Review: I Watched the Sky of Blue Change to Gold
Camp Cope at the Sydney Opera House, Friday the 13th of October.
A beautiful Friday night graced Sydney, forecasting what was to be at the Opera House later that evening.
Camp Cope were to play their last ever show, a band that seeks to be the truest definition of Punk – a loud and aggressive destruction of the status quo. To destroy standards and practices that only exist to benefit the mere few.
The trio have called out the misogyny inherent within the Australian music industry, sexist behaviour at festivals and gigs, and championed for the advocacy of Queer and Trans rights. Actions that will always inspire their listenership to not idly sit by but rather to echo the band’s mantra “show ‘em Kelly”.
The band comprised of singer and guitarist Georgia Maq, bassist Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich and drummer Sarah “Thomo” Thompson. Born out of Naarm (Melbourne) the trio have released three albums all each with their own unique sound, yet underpinned with a Camp Cope style of gritty lyricism and melodic melancholy that has eloquently captured the voice of frustration. Collectively their music echoes the bastard realities of living whilst still being able to showcase fleeting joys that scatter existence.
My journey of Camp Cope was found in listening to The Opener, a gateway drug that has led my ears to be addicted to their sound and energy. When I worked at a pub, I would find myself always volunteering to go down to the cellar for a stock take, just so I could sing along to Blue, or scream out the lyrics to Lost (Season One) or Footscray Station.
Photograph: The Mood Lab/Jess Gleeson
To echo the frontwoman of the band, Georgia Maq, “All good things must come to an end” and It truly has. Just as I watched the congregation heave into the Sydney Opera House, I found myself surprised by the assortment of fans. Camp Cope is not a band for a skew of society, rather they give a panoply of people, a vehicle of enjoyment to let out their vexations. Music as catharsis. To beckon such an array of individuals speaks to Camp Cope’s talent. It demonstrates how this collection of three musicians can impact the many. Their incredible music inextricably is a piece of the puzzle that makes their fans who they are.
It is sad we can no longer feel the ecstasy of Camp Cope live. Yet to have experienced last night is enough to cling to. Throughout the show I wanted the seats to melt away and fade into the music. As I jived, sung, screamed, and shouted, I was transported by the phenomena of their sound. An encapsulation of all the frustrations, anger, annoyance coupled with all the scattering beauties within the world. No other gig can be comparable to the joy I felt that evening.
Farewell Camp Cope.