9 July 2024 – Riverstage, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell
Back for his second tour of Australia in less than 12 months, US singer songwriter Teddy Swims gave us another taste of his incredible voice and personality for the I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy 2024 Australian tour, which also included dates in New Zealand as well. Supporting him on this tour was neo soul singer Meg Mac. We were lucky enough to catch this incredible show at the Riverstage in Brisbane.
Meg started the show off with incredible energy. Opening the show with ‘I’m Not Coming Back’, immediately after hearing this, I didn’t want her to leave. The power in her voice is absolutely incredible. The set for Meg was outstanding. It ranged from new song, like ‘Seventeen’ and ‘The Tune I’ll Be Singing Until I’m Dead’, to cover songs like ‘Grandma’s Hands’ by Bill Withers and ‘Home’ by Good Neighbors, to Meg Mac hits like ‘Maybe It’s My First Time’ and set closer ‘Never Be’. This was an incredible run of songs, and I hope she comes back soon because I want more.
Meg’s set was removed from the stage, and very quickly the show turned on for Teddy and company to come out and absolutely kill it, with 90 minutes of incredible music. The show opened with ‘Goodbye’s Been Good To You’, ‘What More Can I Say’, and ‘Broke’. Teddy took this opportunity to talk about how stoked he was to be back, and how surprised he was at how full the venue was. This was the first of several moments where the gravity of how massive this tour is hit him, with emotions coming out as he talked about how much he loves to play here.
We got a band intro, and Teddy called Meg Mac “one bad motherfucker”, before dropping back into the set. ‘911’ popped the crowd big, as did songs like ‘Hammer to the Heart’ and ‘Devil in a Dress’. Teddy then talked for a minute about how he wanted to play a new unreleased song called ‘Funeral’, and asked for feedback when it was done. And since I feel like I’m in an incredible position to provide said feedback, here it is.
| “Dear Mr Swims As requested, here is my feedback for your unreleased song, Funeral. RELEASE THE F***ING SONG. NOW. Kind regards Lucas The Live Wire” |
Back to the show, and we got songs about drinking, like ‘Apple Juice’, songs about simple things, like ‘Simple Things’, and even talked about playing his cover of ‘Still the One’ by Shania Twain, which he dedicated to all the mothers in the crowd. The main set closed out on ‘Bed on Fire’, with some incredible sparkle pyro and a hot crowd begging for more. Teddy returned to play out encore songs ‘Tell Me’, mega viral hit ‘Lose Control’ (which included him pulling a kid from the barrier on stage to sing with him), and show closer ‘The Door’, to send the fans home happy while ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’ by ABBA played the crowd out of the Riverstage.
