10 April 2025 – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane – words and pictures by Cecilia Pattison-Levi
In honour of the newly released album Forgiving Spree, Australian band Slowly Slowly have embarked on a nation-wide homecoming tour. Last night, they found their way to Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley Music Hall. With the tour starting in Perth, they didn’t fly across the country just by themselves, they had one American band with them: Philadelphian’s GRAYSCALE on their first visit to Australia. Then, they reunited in Brisbane with Los Angeles-based Honey Revenge who had just arrived in the country to perform their first ever gig in Australia.
There was another reason to celebrate this tour and the fabulous music being made both here and in the US. GRAYSCALE teamed up with Slowly Slowly vocalist Ben Stewart for a feature on the band’s new song ‘Kept Me Alive’. The song is having its first live outings in these gigs across the country.
Having now played WA (Perth), SA (Adelaide), ACT (Canberra) and NSW (Newcastle), GRAYSCALE is now playing their fifth Australian show here in Bris-Vegas. The band have tried to squeeze as much as they could into their short time slot as they have a back catalogue of four albums worth of songs to choose from. Also, GRAYSCALE is fresh off the release of their popular new album The Hart that was released in January. The album has quickly made its way into the hearts of the band’s fiercely loyal global fanbase and many at theFortitude Valley Music Hall wanted to hear songs from The Hart.
GRAYSCALE is Collin Walsh (lead vocals, guitar), Andrew Kyne (guitar, backing vocals), Dallas Molster (guitar, backing vocals), Noah Christian (bass) and Nick Veno (drums). They walked out onto the stage to their instrumental title track ‘The Hart’ and then opened their set with the new song ‘Kept Me Alive’. Then, the third song of the set was the remarkable ‘Through The Landslide’ that just fizzed with melody and harmony. There is an authentic warmth to GRAYSCALE’s music, like hanging out with old friends on a summer night. Andrew Keyne’sguitar solos soared.
GRAYSCALE’s live performance was dynamic and had the crowd whipped up and jumping. The weaving of pop, alternative rock and punk with raw emotion, balancing soaring anthemic moments with vivid vulnerability and energy was a heady mix and the crowd responded with hands in the air. And that animated pulse was what they delivered to the crowd when they played ‘Dirty Bombs’, ‘In Violet’ and ‘Some Kind of Magic’ and then their catchiest song from The Hart the fantastic rock song ‘Dance With Your Ghost’. At this point, everyone in the venue was dancing, jumping and clapping along. GRAYSCALE’s front man, Collin Walsh, then put on an amazingly smooth performance in delivering the last two songs: ‘Fever Dream’ and the emotional ‘Not Afraid To Die’ that finished the set. It was a whirlwind of sound and the pace never faltered as GRAYSCALE put on a terrific first ever Brisbane performance.
There was a short break while instruments and the stage were re-ordered. I was excited as the US pop-rockers Honey Revenge were about to take to the stage for their first ever Australian concert. Excitement! Honey Revengeare Devin Papadol (vocals), Donovan Lloyd (guitar) and touring with them is Tay (bass) and Matt (drums). It was going to be a high-energy and bouncy set all in purple with tinges of pink. Honey Revenge have had such an epic rise to rock stardom. They released an extended version of their debut album Retrovision in August 2024 where they amply demonstrated that despite their youthfulness, they are masterminds at song-writing and composition. And, from the evidence of tour reviews of the UK and Europe, that they are incredible at delivering fantastic live performances.
Donovan Lloyd came out early to help set up the stage and he talked to the fans on the barrier. There were fans who knew Honey Revenge and had seen them in the US and the UK. Fans who were active followers online especially with Devin Papadol’s excellent Spotify playlists of ‘Women Rockers’ and rising bands to watch, listen and follow. Then, Honey Revenge’s performance time came and the rest of the band came on to the stage with Devin Papadol coming on last. They immediately got the crowd going and launched straight into ‘Seeing Negative (Disappointment)’ and the crowd lapped it up. Honey Revenge bounced around the stage and it was just the first song! They then followed up with ‘Recipe for Disaster’. The energy the band gave off was infectious as ‘Rerun’ was delivered and Devin Papadol got the crowd to get low and as she launched into the final verse, commanded the crowd to “jump, jump, jump.”
