Arriving at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena, out of curiosity, I popped over to the merch stand to have a look at what was on offer and saw albums, headbands, tees and lightsticks available. Accusefive’s adorable melon shaped lightstick caught my attention with its simple but unique design. I couldn’t resist and joined many fans in line to get my hands on one.
Truthfully, I’m new to Accusefive (告五人) despite it being seven years since their debut. I love that they have a unique style from mainstream bands with their distinct indie rock sound. After seeing them in person, you too need to do yourself a favour and catch Accusefive live in concert. I was blown away by their performance.
The trio consists of female vocalist Quan Qing, male vocalist/guitarist Yun An and leader/drummer Richard Lin (Zhe Qian) took stage on Friday 7th June with their Around The New World – “Amusement of the Universe” World Tour. I was thankful for my newly obtained cute lightstick which perfectly matched the opening song ‘How Much Do You Know About The Melon? (你要不要吃哈密瓜)’.
The stage was set up with giant white balloons similar to those on their concert poster. To my surprise, these were very cleverly and creatively incorporated with their stage design and digital projections throughout the night. One of my favourite visuals was during the song ‘Mischief (醜人多作怪)’ where ginormous and colourful eyes were projected onto the big screen behind the band and on the balloons, as we were in a contemporary art museum. Musically, crowd favourite ‘Somewhere In Time (愛人錯過)’ had everyone up on their feet and loudly singing along.
During the ballad section, ‘When The Wind Blows (我無法克制自己)’ was accompanied by suffocating text creating emptiness, ‘Farewell In The Sea (跳海)’ had visuals of waves, thunder and lightning, while ‘LOVE (紅)’ had a shade of red sweep across the Melbourne arena. ‘Finally (好不容易)’, the theme song to popular Netflix series Light of Night, had fans swaying from side to side as they happily sung in unison.
Accusefive mentioned they were extremely surprised with the turnout of fans present for their Melbourne show. Quan Qing admitted to being very nervous before stepping on stage as she was worried not many people would attend. Touched, she took the time to read signs that many dedicated fans brought with them and she even promised a lucky fan to have their albums signed.
Before I knew it, the stage was converted into a cosy little space with a couch, their mascot – the angry pig on display, and a koala for Aussie representation. It was such a cute set up and instantly made the arena concert feel intimate. It was like chilling with friends in their living room and they’ve whipped out their guitar. I also loved that this segment was dedicated to Melbourne with the backdrop visuals changed to a cityscape and the word ‘Melbourne’ written on the side.
You know a hit song of an artist when you see one performed and how it’s received. Accusefive barely sung two words before the crowd chimed in for ‘You Are My Magic (給你一瓶魔法藥水)’. Quan Qing pranced around stage with a bubble wand casting a magic spell to have fans fall for even deeper in love with the band. Her white dress with a little cape really exerted fairy vibes as she danced around happily and greeted fans.
After a quick change, they band back with ‘In The Clouds (帶你飛)’ and ‘The One And Only (唯一)’ which turned into a loud singalong. You can see how touched the trio was as they lovingly stared into the crowd. There was a statement that Yun An said that really resonated with me, “We came to find you from your earphones”. Being an international fan, sometimes it’s so difficult to see the artists you love. There’s a high chance they may never tour down to Australia. It took Accusefive 7 years before they ventured down under and it’s moving to know the artist feels the same way as their fans. Shout out to Live Nation Australia for bringing down this talented band!
Given the opposite weather here in Australia to a lot of the rest of the world, Accusefive kindly admitted it felt weird performing ‘Love In Summer (愛在夏天)’ during our wintertime. Quan Qing also shared that she was in the middle of university when they created the song, and personally drew the album covers, a comment that gained loud cheers from the crowd. ‘We Will Be Fine 又到天黑’ closed off this set before chants for an encore blasted from patrons and echoed throughout the arena, with an intense dire to summon Accusefive back to the stage.
Upon Accusefive’s return with matching angry pig tee shirts (I wish they were part of the merchandise line – I totally would’ve bought one) the excited Melbourne audience hyped up even more to the song ‘Night Life. Take Us To The Light (帶我去找夜生活)’. However, the song that won me over during the night was ‘How To Do (我想要佔據你)’. Accusefive’s enthusiastic energy spread across the arena and the many fan interactions were also a hit.
Yun An was on the keyboard for ‘Where I Lost Us (在這座城市遺失了你)’ with a big building cast onto the screens. Accompanying the song on screen, in a simple but effective display, was having an extra light turn on and off to each beat. This appeared like apartment lights turning on and off in a busy city. Granting fans wishes, Accusefive also performed fan requested song ‘The Same (同樣一個你)’ during the encore.
A starry ocean was formed for the final song of night ‘Missing You Over Night And Night (披星戴月的想你)’ which inspired fans to meld their voices together to sing at the top of their lungs one last time. After a final bow, the trio happily departed with lots of waves and kisses to the satisfied Melbourne audience.
The sound, lighting and stage design collectively was the best I’ve seen utilised at Margaret Court Arena. Every aspect, every detail was well thought through and excellently thoroughly executed. There was even a little melon sitting on the drum set throughout the show, a tiny detail that I only realised when Richard held it towards the cheering Melbourne crowd at the end of the night.
Accusefive was such a pleasure to see live. They were loveable, charismatic, talented and entertaining, plus their vocals were stable and strong. I enjoyed them so much and didn’t expect to leave the concert humming their songs, even waking up the following morning with more of their songs stuck in my head. I genuinely look forward to all of their future work and hope that I get a chance to see them again, especially here in my city.
Accusefive performed in Melbourne, Australia at Margaret Court Arena on Friday the 7th of June as part of their Around The New World – “Amusement of the Universe” World Tour, proudly presented by Live Nation. They will head to Sydney on the 9th of June at ICC Sydney Theatre and will end their Australian tour in Perth on the 12th of June at Crown Theatre.
For more information on Accusefive (告五人) and their Australian tour, visit:
https://www.instagram.com/accusefive
https://www.livenation.com.au/artist-accusefive-%E5%91%8A%E4%BA%94%E4%BA%BA-1330193
https://margaretcourtarena.com.au/event/accusefive-first-live-tour-around-the-new-world-2024
Photography supplied by Accusefive and Live Nation.
