12 August 2023 – The Princess Theatre, Brisbane – words by Kai Giovanni – pictures by Bec Harbour
DZ Deathrays are – and have always been – one of those bands you put on your bucket list to see live.
From house parties to Wiggles collabs to this year’s sixth studio LP, the Brisbane now-quadrio have been nuancing and redefining the Aus riff-rock genre for over a decade. With each new riff, release, and live show, they breed a new generation of rampant moshers and passionate sing-along-ers. So, with this year’s appropriately-named R.I.F.F album, there was no question that its headline tour wouldn’t see the band’s heaviest shows to date.
I got the pleasure of seeing DZ Deathrays at their homeground show last Saturday, inside one of my favourite Brisbane venues: Princess Theatre.
The tour’s chosen supports opened the show, with Dust from Newcastle, and Melbourne’s Press Club. Dust are like that band you see when you spontaneously decide to walk into a venue during a gig night: they get on stage, you go ‘holy shit, they have a saxophone’, they begin playing, and you go ‘HOLY SHIT’. Combining a vaporwave atmosphere with a lineup of fluid musicians, the young Novocastrians made it immediately clear why they were on the lineup.
Dust – The Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
Then, Press Club got the crowd moving their feet faster than someone dropping a box of tarantulas. Embellished with cartwheels, windmills, and crowd interaction, frontperson Natalie had total control over the energetic audience. Almost symbiotically, Press Club‘s musicians matched and complimented this energy perfectly, creating a stage bursting with musical grit and dynamism.
Press Club – The Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
By the time DZ arrived, the venue was filled to the brim with fans, who spent the wait making bets on the show’s opening song. ‘Hope for the best’ was an excellent choice for that spot, distributing the band’s new seamless integration of backing tracks and creative visualisers. Every show, DZ somehow deliver a tighter and tighter performance.
Other R.I.F.F tracks, like ‘Tuff Luck’ and ‘My Mind Is Eating Me Alive’, made their live Brisbane debuts that night – ‘Love & Destruction’ and ‘Shadow Walk’ were pleasant surprises. However, with a whopping 18-song setlist, these 2023 tracks would only take up a fraction of the setlist.
DZ Deathrays – The Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
R.I.F.F being the spiritual successor to riff-thick albums like Bloodstreams and Black Rat, DZ took care to dust off some more-than-long-awaited tracks. Similar to their last headline tour show, ‘No Sleep’ and ‘Cops / Capacity’ crafted a Bloodstreams segment of the show, whilst ‘Northern Lights’ and ‘Less Out of Sync’made live appearances for the first time in 5 years. And the thankful crowd made sure to pull out all the punk show stops to give each track their due respect, becoming a relentless ocean of moshers, circle pits, walls of death, and boat rowers. And an early inclusion of ‘IN-TO-IT’ gave the Positive Rising albums a thoughtful acknowledgement.
DZ Deathrays – The Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
And I want to make a note again to acknowledge DZ‘s unrelenting grit throughout the entirety of the setlist. Whilst playing their instruments as if they were plates in a smash room, every guitar solo was excellently performed, and every lyric perfectly sung by Shane (not to mention Lachlan‘s immaculate death screams). Bringing his iconic windmills, chest drums, and playing style to his new DZ spotlight, Luke Henery could not have fit in more.
DZ Deathrays – The Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
Amongst all the riffs, distortion tones, and unique drumlines, DZ have continued to be one of my favourite Brisbane acts because of their humility. They’re not a band that walk around like celebrities and rock Gods, they’re a few great mates who just like to make and perform music together, to reiterate a message we all need to remind ourselves: remember, it’s for fun.
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