By Sofia Silvestrini
CO-HEADLINE WITH DEAR SEATTLE at Enmore Theatre 14/07/2023
July 19, 2023
You know you’re in for a fun night when a punter gets chased through the venue by security before 7:30pm.
They might’ve gotten away, too, as The Enmore Theatre was pretty full early for support act Dear Seattle. The NSW lads were clearly stoked to be there and treated us to an energetic set of old and new jams, including their Like a Version (LAV) – a cover of Missy Higgins’ ‘The Special Two’. ‘twas a smart move smashing that one out as it was LAV Hottest 100 eve, and the countdown was on our minds. (For those of you playing at home, Dear Seattle came in at #30!)
The one-two raucous set-closer punch of ‘Meadows’ and ‘Daytime TV’ ruled – these guys will be playing their own Enmore shows soon.
Next up was the first of our headliners, Ruby Fields, who walked on to Limp Bizkit’s ‘Rollin’’. Ruby and her band made the most of being on that iconic stage – “I can’t fuckin’ believe this… it’s been a goal my whole life”, their hearts were in every shred and note.
They sure gave the people what they wanted – ‘P Plates’ which hadn’t been played live in a while, ‘Redneck Lullaby’ complete with a g’day to her dad who was in attendance, first ever release ‘I Want’, new material, and a truly glorious mass-singalong during ‘Dinosaurs’. She looked after us too – stopping the set at one point to check everyone in the pit was ok, a request to stop throwing cans, and sweet end-of-tour thank yous.
The Beatles can keep their strawberries. Ruby Fields forever!
Second headliners Hockey Dad closed out the show and cranked the chaos up.
Everyone got up on their feet during first track ‘I Need a Woman’, and stayed there, smiles permanently on faces all set. We copped a new song – ‘hope you all enjoy it’ – and enjoy it we did! It screamed ’this-will-be-great-at-a-summer-festival’.
One set highlight was ‘Itch’ which started with a single spotlight on front man Zach, the performance building its power with each word. We all sang rather than screamed ‘I’m okaaaaay, I feel saaaafe’, mates looked at each other like they were gonna cry, the lads beamed down on us from the stage.
‘Homely Feeling’ switched us back into thrash around mode and energy levels soared again. We were then treated to Ruby and co coming back out for stage hangs during ‘Sweet Release’ while HD’s drummer Billy took over lead vocal duties, roamed around, rode shoulders and popped into the mosh for a visit.
With Billy back behind the kit, it was time for the Enmore to explode during ‘Join the Club’. It felt like the floor may cave in (again).
A couple more singalongs brought the emotional last stop of the “Hockey Fields” tour to a close, and we all left aboard the sweaty mess express. How good’s Aussie rock?!
