Live Review: WAAX, Sweater Curse, COLTS

The launch show for the debut album from WAAX sees one of the strongest Brisbane line-ups in recent memory grace The Triffid.

COLTS open the night to a very small crowd, but once their wall of jangly guitar rock envelops the main stage, the crowd started flocking. Barely taking time to chat to the audience, tune after tune punches us in the gut. Highlight August strips away its punchy almost hardcore feel on record for a more raw and math-rock-oriented delivery live. 

The high-tier energy of COLTS is then stripped away for the fragile wall of fuzz that is Sweater Curse. More people gather eagerly for some of Brisbane’s best indie-rock, but surprisingly there is a heavy focus on new material, showing a rawer and heavier sound coming from the band. Lyrics are more emotionally exposed and there are a fair few jam-out moments, which we've rarely see from the band. Guitarist Chris Langenberg’s hair, perfectly primped to form a cocoon around his head, makes his erratic faux guitar destruction all the more enthralling to watch. Sadly the crowd doesn’t get into much of a bounce, merely enamoured by how tight of a live band Brisbane’s finest are.

With the Brisbane appreciation already cemented during the Sweater Curse set, you'd think the infamously brown Brisbane River was bright blue from the outpouring of love for the river city during WAAX. Sprinting on stage to start slam dancing to mega single FU, lead singer Maz DeVita immediately cements her place as one of the best, if not the best leading woman in Brisbane, never letting up on the energy - at least until we get our first taste of a slow WAAX song off their upcoming album, Big Grief. With the album dropping in a week, we got a big chunk of it live and to say we are excited just won’t do it justice. New track No Apology is an absolute barn burner. DeVita is completely swept off her feet by the sheer number of people packing out The Triffid, having grinded in the scene for so long: “We’ve been doing this for six years and we made it! We used to play at Ric's...”

WAAX @ The Triffid. Photo by Bianca Holderness.

Numerous band members go crowdsurfing and DeVita throws her body around like a rag doll. Deeper cuts like Wild & Weak get the crowd moving but it’s not until set-closer Labrador that the show truly becomes a WAAX gig with terrifying moshing. Being commanded back on stage for an encore, members of Sweater Curse and COLTS join the band for a very surprising cut, The Thirsty Merc classic In The Summertime, both bands sharing their love for Bondi Rescue. Truly an overdue return for Bondi Rescue memes.

WAAX are managed by Leigh Treweek, who is a director of Handshake Media, owner of this website.