4 May 2023 – The Prince Bandroom, Melbourne – review and pictures by Briarna Dal Col
Upon entering the Prince, I was surprised to see how packed it was – a testament to Maggie Lindemann’s fanbase in Australia. The room was filled with a sea of people, eagerly anticipating the show to begin. I absolutely loved the three giant disco balls dancing light around the Prince Bandroom. Black was a very common theme throughout the crowd with leather jackets, platform Demonias, cute mesh tops and pleated skirts. Maggie Lindemann fans sure know how to pull off an outfit.
The crowd were very excited singing along to Nessa Barret’s ‘I Hope You Die First’ in the pre-show playlist.
The openers Bakers Eddy started with a bang. The crowd instantly started dancing along. You could tell that Bakers Eddy were having a great time on stage, bouncing off each other and bantering away. They had both the guitarist and bassist on backing vocals which I thought really elevated the show along with a very energetic stage presence.
How would I describe their music? Classic indie rock, with a tinge of punk, it was so fun and carefree and everyone was having an absolute great time which is great to see for a support act. There was definitely had a sprinkle of nostalgia in there for me to my teen years where I was listening to this type music all the time.
The Bakers Eddy’s singer, Ciarann was maybe rocking out a bit too hard, with a broken guitar string being the result, or was it actually broken? Ciarann said he hadn’t broken the string he had just restrung it wrong. “Is everyone having a good time? So am I…. soooo, I have actually broken it [the guitar string]. I lied. (crowd burst into laughter). I was going to do the stall song but I’m not going to do that anymore. You can stall for me…”. Ciarann makes light of the situation saying it was normal for them, it happens to them all the time, while energising the crowd, “Hell fucking yeah! Hope you are all looking forward to Maggie?” I really enjoyed their 30 minute set.
In between sets the crowd was singing along to ‘Oh Mami’ by Chase Atlantic (Maggie featured on the track but oddly enough not the version they played that night).
Then it was time for Maggie Lindemann. The room darkened and woman poetically spoke… “everyone has an angel”.
As soon as Maggie walked on stage the crowd went wild. Her outfit was amazing – sheer black dress, star pasties and platform boots. Stage presence was – confident, with some bad bitch energy, building the crowd energy brilliantly, then sang her heart out. I managed to get a glimpse of her set-list aptly called the ‘Sucker-punch Set’. The set began with an intro then launched into ‘Scissorhands’ and ‘Self -Sabotage’.
Maggie’s audience was completely engaged with the set – with dancing, even headbanging and of course, singing along. People were calling out from the crowd, “We love you. I love you Maggie wooooooooo”.
The music felt powerful and electric, there was a good mix of songs, some more slow and heartfelt and some upbeat rock jams. Once again, I felt like I was seeing a band as a teenager again.
Maggie Lindemann’s first Australian headlining tour wrapped up with an outro that was an extension from the intro – with some spoken word and a song called ‘She Knows It’. From being a relative unknown to me, Maggie Lindemann has me intrigued and interested to find out more.
