HOLY HECK. Spacey Jane. The one and only. On Thursday night I got to catch them perform at the Riverstage and boy oh boy what a night to remember. Brisbane has been fudged over a lot and this gig was a long long time coming. I should say SHOUTOUT to my sister, Sofia a big fan of theirs who, along with many others had bought a ticket to see them play over a year ago and was devo when they changed the dates so last minute she almost wasn’t able to make it. I can’t even remember how many times they have been forced to change the dates, cancel, change venues. They played Wednesday and Thursday night but they were originally meant to play the weekend before but had to cancel last minute (when I say last minute I mean literally an hour before the gates were open) because of newly imposed restrictions (shoutout covid). There were a lot of upset fans out there (my sister included) but I don’t think anyone could stay mad at Spacey.
The Riverstage is a really cool venue in Brisbane, probably one of my favourites in Brisbane or matter of fact anywhere. It’s outdoors so it almost feels like a festival. It’s big enough so the sound quality is CRISP (compared to a lot of smaller venues). The stage is at the bottom of hill so everyone gets a good view. Any band that plays there has made it. So congrats Spacey Jane – you have made it to the big leagues. It was such a lovely night. There was a cool breeze and there was a full moon. STUNNING. Usually there venue is standing only but for some reason there was a seating area sectioned off right at the front. Because I bought my tickets later (mind you I had to pay extra $$ – also – I technically did have tickets from when they first announced their tour but my ex got them for me so lol), I got to sit right in there. It was pretty strange. And also it wasn’t full – there were plenty of empty chairs but it just meant that there was more roooom to dance.
Ok so before I get stuck into Spacey’s setlist and whatnot – there were two support acts: The Moving Stills and Jess Day (who isn’t to be confused with Jessica Day from New Girl which, btw is a great show). The Moving Stills were SO GOOD. I can’t believe I have been missing out on them. Like huh? They’re a four-piece indie-pop-rock-surf kinda band (right up my alley) from Central Coast NSW. Very groovy. Very cool. Plus, they covered Boys Don’t Cry by the Cure which was so good (very well suited to their sound). I really liked their song Nineteen but their latest song Gene is also a banger. Next up was Jess Day. Super cool chick – her sound reminds me of WAAX but more lowkey. So it’s moody-indie-pop-punk vibes. I like her song Affection.
Now! What you have all been waiting for…Spacey Jane. They’re an indie-rock-pop-garage band from Perth made up of Caleb (lead vocalist), Kieran (drummer), Peppa (bass guitarist) and Ashton (guitarist). Their music is dreamy and the four of them make up a great team. I’ve actually seen them before – in 2019 (ah, remember the pre-covid days?) at the Solbar in Sunny Coast. I remember thinking hot damn, these guys are good! They were so much fun up there. The Riverstage is a whole other ball game. There’s so much space up there and they looked like they were having the time of their lives. Jumping around and getting the crowd hyped up. They KILLED IT. I couldn’t stop smiling the whole time. They put on such a great performance. Honestly. So good.
As soon as they walked on stage, the whole crowd went mental (including me duh). This gig was in celebration of their latest album Sunlight which is their debut album and so they played a bunch of songs off it. Like their first song was their banger (I mean all their songs are), Skin of course. That’s my sister’s fav song of theirs so it was a nice way to start off the night. Their setlist was pretty good – they built up the crowd well, capturing their attention. They played other songs off their album like Good Grief (duh – one of my favs, shoutout to Caleb for putting the guitar tutorial on the Spacey fan page), Weightless, Head Cold, Straightfaced (I LOVE this song – catchy, heartbreaking lyrics with their signature kinda melodic guitar). They finished off (before the encore) with Booster Seat, their most popular song. It came second place on Triple J’s Hottest 100, which by the way is a BIG deal. It’s definitely there of favourite songs of theirs, it kind of has a nostalgic feel to it. My dad and I like listening to it in the car (sappy I know). They also played a bunch of their older ones – Feeding the Family (a classic) and Thrills (another crowd pleaser). They ended the night with the one and only, Good For You. WHAT A NIGHT. The one thing I will say – it was a bit sad to see ol mate Kieran (drummer) hidden away up the back! You couldn’t really see him and I’m like hello drums are JUSt as important.
Writing up this post makes me want to be back in those couple of hours. Those lil moments where I feel so whole. GAH. It was an absolute dream. I got to see one of my favourite bands at one of my favourite venues. And bonus discovered a new band that I love. Blezzed. Spacey Jane are honestly such a staple in the Aussie music scene. They’re popular for a reason. Listen to em’! They literally don’t have any bad songs.
clara x 2021
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