11 July 2024 – The Tivoli, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
After an incredibly successful support slot on the Beartooth/Pierce the Veil tour last year, which also included a Brisbane headline show, California post hardcore act Dayseeker made a highly anticipated return to Australia for the sold out Dark Sun headline tour. The tour was planned to be supported by The Plot in You vocalist Landon Tewers doing a solo set, and Welsh post hardcore band Casey. Unfortunately, Casey was not able to make the tour, so Sydney metallers Reliqa took their place, as well as Inertia.
Sydney post-hardcore band, Inertia was the first band to start off for the night. I’ve said plenty of times in reviews past, I love to experience artists I’ve never heard before through their lives shows, as I feel the live show gives more to the music than binging on Spotify. And I have to say, I’m so glad I did for these guys. The opening song, ‘Dominion’, was insane live. Blending a mix of all the mid 2000s metalcore bands you love, with that extra Dayseeker-ish flair in the choruses, these guys have to be a contender for my ongoing list of “best band I’ve discovered in 2024”. Vocalist Julian LaTouche is so funny, talking about how he’d been sick on the first two shows, but he had been given steroids and felt yoked, which drew a massive laugh from the crowd. ‘Heavy Eyes’ got the crowd moving their arms in the air, while new song ‘Static’ got the crowd moving. Closing off on ‘Too Far Gone’ put the exclamation point on a very high bar for the night.
Inertia – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
In sad news for the evening, Reliqa drummer Ben Knox came out to address the crowd before the bands set, citing that lead singer Monique was too unwell to perform. Not only that, but guitarist Brandon Hutcheson dislocated his knee at the Adelaide show. But that wasn’t going to stop them from performing arguably one of the most hectic sets I’ve ever seen, as Ben, Brandon, and bass player Miles played as a three piece and put on a 30 minute non-stop assault of proggy goodness. They didn’t even stop between songs for more than 10 seconds to breathe. These men are gods, as just watching them play was exhausting. I love Monique’s vocals (many well wishes she’s better soon, and can come back to Brisbane ASAP), the technical prowess was on full display tonight. We could hear every little thing being done on the instrumental side, and provided fans with a unique opportunity to see Reliqa as we’ve never seen them before.
Reliqa – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
Landon Tewers was up next, and I’ll be honest. I don’t know much of his stuff outside of The Plot in You, so it was cool to see him more chilled out and laid back with this set. Opening with ‘Gospel Therapy’, it was a cool way to open into his set, before we got bangers like ‘Kill Me’, ‘Cinnamon Skies’, and his new track, ‘Fallin’ Out’. ‘Kill Me’ is a song that actually features Rory from Dayseeker, so when it started, I immediately thought Rory might come out to join, but he didn’t. Landon didn’t do a lot of talking throughout his set, but the set was populated with some incredible tunes. ‘Sick Obsession’ was really good, but the song ‘Need to Change’ drew a massive response from the crowd. Tewers set closed off incredibly strong, with the songs ‘Don’t You’, and ‘She Thinks of Me’ getting arguably the biggest sing-alongs of the night.
Landon Tewers – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
Dayseeker walked out to an insane reception. For a band that’s played Brisbane for the third time in 18 months, you’d think they hadn’t been here in years. Lead singer Rory Rodriguez introduced us to the show, and started the show off with ‘Gates of Ivory’, to a monster reaction. ‘Gates of Ivory’ led perfectly into my favorite Dayseeker song, ‘Dreamstate’, which I couldn’t help but scream at the top of my lungs. We got some more tunes off Sleeptalk with ‘Crooked Soul’ and ‘Burial Plot’ (which drew a massive reception), before the bulk of the rest of the set was littered with songs from 2023’s Dark Sun.
Dayseeker – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
It’s no secret how much I adore this record, especially if you’ve seen our wrap up article from last year. But hearing songs like ‘Homesick’, title track ‘Dark Sun’, and ‘Without Me’ live were truly incredible. ‘Crying While You’re Dancing’ was another song that drew a massive reaction, before we got ‘Paper Heart’ as an acoustic track, which honestly ruled. At this point in the show, Rory spoke in depth about how Dark Sun was deeply inspired by the passing of his father, and that how his father was the biggest supporter of the band. Rory even spoke very candidly about how Dayseeker wouldn’t exist without him, which drew a massive round of applause from the crowd.
Dayseeker – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
Rory dedicated ‘Drunk’ to his father and his father’s mortality, before the main set closed off with ‘Sleeptalk’, to another monster sing along. A quick encore break before the band returned to close off the show with an incredible rendition of ‘Parallels’, before the final song of the night, ‘Neon Grave’. Australian audiences have shown Dayseeker how much they are loved, and you could tell how much Dayseeker loved playing for us. Rory even ripped out an incredibly horrific accent at one point and called us “sick c***s”, which drew a massive laugh. As long as they keep coming back and providing incredible shows like this, Australia will keep showing up for them.
