All Words And Images: Natalie Lorenz Photography
I went into this one the same way I usually like to with support bands, completely blind. I’d Only knew of Deafheaven, but never heard Peace Ritual or SPY before, so I had no expectations and just let their live sets do the talking.
Before getting to the music though, I have to mention The Princess Theatre. I love this venue. It’s beautiful, elegant, and there’s something about seeing heavier bands in such a stunning old theatre that always makes the night feel a little more special.
Sydney’s Peace Ritual were first up and offered a complete contrast to what was coming later in the evening. Their dreamy, ethereal sound filled the room beautifully, with gorgeous vocals and an uplifting stage presence. Between songs they shared little reminders like, “Sometimes you’ve gotta breathe and sigh it all out,” which summed up their whole vibe. It was warm, positive and genuinely lovely.
Then Oakland, California’s SPY walked on stage and completely flipped the energy in the room.
I was not expecting that level of intensity. The vocalist and bassist, especially, didn’t stop moving for a split second. Their sound landed somewhere between hardcore punk and sludgy aggression, and I was all for it. The vocalist was an absolute madman on stage, and it was impossible to look away. They were just as much fun to watch as they were to listen to, and the crowd absolutely ate it up.
I’ve had the pleasure of seeing San Francisco’s Deafheaven a couple of times before, and they never disappoint. Their live shows aren’t just incredible audibly, they’re visually captivating as well.
I always find myself getting completely mesmerised watching each member individually. George Clarke naturally grips your attention from centre stage, but watching Shiv Mehra play guitar is almost a metaphysical experience. Chris Johnson is another member I always catch myself watching. They all seem to melt into the music and the lighting, becoming part of the atmosphere rather than simply performing within it.
Speaking of the lighting… I think I can safely speak for every photographer in the pit when I say there was a brief moment of panic when the lights came up. It looked absolutely stunning from the crowd, but photographing it was another story altogether. Massive credit to everyone shooting the show though, we somehow managed to come away with some great images despite the challenge.
The set leaned heavily into Lonely People With Power, and hearing so much of the new material live for the first time was fantastic. We also got “Brought to the Water” from New Bermuda, while Sunbather was represented by just two songs, the title track and an encore performance of “Dream House”. Personally, I would’ve loved to hear a couple of tracks from Infinite Granite, especially “Mombasa”, but other than that I thought it was a really nice setlist.
One of my favourite things about a Deafheaven show is the crowd. They always seem to bring together people from all corners of heavy music and beyond. It’s genuinely fun to people-watch. There were people screaming every word, plenty of crowd surfers, and smiles everywhere you looked. Everyone just looked genuinely happy to be there.
Before leaving the stage, Deafheaven mentioned they’ll be back with new music, and after another incredible Brisbane performance, I honestly can’t wait to see what comes next.
- Natalie Lorenz Photography
