cities so far from their home in Australia. This tender speech carried us into the twinkly reflection of “Better Days,” a song that encouraged all of us to consider the importance of connecting with ourselves and others as a result.

“If you have someone in the crowd, give them a hug or a kiss,” Jake suggested before letting his voice gracefully fall upon our shoulders and sweep us away into deep ponderings of what it means to reflect on our past and take control of our present for the betterment of our future. The words “We all made mistakes / but everybody here is human and that can’t be changed” seeped into our ears and echoed through our hearts, reminding us that we were all flawed, but that our imperfections were not restrictive sentences preventing us from experiencing the beauty in life. In this way, one glaring realization connected us more powerfully than any other could; we were all people learning to navigate a universal set of emotions that no one really had 100% figured out — and that was okay.

Between You and Me Sh!T Yeah Tour

This message resonated with fans as crowdsurfers floated to the stage where Jake waited to extend a hand to them, each grasp transferring a token of appreciation from one person to the other and physicalizing the sincere impact of support felt through human connection. Life advice in the form of lyrics glided into our thoughts and whisked away the hidden nooks of hesitation that lived inside our brains with the words “It’s your choice to make, to change your bitter ways / Don’t let it slip away ’cause you’re missing out on better days.” This moment showcased the band’s ability to not only reward the world with laughs, but lend a helping hand in inspiring one another to accept being human, an effort whose evoked smiles proved successful.

Between You and Me Sh!T Yeah Tour

The end of Between You & Me’s set drew near as opening act Cherie Amour jumped on stage to join the band for the punchy and sass-driven “Deadbeat.” This gave Jake and Bassy the opportunity to revel in the excitement of the crowd; in this case, that meant hanging from the metal beams of the ceiling and watching the crowd explode underneath their gymnastic-inspired antics. The band ended with a bang, but it left us yearning for one final breath of uplifting Australian air.

Between You and Me Sh!T Yeah Tour
Between You and Me Sh!T Yeah Tour

As the band exited the stage, the rising volume of aquatic pet-themed chants motivated the band to return for an encore performance of “Goldfish.” Filled to the brim with confidence, this two-minute track of triumph sprinkled the room with the perfect dose of prioritized self-worth and gave us one last burst of Between You & Me’s signature radiant energy. It also made us thankful they chose to make this stage in Philadelphia their home for a night. P.S. If you’re looking for a sunny soundtrack to your Spring, be on the lookout for Between You & Me’s SH!T YEAH out April 5th!

Show Date: 03.25.24 // Philadelphia, PA @ Inside Between You and Me’s Energetic SH!T YEAH Tour Stop in Philadelphia
Photos & words by Suzanne Leszczynski

Suzanne Leszczynski
Suzanne Leszczynski
Hi! My name’s Suzanne and I like to capture the world of live music in Philadelphia; immortalizing moments between music lovers is what motivates me. I'll catch you at a show soon!

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Suzanne Leszczynski
Suzanne Leszczynski
Hi! My name’s Suzanne and I like to capture the world of live music in Philadelphia; immortalizing moments between music lovers is what motivates me. I'll catch you at a show soon!

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