SLOWLY SLOWLY - 27TH MAY 2023 - UNSW ROUNDHOUSE, SYDNEY
Indie rock band Slowly Slowly wrapped up their Daisy Chain album tour at the UNSW Roundhouse in Sydney on Saturday night the 27th May and gifting fans a longer set of 2 hours as Virginia band Turnover unfortunately couldn’t make the tour. Along with them, Slowly Slowly brought pop punkers Between You & Me, and the ever lovely Hevenshe.
Jenna McDougall’s project Hevenshe really represents who she is as an artist now. She has grown from that young pop punk icon that we all grew up with in her band Tonight Alive to this gorgeous butterfly who has evolved and spread her wings with a handful of smooth, gentle tracks that take a hold of your soul and make you feel strongly. She and the band that make up Hevenshe played a thirty minute set, as she exchanged big smiles with the audience and brought some very positive, and warm energy to the venue. Finishing off the set, was her debut track ‘No One Will Ever Love You’, which had the crowd swaying from side to side to the loud bass groove, and strong vocals.
Next up was modern pop punk favourites Between You & Me, who brought high intensity energy straight away along with a few jokes. Bassist James Karagiozis and vocalist Jake Wilson have fun chemistry between them and really do their part to get the audience up and moving including getting a huge circle pit going. They played a solid set that started with the bands new music including their latest track ‘Nevermind’ before moving onto their beloved older music that fans went to hard to. Overall, it was a fantastic set that got everyone warmed up for Slowly Slowly.
A large white sheet covered a majority of the stage with the only view being the silhouette of each member from Slowly Slowly. As they started to play ‘Daisy Chain’, the sheet dropped and the members ran with such force down stairs to the stage where they brought the fun and had the crowd screaming at the top of their lungs. Between the dance moves and the jumping, Slowly Slowly have easily some of the best stage presence that any band in Australia offers - it’s somewhat mesmerising, truly exciting, and forces out a lot of power through the venue. It’s one of those bands that you have to see every time they play in your town. A two hour set was an absolute treat for all as they played their tracks full of energy, mixed with some slower tracks on an acoustic stage that brought all the feels.
A truly great night, and a bittersweet ending for the end of Slowly Slowly’s Daisy Chain album tour.