Review: Benjamin Coe
Photography: Dan Maynard

The threatening rain in the sky above does nothing to deter or dampen the spirits of the line of keen punters who are all gathered outside The Brightside to witness the last show of U.S. rock darlings, Badflower’s debut Australian tour. The excitement is palpable as they all pour into the rather intimate venue, everyone taking their spot in anticipation.

First up tonight is Brisbane quartet The Local Romance whose drummer quietly sneaks on stage, soon followed by the rest of his musical pals and after a brief pause to tune up and get ready the local lads are off and racing. Opening with the song Are You Somewhere?, the ever-expanding crowd quickly takes notice of the alt-rock stylings that sway from gentle intros to soaring choruses and everything in between. There are some heavy moments tied in to satiate those of us who like things a little more chaotic and all in all it’s a great performance by a brilliant group of musicians.

It’s not too long after The Local Romance exit the stage that everything is prepared and ready for the main support act of the whole tour, another Brissy based group, Bad Neighbour. The lights go down and the instantly recognisable voice of Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl blares out over the P.A. system, “I GOT ANOTHER CONFESSION TO MAKE!”. The crowd cheer and sing along and as the song reaches the chorus, the line “THE BEST, THE BEST, THE BEST…” repeats over and over much to the amusement of the room. The four piece take the stage and kick straight into gear, launching into Paul Avery and getting the room moving.

Their sound is somewhat reminiscent of the early 2000’s US Midwest emo movement and their energy is so infectious it hurts. They play with everything they’ve got and leave nothing in the tank, lead guitarist Zoe Middleton shredding her way through the set as bassist Liam Sumner provides an edgy backup of nasty screams. Frontman Cooper Riley addresses the crowd and thanks “new friends” Badflower for taking them on their Australian run and they close out the set with a high-energy, punk driven tune that leaves the crowd wanting more.

Then it’s finally time for the main event and as the lights go down one last time the crowd absolutely erupts when Josh Katz and his partners in musical art take to the stage to a rapturous applause. They get things off to a rockin’ start with an oldie but goldie in Drop Dead from their 2018 EP Temper and the crowd go crazy for it. The foursome wastes no time at all getting their new singles Detroit and Teacher Has A Gun into their fans earholes and the songs translate even better live than the recording.

They keep the energy going with Don’t Hate Me and Johnny Wants To Fight from their critically acclaimed album This Is How The World Ends before delving into their deep cuts once again with White Noise. Josh Katz has the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand and points out just how respectful the crowd are, giving a special nod to Bron in the front row for constantly standing his water bottle back up after it keeps falling.

A couple of hits from the band’s debut album OK, I’m Sick make an appearance before the other three band members leave Katz on his lonesome to perform the first part of the outstanding track Move Me, the frontman losing himself in the song before being joined by his band mates to close out the track in a raucous fashion.

The talent on show here is incredible and the energy is as high as it can get, especially with bass player extraordinaire Alex Espiritu dancing around the stage like he’s having the time of his life. It’s a shame it has taken the band so long to get down to Australia because there is clearly a devoted fan base here and they sing every word to every song back at the band, much to their excitement and it’s moments like the epic slow burn tune Family that make you realise just how special this band is.

The Jester and hit single Ghost close out the main set, with a cheeky wink from Katz alluding to the peek-a-boo for grownups that encores have become these days. And what an encore it is, with the psychotic stylings of Stalker invading the airspace as Katz jumps down into the crowd and goes ambling around singing the crazed lyrics, at one point handing the mic for one lucky punter to hold while he thrashed out the chorus on his guitar.

The amazing skill of the rhythm section, completed by drummer Anthony Sonetti, is showcased magnificently through a quick little drum and bass jam followed closely by an amazing drum solo before the band reunites on stage to end proceedings with their bouncy, coming-of-age tune 30.

It’s an incredibly warm welcome to our country for Badflower and here’s to hoping that it’s not such a wait for them in future.