Live Review: DZ Deathrays @ Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Words by Scenewave Australia - Published on June 1, 2014
The sweaty glistening bodies of 15 shirtless men thrashed around on stage to fast heavy drums and dirty guitar. Was I in heaven? Almost, as Foam and Palms took to stage to shred with the DZ boys I couldn’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.
You know a concert’s great when the audience are screaming the lyrics just as loudly as the band, with the same sweat-soaked hair, and shaking it like Jake.
Palms:
“We’re Miley Cyrus and this is Wrecking Ball”. What a way to open. The banter and cheekiness from these lads complimented their insane rock music, with an incredible stage presence and energy. They’d perfected their look, with all the black trappings of your average rocker, however they were also adorned in shirts featuring cute puppies and Wayne’s world.
They did a 20 second rendition of “Summer Nights”, with lead singer drawling out both Danny and Sandy’s parts in a true aussie accent. They also played a bunch of their originals off their debut album from 2013, Step Brothers. Their hit single “This Last Year”, which has had some pretty sweet Triple j airtime, drove the crowd wild, and the first moshing of the night began.
DZ Deathrayz:
Kicking off with “Black Rat”, Simon’s drumsticks flew from drum to cymbal, crashing and banging as the crowd pushed, pulled and scrambled their way to the front. Their unbeatable energy pulsed through the crowd, and soon the moshers were all jumping onto the stage, and jumping straight back off. I’m sure that most of the eager punters had a crowdsurf, with the palms and foam lads occasionally jumping in from side stage. Towards the end, leadsinger Shane leapt into the crowd, microphone in hand and sang intimately to us as hands pushed him along.
“Gina Works At Hearts” and “Reflective Skull” were stand outs, but the whole set was just such an amazing intense experience. As previously mentioned, the encore involved the lads from Foam and Palms rushing onstage, shirts ripped off and jumping around as a heady sea of bodies.
Sometimes the production value of an album leaves the live performance lacking. And sometimes it’s the complete opposite. I love Black Rat as an album, but now I will always be yearning to listen to it live, since even the heaviest, most expensive stereo could never compete with the thrashing energy of Simon and Shane.
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