Monstera “Needed Me” Single Launch Review
MONSTERA “Needed Me'“ Launch - Live Gig Review 26/03/2022
By David Hunter
Tomcat was the place to be on the evening of Saturday March 26th, 2022. The doors opened to the second-storey Wickham Street dive bar on the rainy night and patrons began to file in. With low key mood-lighting, stunning graffiti art and a smell reminiscent of a wood-barrel cellar one could have been forgiven for not anticipating the ground-shaking display of local talent that was about to occur.
Local up-and coming indie pop/rock group MONSTERA were hosting their launch party for their new single “Needed Me” which had dropped earlier that day. Supporting MONSTERA were two stellar local bands, Mondeo and Lucid Safari – the stage was set.
First up was local 4-piece rock band Mondeo. Having recently released “Clouds”, their debut single, Mondeo brought to the stage a superb opening to the night. Traversing genre boundaries, the band put their talents on display, getting the audience on their feet from the first strike of the drums. Next was local four-piece reggae-rock group Lucid Safari. Every now and then you come across band which performs with such ease and perfection that it become clear and evident that the band is having just as much fun as their audience. This was Lucid Safari. The chemistry between each of the band members was truly electric.
MONSTERA, the headliners of the night had some tough acts to follow, yet, if you had the opportunity to speak to any of the band members prior to hitting the stage you might have described them all as “cool as cucumbers” as their confidence showed. They were prepared, they were primed, and they smashed it. As the band members Jasmine Ruane (guitar and lead vocals), Harris Aldridge (lead guitar – also Mondeo’s guitarist), Liam McDonough (bass) and Rohnan Calvia (drums) took their positions on- stage the dancefloor filled with fans, should-to-shoulder filling the space from the stage to the bar at the back of the room.
The room suddenly filled with the sounds of their opening track, “Lets Go Sunshine”. Jasmine, the brilliant front-woman of MONSTERA looked stunning under the lights. Playing her tidepool telecaster in a sparkly-purple one-piece jumpsuit and displaying her incredible vocal talents, she commanded the attention of the audience from the beginning to the end of the performance.
If you’ve heard any of MONSTERA’s releases you’ll notice the old-school 70s/80s-era guitar sounds brought to you by none-other than guitarist Harris. The combination of Harris’ guitar, Jasmine’s vocals and the awesome song writing brought both a nostalgic and modern feel to the performance simultaneously, displaying a rare level of creativity bordering on innovation.
Liam’s bass performance was flawless, with basslines meshing perfectly with the rest of the band. Where Liam really shone was when he had the opportunity to bring his talents to the forefront in a couple of solos demonstrating through his technique that he is truly a force to be reckoned with. At the back of the stage, drummer Rohnan was clearly having a good time, wielding his drumsticks with ease, not missing a single beat. If you watched closely you might have seen the occasional twirl of the drumsticks through Rohnan’s fingers, but to do so you would’ve had to have been close to the stage where the power of Rohnan’s foot on the kick drum pedal probably would’ve stopped your heart before you had the chance to spot it.
MONSTERA’s performance had several highlights, but one of the biggest was their performance of “Sanity”, an original they released as a single December last year. During their performance of Sanity the weight of the crowd dancing and jumping along to the chorus made the ground of the second floor dive bar feel like it was bowing and flexing underfoot like a trampoline. It became clear that this relatively new band in Brisbane has already amassed a huge following of devoted fans.
As the band wrapped up their final song “Worth It”, the fans weren’t done with them yet. The crowd chanted “encore”, and of course, MONSTERA were prepared. The band launched into a cover of Divinyls “I Touch Myself”, with Jasmine ditching the guitar giving her the opportunity to interact with the fans before finishing with a final original MONSTERA track.
For a band that had their first debut gig less than a year ago and only a couple of releases under their belts, MONSTERA does not fail to impress. Each of the band-members are tremendously talented, coming together to put on brilliant performances like this one, and releasing incredible tracks like “Sanity” and “Needed Me”. On the night MONSTERA performed several amazing originals that are yet to be released, and with a growing fan base they will undoubtedly be hits.
If you get the opportunity to see MONSTERA (or the amazing supporting acts Mondeo or Lucid Safari) live you definitely should. Just make sure you get your tickets early because it won’t be long before their shows start selling out!
MONSTERA Set-List
1. Lets go Sunshine
2. Good Manners
3. Dreams (Fleetwood Mac Cover)
4. Devils Advocate
5. Sanity
6. Booster Seat (Spacey Jane Cover)
7. Worth It
Encores
1. I Touch Myself (Divinyls Cover)
2. Purple Haze
