WAAX rock The Brightside for their “Dangerous” Tour - 29/04/22
Written by David Hunter.
Standing in line outside The Brightside in Brisbane at around 7:30 PM you could hear Fortitude Valley coming to life. The sounds of various bands pouring out of venues dotted around Valley only added to the anticipation for the night ahead, especially hearing the sound-checking on the Brightside outdoor stage that would be the focus of my attention this evening. As the line built, I doubt anyone didn’t take a moment to appreciate the clear-skied warm weather and the city lights. By 7:50 PM the line at the Brightside had extended all the way down Warner St and appeared to snake around the corner onto Wickham St – tonight was going to be epic. Then, 7:55 PM, the gates opened, and security began to let the fans pour in.
The Brightside was hosting none other than local Brisbane-legends WAAX, who were in the middle of their “Dangerous” tour having recently released their 2-track single of the same name. Joining WAAX on their tour was Melbourne-based, New Zealand born and bred, Bakers Eddy and supporting was local Brisbane musician Sammm. and his band.
Thankful that I came early and was close to the start of the line, I was one of the first in the venue which was a hive of bustling activity even before the hoards of WAAX fans waiting outside had made their way in with bar-tenders making final preparation and security guards taking up their posts. I walked down the side of the Brightside and rounded the corner to the outdoor stage. The stunning scaffolded platform, bathed in blue looked simultaneously industrial and majestic, shrouded in a fog from the testing of the smoke machines. Ticket-holders filed into the venue, crowding around the stage, eager and ready for the first act of the night.
Sammm. took the stage with his guitar, surrounded by his backing band members, instruments and sticks in hand. Sammm., the solo project of local Sam Geddes, took this opportunity, supporting Bakers Eddy and WAAX to showcase not only his vocal and guitar talents but also his incredible song-writing. The indie alt-rock/punk vibes started the night perfectly, with Sammm. displaying confidence on-stage in front of a growing audience which was easily 300-strong by the end of his set.
Next up was Bakers Eddy. The Melbourne-based alt-punk band recently released their album “Love Boredom Bicycles” and was joining WAAX on their tour. Prior to attending this gig, I hadn’t heard much about Bakers Eddy and took to my Spotify profile to stream some of the songs. They sounded cool, but streaming was really no comparison to seeing them live. The energy given by the band was awesome, every strike of the drum, every strum and pluck of their guitars and bass were technically perfect, and frontman Ciarann’s vocal delivery and stage-presence was brilliant.
What was also impressive was how the band held their composure during a few hiccups at the sound-desk, their recovery being calm and professional. I was truly impressed by Bakers Eddy and by the end of their set, I knew why they were touring with WAAX.
Finally, the fans were about to get what they had been waiting for. WAAX took to the stage, frontwoman Maz DeVita in the centre surrounded by the rest of the band including James Gatling on lead guitar, Ewan Birtwell on rhythm guitar, Tom Bloomfield on drums, and bass guitarist Izzy de Leon who is with the band for their tour. Brightside at capacity, the density of the 500-strong near the stage increased 10-fold and if you were standing in the middle I would’ve been surprised if you could move, let alone breathe.
WAAX launched into their opening song which was none other than “No Apology” from their 2019 album “Big Grief”. Right from the beginning of the WAAX set it was obvious why this band has amassed such a huge following – the energy emanating from the stage was phenomenal – so much so that halfway through the set my fitness tracker watch alerted me that my heart rate had risen to over 120 BPM even though I had been standing still for almost half an hour.
Frontwoman Maz’s performance was the definition of masterful. Her stage presence was unrivalled. She knew exactly what the fans wanted, and she delivered. There was such power to her voice, such emotion, you feel that she put her heart and soul into every word. As she strode across the stage, if you managed to pry your eyes from the stage you might have noticed Maz’s silhouette cast upon the wall of the adjacent building by the stage lighting like a spectre of punk-rock surging forth from the impressive performance.
Throughout WAAX’s set you the comradery between each of the band members was obvious, with guitarists James and Ewan frequently coming together during moments where the guitars became the central focus, and Maz often going to the front of the drumkit where Tom was busy testing the structural integrity of his sticks. It’s moments like these that give insight into the bonds which form between band-members. Overall, it was clear that the whole band was having a good time, thrilled to be home in Brisbane performing not only for their die-hard fans, but also their friends and family.
