By Sofia Silvestrini
Towradgi beach Hotel & Waves 27/04/2023
April 29, 2023
Bacon and eggs. Mulder and Scully. Mary-Kate and Ashley. Some things just go together, like The Buoys and Eliza & the Delusionals, who linked up for a co-headlining regional tour of the east coast.
Fittingly strutting out to Lizzo’s ‘Boys’, Sydney’s The Buoys were first to play. They were greeted with a rapturous applause; there was such a happy buzz in the room!
The first half of their set consisted of old and new faves including ‘Drive me Home’ and ‘Red Flags’ building up to the frenetic energy of ‘Wah’. Lots of hair flipping, guitar shredding, and energy through the roof. Newbie ‘BDSM’, which is basically about telling a former prime minister to piss off (“it worked. We started playing the song and then he was out.”) is off an upcoming album, and the news of said LP delighted us all.
Early shouted wishes for their version of ‘Monster Mash’ – which was originally performed as part of triple j’s‘Requestival’ – were granted, and it was… ahem… a graveyard smash.
More jamming, some tears (just me?) during ‘Lie to me Again’, and banger ‘Bad Habit’ closed out the set.
The crowd was louder than frontperson Zoe at some points. WE LOVE THE BUOYS. Bring on that album.
Holy hell were we warmed up and READY for Eliza & The Delusionals. The stage, beautifully bathed in blue, welcomed the effortlessly cool (live) four-piece and they launched into ‘Swimming Pool’. “I’ll dive in” was sung repeatedly over shimmery guitars, and dive in we did.
Some shoegaze vibes, all of the noughties vibes, the QLDers treated us to jams from their entire back catalogue, including plenty of treats from 2022 debut album, ‘Now and Then’. Set highlight for me was first track off the album ‘Give You Everything’. The soaring chorus gets me every time!
“I wanna see you dancing, alright?”. No need to ask, Eliza. We couldn’t help ourselves. Whether you got swept up in the lush vocals and swayed, bopped to Ruby’s bass, or cut your own shapes – it was a non-judgmental dance floor filled with bewitched punters living their best lives.
Earlier this week E&TD were announced as main support for an upcoming Trophy Eyes tour and I initially thought they were a strange fit. After witnessing them tonight, my concerns have been thrown out the window – sweet as they are, this band also crunches.
Grab your shades because the future of Aus music is fierce and BRIGHT!
