25 June 2022 – Fortitude Music Hall Brisbane – review by Kai Giovanni – pictures by Bec Harbour
It’s never been uncommon for bands – especially in punk rock – to reform for one last hurrah. A chance to come at music with newfound perspectives, tastes, ideas, and honesty. And it’s safe to say that Australian icons Short Stack have become very familiar with this practise.
Despite a temporary 2015 reformation for the Dance with Me EP and Homecoming album, their second reformation in 2020 saw a much different Short Stack. No longer under Sunday Morning Records, who produced their first two ARIA Gold awarded albums, 2022 has seen the release of fourth studio album Maybe There’s No Heaven alongside a national tour. Highlighted by the trio as the “most ambitions and honest music that we have ever created”, the album sees them break away from the highly produced sound of previous records, favouring a realness to each track’s vocals, instruments, and lyrics – contributing to tracks finally being distinctive from one another.
And their 2022 tour has been the perfect capitalisation on this unmanufactured sound.
Short Stack’s performance at Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall was a breath of fresh air for Short Stack fanatics and punk rock enthusiasts alike. Supports, Those Who Dream and Between You & Me, both brought forward fascinating takes on new wave punk, warming up the predominantly young audience into hardcore circle pit moshers.
‘Burn You Down’, the 2021 track which cemented Short Stack’s second return, brought them to the stage. Combined with dimming hall lights and an erupting cacophony of screaming fans – all decked out in their oldest denim, blackest lipstick, darkest eyeshadow, and longest pocket chains – Short Stack had a more than warm welcome.
Throughout their 70-minute gauntlet of hits, not one song ever saw any less than a sky of raised arms, phone cameras, bopping heads, and word-for-word singalong. Not one song. And seeing these hits performed live, free from a manufactured barrier of vocal enhancement and same-ish punk mastering, served as concrete proof of the band’s good musicianship.
The combination of Bradie Webb’s seemingly endless source of energy, Andy Clemmensen’s ‘cool uncle’ vibes, and Shaun Diviney’s stage-filling charisma – as well as their flawless support musician – contributed to the night’s irrefutably strong performance. Their impressive tightness, with no mistakes or missed lyrics, was one thing, but Short Stack’s shining quality was in their refusal to have any lifeless or tiresome moments. Their set was 70 minutes of non-stop movement and singing, band and audience together.
It would be easy to grow tired with bands who’ve broken up and reformed as much as Short Stack have. However, if Maybe There’s No Heaven and their 2022 tour have proven anything, it’s that Short Stack aren’t taking their reunion for granted. Now is the time, out of any, to see Short Stack.