While I loved the energy of all their songs, a highlight for me personally was when the band performed the title track from their recent single “Dangerous”. For this slow song James pulled out an acoustic guitar and the stage was filled with fog from the smoke machines. A blue-light filled the stage as Maz emerged from the fog and her beautiful vocals again filled the outdoor area at the Brightside.
As the band wrapped up their set and departed the stage there was the not-so-unexpected chant of “one more song” from the crowd and the band emerged for their encore with a light rain began to fall on the crowd. As a special treat the band performed a new song from their upcoming album “At Least I’m Free” which is due for release in August this year. Finishing in style, Maz joined the crowd to perform their final song “Most Hated Girl” wrapping up what was overall a phenomenal performance.
WAAX’s performance at the Brightside was awe inspiring, with their touring support band Bakers Eddy clearly demonstrating why they were chosen to join them. The band is now heading south to continue their tour with several performances booked up and down the east-coast. If you haven’t seen them yet I highly recommend you check them out.
Following their performances, I had the privilege to catch-up with Maz from WAAX, Ciarann from Bakers Eddy and Sam Geddes from Sammm. to ask them a couple of questions each. You can read these brief interviews below.
Brief interview with Marie “Maz” De Vita, WAAX
Q (David): “How is the tour going so far?”
A (Maz): “So far it has been really nice. We’ve only done the Victorian leg so far, so we did Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat. That’s been really awesome, we haven’t left the state (QLD) in three years, so it’s been really nice to come back and do that sort of thing. Yeah, can’t really complain, it’s been great.
Q (David): “Do you have any advice for new artists coming into the industry, or if you could go back in time and give yourself some advice when you started your career what would that be?”
A(Maz): “The advice I would give my younger self would be to trust my instincts and if your gut is telling you something follow that despite what everyone else says because a lot of people want to give advice and tell you how to do things, but I think deep down, the only person who knows how to do what you want is you, so that’s something to really remember.”
Brief Interview with Ciarann Babbington, Bakers Eddy
Q (David): “What has it been like touring with WAAX and what does it mean for you all getting to tour with a band like them?”
A (Ciarann): “It was really exciting for us because we moved from New Zealand to Australia and there’s this weird thing between our two countries, I think it’s more New Zealand, where not a lot of Australian music makes it into New Zealand. I don’t know what that is, I think it’s some weird competitiveness that we have, it’s very strange, but WAAX was the first band from Australia within this scene that I had heard of, so coming over to Australia they were the band I wanted to see most. Now five years on we’re actually playing with them, so it is crazy to think of. I f***ing love their band so much. So yeah, very very happy and we get to watch them play like 12 times over the next month.
It’s a dream, it’s a dream, and they’re very nice people too, which is a bonus. James (WAAX) put us up for the night as well and he like made our bed, he left Cruisers on the bed and a Nintendo out for us, I was like OMG so stoked, so yeah, they’re very nice people, very happy.”
Q (David): “Have you found that your fan-base has grown since being on tour with WAAX?”
A (Ciarann): “Yeah definitely, you can tell, our Instagram followers are going up every-time we play. It’s cool cause we’re in the same scene and unfortunately over the last two years we haven’t been able to come up here and go to places that we’re going to with WAAX. So it’s cool to be in front of those people and for them to get to know us so that they can come to our shows. Yeah, definitely seeing some big numbers which is great.”
Brief Interview with Sam Geddes, Sammm.
Q (David): “Can you tell me more about your Sammm. project and the band you had backing you tonight?
A (Sam): “I started writing music as a form of therapy and my band are some of my closest friends. When you’re writing music about addiction and self-doubt you need a lot of supportive people around. I rarely write without and emotional trigger. When I need to express something that’s when a song happens.
Q (David): “What’s it like getting to support a band like WAAX and what does it mean to you and for your project to be able to support WAAX?”
A (Sam): “WAAX is the most genuine and friendly rockstars you will ever meet. They care so much about their fans and I couldn’t believe we got to open for them. There are times when the grind of the music industry gets you down a bit. Watching Maz completely own the stage tonight was one of those pivotal moments that reminds me this is what I love about doing this. They seriously inspirational. Honest, good songwriting from honest good people.”
Photos by Gabi Rankine.
