22 April 2025 – The Triffid, Brisbane – words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi – pictures by Bec Harbour
Legendary Canadian band Death From Above 1979 (DFA) returned to tour ‘In Fuckin’ Australia’ and played The Triffid in Brisbane. It is only the third time that the Toronto-based hardcore punk duo has toured the country. DFA played a 21st birthday gig for their debut album: You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine and they brought along the well-known Brisbane-based punk rock band DZ Deathrays to celebrate.
The last time that DFA were in Australia was to play the Parklife Festival back in 2011. They had just reunited after a bitter split in 2006. DFA (Jesse F Keeler and Sebastien Grainger) were part of a wave of bands who were duos that were around in the early 2000s. When they released their incendiary debut You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine, it was in an era of top tier indie pop-rock music, with groups like The White Stripes, The Killers, The Strokes and Bloc Party ruling over a Q and Mojo approved sonic landscape. There were made up names that sprawled out into such made up scenes as ‘noise punk’, ‘dance punk’, ‘art rock’ and ‘nu wave’. It was all wanky stuff! DFA didn’t belong in any of those genres: they were a punk band, pure and simple, who happened to like tinge of synth and were fond of a melody.
DFA have always made heavier, louder and cooler punk music with basically pure rhythm: drums, bass, vocals with that sneaky (and handy) synth. The album You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine is underpinned with that instrumentation and those sounds. It has always held an enduring appeal to music fans because it was unique with its combined sonic malevolence paired with its lyrically tender romanticism. It was a torch song record for young punk rockers. I was looking forward to hearing what it sounds like now in 2025: twenty-one years later.
But before the main event, supporting DFA, were the DZ Deathrays. They are a local Brisbane, via Bundaberg, based band and they warmed up the crowd with a reliable and consistent set of their punk songs. They were hot off a regional tour which saw them play some reportedly wild shows around Queensland. DZ Deathrays comprises of: Shane Parsons (vocals/guitar), Lachlan Ewbank (lead guitar/vocals) and Simon Ridley (drums).
DZ Deathrays launched straight into their 12-song set with ‘Paranoid’ and it was a strong start for the three-piece band. There were many fans in the crowd and the songs ‘In-To-It’ and ‘Like No Other’ got them singing along loudly. A fan favourite track was played next ‘Total Meltdown’. Then, the crowd was clapping it in for ‘First Night Fever’ and then listened intently to the moody ‘Keep Myself on Edge’.
The song ‘Gina Works at Hearts’ delivered refined guitar riffs and some poppy hooks and it was great to hear. The band ran through others songs ‘King B’, ‘Cops Capacity’ and ‘Like People’ before they stopped to chat to the crowd and thanked them for coming early to see their set. DZ Deathrays stated that DFA have been a huge influence on their musical journey and the night was special for them as they expressed their admiration and “thanked DFA for having them on the tour”.
DZ Deathrays – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
DZ Deathrays ended their set with ‘Night Slave’ which had the crowd dancing to the electro-disco under-beat and ‘Shred for Summer’ as their huge sound bounced off The Triffid’s hangar lining. The band served up a killer set list and were very impressive. DZ Deathrays were so good the crowd wanted an encore from them. But time was the enemy as they left the stage.
The stage was stripped back and re-purposed, and we watched the stage crew play Tetris with getting equipment out of the way and into the cupboards below. The crowd waited and there was a sense of growing anticipation. The Triffid was almost full and there was an energy in the room.
As DFA took to The Triffid’s stage, it was hard to believe that there are just two people on stage. Singing drummer Sebastien Grainger’s drum kit was perched on a riser to make sure everyone got a good view. There is a synth where Jesse F Keeler would play his bass. There was a backdrop banner and some lo-fi lighting. It appeared that there was not going to be that much to see. But it was impossible to look away once the duo took their places. With the first bassline riff and the drumsticks hitting the kit: a sonic wave rung out across the venue.
Death from Above 1979 – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
There was a breathless and bombastic energy from the frenetic opening of ‘Turn It Out’ and it was quickly followed by the ragged delivery of ‘Romantic Rights’. Sebastien Grainger’s drumming was the focal point. But it was the astonishing clear Perspex bass guitars and the pedals being manipulated by Jesse F Keeler with a different energy that really amazed. He was rocking hard and tried not to draw too much attention to himself, with his wide stance and hair falling over his face. But the crowd stared in wonder: how did he make those remarkable sounds?!
DFA powered and punched their way through their debut album and the rest of their 20 song setlist. The delivery of the album was remarkable with all eleven tracks running into each other. There was no break, no chat. DFA revelled in tight slithers of bold and buoyant thrashing of drums and basslines that were slicked over with fuzzed out vocals. The songs ‘Going Steady’, ‘Go Home, Get Down’, ‘Blood On Our Hands’ ‘Little Girl’ and ‘Black History Month’ were the tracks that had the crowd excited and there was a surge forward into the barrier. Then, moshing, headbanging and lots of bouncing ensued. DFA used clever changes in tone and pitch to bring in the last half of the album tracks ‘Cold War’, ‘You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine’, ‘Pull Out’ and the fantastic closing song ‘Sexy Results’.
Death from Above 1979 – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
Then, DFA stopped to recover, with sweat dripping down their faces, they addressed the crowd and it all got quite chatty. There were requests for songs that were not on the DFA agenda. There was discussion about the language barrier at their Singapore gig “not a lot of English”, jokes about covering Rufus Wainwright songs, gags about Indiana Jones and impersonations and then the crowds ‘Australian accent issues’: “I can’t understand you” stated Sebastien Grainger. But when someone called out: “We love you”. Sebastien Grainger responded. Then, Jesse F Keeler said: “You heard and understood that alright”.
Following the full run-through of their 2004 album, the crowd were gifted a special selection of tracks from DFA’s three other studio records. The songs started with a wall of sound that introduced ‘Nomad’, then ‘Free Animal’, the stomping rock of ‘Virgins’, ‘Modern Guy’, the fabulous indie-rock of ‘White Is Red’, the synth-led ‘Freeze Me’ and the last song of the regulation set closed with the runaway ‘Trainwreck 1979’ that commenced with Sebastien Grainger’s dramatic breathing intro that made him sound like a train as it powered into one of DFA’s biggest hits.
Death from Above 1979 – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
Then, DFA left the stage. The crowd chant for one more song started. Suddenly, Sebastien Grainger returned to the stage and said to the crowd: “You just want one more song? We will give you two more songs. Because we are nice! But you are short changing yourselves. We have lots of songs – from three albums – why not ask for four more songs?” Then, people started to ask, but it was too late, as DFA delivered an encore with the ferocious ‘Right On, Frankenstein!’ and ended the evening with the boisterous ‘Dead Womb’.
DFA put on a gig that was visceral and enthralling. It was a pure high impact punk gig of ninety minutes. The crowd applauded loudly as the house lights came on. Then, the crowd drifted out to very long lines at the merch desk or left The Triffid excited by what they had just witnessed.
