5 December 2023 – The Triffid, Brisbane – words by Gabrielle Ross – pictures by Sebastian Ioniță
Good Things 2023 had come to an end but the fun wasn’t over with a slew of sideshows stacked up for the remainder of the week including the sensational PVRIS headliner show at The Triffid with guests Magnolia Park and CHEZ.
Dominating the stage first up was the Perth fire cracker and ‘Queen of Self Sabotage’ CHEZ! Keeping true to her namesake, CHEZ flew out of the gate with her hit, ‘Self Sabotage’. You would not have expected this to be Chezni Watson and her band’s first time playing in Brisbane. With an enjoyable and engaging stage presence, wonderfully diverse vocal range and growling guitars, CHEZ is the newest and brightest baddie to hit the Australian alt rock scene. A definite ‘must-watch’, add CHEZ to your gig bucket list.
CHEZ – The Triffid – photos by Sebastian Ioniță
Genre-bending heavy hitters Magnolia Park burst onto the stage in an inferno of sound with their first song, ‘Misfits’ and swiftly swinging into ‘Do or Die’, more than ready to deliver what would be a fun and enthralling set! Hailing from Orlando USA, Magnolia Park presents a unique, dark yet playful style of alt-rock wrapped nicely in character based narrative. Vocalist Josh Robert’s charming stage presence was as effortless as his switch between hard screams and clean, dreamy, pop vocals. Snappily timed drums by Joe Horsham and catchy riffs from guitarists Tritian Torres and Freddie Criales rounded out the set with Criales also providing some skillful back up vocals and fast rap for the thunderous, ‘Animal’. A last minute addition of a cover of Fall Out Boy’s ‘Sugar, We’re Goin Down Swinging’ and a shoey in Torres’ brand new sneakers provided some end of tour celebratory stage antics before Magnolia Park ended with their last Australian show with ‘Sick of it All’. Magnolia Park brings such a new freshness to the alt-rock genre with their raw and kaleidoscopic sound and unbridled talented joy onstage!
Magnolia Park– The Triffid – photos by Sebastian Ioniță
PVRIS made their explosive start to their set with ‘I DON’T WANNA DO THIS ANYMORE’ and ‘ANIMAL’, raw and with vocalist Lyndseay Gunnelfsen directly on the microphone before grabbing her guitar to rip into the electric ‘Dead Weight’. The flow of PVRIS’ was phenomenal, there was barely a second that the soundscape was not filled with a cacophony of skillfully played riffs, sharp percussion and synthy, heavy drops. Each song was a testament to the talent and dedication of Gunnerlfsen and her band, a true rockstar performance.
‘Fire’ and ‘HYPE ZOMBIES’ soon followed, with Gunnelfsen taking the time to speak softly to her audience, having recently having to pull out of the Sydney run of the Good Things Festival due to illness, Gunnelfsen stated that the audience at The Triffid that evening was “giving me life right now” before flowing into the beautiful start to ‘LOVE IS A…’, ‘Use Me’ and ‘SENTI-MENTAL’. Despite any illness Gunnelfsen played a flawless set, with a skin tingling display of vocal and musical talent as she played a mix of her old and new work. Monster, a heavier and dark exploration of Gunnelfsen’s creativity had fans screaming with the lyrics and then promptly getting whiplash with the genre bending with the upbeat ‘GOOD ENEMY!’ and the groovy ‘TAKE MY NIRVANA’.
PVRIS– The Triffid – photos by Sebastian Ioniță
‘ANYWHERE BUT HERE’, ‘Mirrors and Hallucinations’ were followed by ‘My House’ with a rock-goddess finale of ‘GODDESS’! PVRIS played a passionate and fantastical set, you rarely see nuanced rockstar performances with talent like this nowadays and if you get the chance to catch PVRIS live in the near future, your ear holes will thank you.
