THE DEAD LOVE // The Room Surrendered Themselves To A Good Time

THE DEAD LOVE with Bakers Eddy & Something Something Explosion
Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
Friday, 26 August 2018

Running half an hour later than set times indicated, the room was only just beginning to fill when Something Something Explosion meandered onto the stage. The three-piece Toowoomba locals looked a little tired, especially looking out over only a handful of faces. They didn’t let that affect their set though, and after launching into their second song, Dominique, the first single they ever released through triple j Unearthed, a crowd stumbled into Black Bear Lodge as if being summoned from the streets of Fortitude Valley.

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Diving into their newer catalogue, the band played Motor Mouth released just under a month ago, and finished the song to a crowd 3 times larger than the one they’d started with. Between songs frontwomen Grace Drummond shed some light and one of the widespread issues at live shows—sexual harassment. Ending the conversation with an emphatic “Just don’t fucking objectify women!” the entire room felt just a little more comfortable.

Something Something Explosion // By Aimee Ravik

In what can only be defined as irony, just tracks later while playing hands down the only cover of Snuff by Slipknot you need to hear, a middle age man yelled out “Yeah … how fucking hot are you!” at the frontwoman, the air got sucked out of the room and you could feel an uncomfortable tension.

Something Something Explosion // By Aimee Ravik

Not letting it get to her or affect the set, the band continued on showing vulnerability with opening up about a friend who had passed in an accident before playing the track Bernards Song in tribute. The band ended on a huge cover of Frenzal Rhomb’s Punch in the Face. With the majority of the venue singing along, it was smiles all round for the small band and if this performance is anything to go by a big future ahead for Something Something Explosion.

With a late start pushing all the sets back, a fairly large crowd lingered sort of unsure when to expect the next support. Before long a bunch of smiley, happy go lucky boys called Bakers Eddy rocked up on stage. The 4-piece are originally from South Island New Zealand have been calling Australia home since moving to Melbourne at the end of 2016. Judging by the crowd’s reaction when they picked up their gear to play you’d be easy to mistake Bakers Eddy as the headliner of the night.

Bakers Eddy // By Aimee Ravik

They opened with their 2015 gritty and unrefined single Something Outside, and before long any space left in front of the stage was filled. Midway through the set when the band played opening track Jack Shit for You, from this years EP I’m Not Making Good Decisions, the room fell into the same rhythm and was definitely picking up what the band was putting down.

Bakers Eddy // By Aimee Ravik

Bakers Eddy have a fun, surf-rock, nothing-can-touch-me energy, that is almost universally relatable. Their second last song of the night, was a good summary of the set, and the band’s current discography—Sad & Happy. With their time on stage coming to a close, and the high energy of the previous track it was going to be difficult for the band to finish on a higher note than having a good chunk of the crowd yelling “I’ve got no emotion on my own!” in sync with the band, and then they pulled out a cover.

Bakers Eddy // By Aimee Ravik

Usually a band ending on a cover can leave the crowd feeling a little lacking, but when you’re Bakers Eddy, and you’re doing a damn good cover of The Hives – Tick Tick Boom, you’ve got nothing to worry about. Bakers Eddy will be making an appearance at Hysteria’s own Halloween Hysteria in October, and if their set is even close to the one witnessed on Friday night—it won’t be one to miss.

Headliners these days are constantly raising the bar with their walk-on track. But ladies and gentlemen, I think we’ve found a winner. If you can get over 50 people from the alternative scene to sing along to Everybody by the Backstreet Boys in full then you’ve obviously got something to prove, and that’s exactly what headliner for Friday night The Dead Love did. From the very first “Rock your body” the room surrendered themselves to a good time, and a good time ensued.

The Dead Love // By Aimee Ravik

Opening on Ordinary the crowd showed they’re keen on more new music from the band, with a few loyal fans up the front singing along to every word. The room felt comfortable and safe, with the exception of the floor of Black Bear lodge which seemingly struggled with the jumping of the crowd.

The Dead Love // By Aimee Ravik

Moments later in what ended up being a down to earth and intimate moment, frontman Stevie Knight, had to tune his guitar mentioning “I can’t play this song when the guitar is out of tune cause it sounds a bit shit”. He got a chuckle out of the audience and it removed any potential awkwardness out of the moment, before playing something a little softer in their track Summer.

The Dead Love // By Aimee Ravik

Proving covers to be the theme of the night, The Dead Love smashed out a huge cover of Sum 41’s In too Deep, playing it true to the original and providing a much appreciated, light hearted sing a long to break up the set.  

The Dead Love // By Aimee Ravik

While it was a heart-warming moment to hear an entire room sing along to Backstreet Boys, what topped it was having the venue yell, “I hate that everyone’s the fucking same” as loud as they possibly could. Closing on their 2017 track Sugarcoat, the band finished large, living up to the hype and then some.