A cloaked figure gazes upon a thousand-yard vista of turmoil, strife, and purgatory. In the …
We’ve barely recovered from their insanely giant Bloody Lovely tour, but DZ Deathrays aren’t letting us rest quite yet: not only have they just announced their biggest tour to date, they’re bringing Canadian punk lords PUP along for the ride.
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DZ Deathrays (formerly DZ, and Denzel before that) first made their voices heard a full goddamn decade ago. Three EPs, three albums, two ARIAs and a shitload of sold out tours, empty stubbies and sweat rags later, and the twosome—technically a trop now with the recent induction of longtime touring guitarist Lachlan Ewbank—are one of Australia’s most beloved acts. This September, they’ll be celebrating the long and arduous road that brought them here with a national run of theatre gigs.
Kicking off in Fremantle on Thursday, September 13th, the tour will roll through Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney before wrapping up in Brisbane just over a week later. Given the nature of this tour celebrating the band’s entire career, fans can expect to witness cuts from all three of DZ’s studio albums—Bloodstreams (2012), Black Rat (2014) and this year’s Bloody Lovely—and for the first time in several years, a slice or two from their three self-released EPs.
For those unaware, those first two full-lengths also managed to score DZ Deathrays the ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album.
Bloody Lovely was released in January via I OH YOU, and debuted at a modest (for just how choice it is) #4 on the ARIA Charts. In a much deserved 8/10-scoring review, Hysteria gave special mention to the record’s abundance of “colour, energy and creative ideas showcased on Bloody Lovely to satisfy any fan of the new wave of Aussie rock.”
As we noted at the start of this piece, DZ Deathrays last toured Australia in May, where they hit some of the country’s most prodigious venues for a run that all but completely sold out. Hysteria tagged along to the band’s hometown shebang, where we lauded how “the dancefloor [was] pumping up and down like a punk-rock pneumatic ram for the last sweat-drenched chorus.”
PUP’s last trek Down Under was way back in 2016, right after they’d released their game-chaning second album, The Dream Is Over. The band have since capped recording on their to-be-announced third album, which looks set to hit shelves towards the end of 2018, and, if the incremental hype from their last two LPs has been any indication, will no doubt catapult PUP to their rightful status as the biggest and best modern punk band in the world.
In addition to the one-two sucker punch of DZ Deathrays and PUP, each date on the tour will feature its own set of A-list special guests. They aren’t just any small local troupes, either, with the list starring such gems as The Love Junkies, FOAM, Ali Barter, Horror My Friend, Press Club, The Gooch Palms and Straight Arrows, plus DJ sets from Yacht Club, Polish Club and Velociraptor.
DZ Deathrays’ 10-Year Anniversary Tour kicks off this September with PUP + special guests.
Thursday September 13th – Metropolis, Fremantle (18+)
with The Love Junkies and FOAM
Friday September 14th – HQ, Adelaide (AA)
with Ali Barter and Horror My Friend
Saturday September 15th – The Forum, Melbourne (18+)
with Ali Barter, Yacht Club DJs and Press Club
Thursday September 20th – Enmore Theatre, Sydney (AA)
with The Gooch Palms, Straight Arrows and a Polish Club DJ set
Friday September 21st – The Tivoli, Brisbane (18+)
with special guests TBA and a Velociraptor DJ set
Tickets on sale Thursday, July 12th from frontiertouring.com
Frontier members pre-sale runs from Monday, July 9th at 2pm.
