Live Review: DZ Deathrays, Kiss The Fist

They’re loud, gregarious, nearly incoherent and seem like they’re off their faces, but none of that is anything to complain about because boy, can Kiss The Fist really show a packed-out Sunshine Coast venue how to party.

The three-piece outfit got the night started with a set that was full with one thrasher after another. Lead vocalist Kiss Reid, who is not only the owner of the most bad-arse-sounding name in the music world, but also the most bad-arse dance moves to undoubtedly ever grace that stage, had the crowd completely captured. These boys have an insanely, insanely heavy sound; perfect for amping up the already fervent punters even more. Their style isn’t for everyone, but whether it’s from Reid’s torn-apart voice screaming down the mic or their lyrics about loving MDMA, everyone in the room was buzzing by the time their set had ended.

DZ Deathrays are building a cult following, there’s just no other way to put it. Since dropping their second album, Black Rat, earlier in the year, the band has been rising higher and higher after putting in several years of hard yards, so you could perhaps say now that they have ‘made it’.

Less than three weeks after their ARIA Award win for ‘Best Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Album’, the boys are gaining national acclaim at a rollercoaster speed. But the punters chanting “DZ, DZ, DZ!” at the top of their lungs didn’t give two shits about any glitzy awards. They wanted Simon Ridley and Shane Parsons’ (and a third pal along on bass duties) in all their sweaty, messy glory and the Brisbane boys definitely delivered.
Opening on 2012’s No Sleep, then flying full throttle into a string of other hits such as Cops Capacity, Dollar Chills, The Mess Up and then toning it down for Northern Lights, it would be impossible for anyone to have left the gig disappointed. There was never a second during the whole set where at least one sweat-drenched body wasn’t flying through the air in a two-seconds-of-fame crowd-surfing moment or being literally thrown from the stage by the ridiculously tolerant security guards. Between them, neither Parsons nor Ridley ever missed a beat and their stamina throughout the show was second to none.

When a band has the potential to convince meek girls at the back in long dresses and heels into giving one of the gnarliest moshpits a go, you know there must be something special about the talent that’s coming from that stage. The next stage DZ Deathrays have to tackle is the international one, and if they continue playing and writing like they are, it’s going to be easier for them than downing a whole bottle of Jägermeister in three minutes.