Then, Devin Papadol ran off the stage and into the middle of the crowd and she sang and danced with fans. The crowd were respectful of her and wanted to savour this moment as bands seldom do this anymore. It was a real treat. After that excitement, the band slowed it down a touch with a newer song which all the hardcore fans knew ‘Medicine’. Honey Revenge turned up the rage and launched into some of their angrier songs ‘Worst Apology’ and ‘Distracted’.
Devin Papadol gave singing lessons to the crowd so that everyone could join into the fun with ‘Habitual’ and it was fabulous fun. Knowing that this was a short set, Honey Revenge then upped the energy even more with the tongue in cheek delivery of ‘Are You Impressed’. As the set came to a close, with one song to go, many fans were sad to hear it was the end but the band didn’t leave without playing the song that launched them to fame: ‘Airhead’. It went off! There were so many smiles in the crowd, many will be seeing the band again.
The stage was then completely stripped back and was left really bare. It seemed that Melbourne band Slowly Slowly (Ben Stewart, Patrick Murphy, Albert Doan and Alex Quayle) were going for a very clean aesthetic where the music and songs would be the focus. This concert was Slowly Slowly’s homecoming tour for their new album Forgiving Spree. The band has toured the world these last eighteen months and are back headlining the nation in their biggest tour yet.
Slowly Slowly – Fortitude Music Hall – photos by Cecilia Pattison-Levi
Slowly Slowly are anything but slow. As the first chords of ‘Blueprint’ opens their set, the Fortitude Valley Music Hall floor bounces like a trampoline and the crowd surged forward with hands in the air. This atmosphere didn’t stop through the entire set. It was high energy and massive singalongs especially with ‘How Are You Mine?’. Then, Slowly Slowly performed one of their best songs ‘Gimme The Wrench’ followed by ‘Nothing On’. The crowd were in pop-punk heaven.
Slowly Slowly took the pace back and explained to the crowd about their new album and its themes before playing the dynamic title track ‘Forgiving Spree’. Ben Stewart had the crowd spellbound and launched into ‘All Time’ and then the chords chimed out of ‘Daisy Chain’ and the crowd went off! Alex Quayle lost his battery pack and there were smiles and laughter as he had a stage technician trying to reconnect him as he played on. Then, the poptastic ‘Love Letters’ followed which is one of the highlights from the new album.
The songs ‘Alchemy’, ‘Meltdown Masquerade’ and ‘Born Free’ all followed in quick succession. Maintaining the show’s intimate energy, Ben Stewart tells us that the song ‘Hurricane’ means a lot to him personally, and by slowing it down the crowd was able to catch its collective breath. The delivery of ‘Hurricane’ brings a raw emotional shift in tone to the evening. Ben Stewart’s vocals were amazing as he delivered one of the band’s most poignant and emotionally charged moments of the gig.
But, after this break, Slowly Slowly are back to more of the up-tempo energy with ‘Ten Leaf Clover’ and ‘Longshot’. All through the set, Ben Stewart shone a spotlight on one of his bandmates, with drummer Patrick Murphy getting a short drum solo, as well as giving guitarists Albert Doan and Alex Quayle their moments to shine.
The last two songs of the set the very popular ‘Jellyfish’ and ‘Race Car Blues’ are played. The crowd were on a high. The band was backlight in darkness, and the slow refrain of “I don’t wanna go” was sung across the venue. While Ben Stewart sang it, the crowd felt it. “It’s been a while Brisbane” but Slowly Slowly certainly made up for their absence with their fans and the crowd last night.
