Roma Street Parkland’s lush greenery got a full-blown electronic takeover for Night at the Parkland, capped off by an absolute masterclass in dance music from PNAU.
Acoustic opener Birren kicked off the evening . The crowd loved his chill, yet engaging performance. His mixed up his originals with a cover of Leon Bridges’ “River”. He was the perfect opener for the evening, and hopefully we see a lot more from him soon
Alice Ivy followed and the vibe and tempo were lifted. Alice moved seamlessly between instruments, and her energy got the crowd prepped for the headliner. It was nice to see some people get down to the floor and take up spots on the rail to engage with the openers, which is sometime rare at shows
Then came PNAU, on paper this should not have worked. Bringing a club style artist into the open air shouldn’t work as the production can tend to get lost, but this clicked. The entire crowd were up and moving from beginning to end
Blasting through new tracks “Tu Corazon (Your Heart)” and “Chemistry” before firing off nostalgia bombs like “Go Bang” and “Wild Strawberries,” the trio ran a full-blown sprint through their iconic catalog. No filler, no small talk, they just let the music do the talking. They slowed down just long enough for the massive crossover anthem “Cold Heart,” only to hit the gas with drum-and-bass builds like “The Feeling” and a turbocharged rework of “Baby.”
Vocalist Annalisa Fernandez was an absolute force, owning the stage with powerhouse vocals and boundless energy (especially on “Embrace”), while Nick Littlemore shredding the keytar beside her was unadulterated joy. Capping it off with a relentless final streak of “Chameleon,” “Control Your Body,” and “Lover,” PNAU proved once again why they reign supreme in Australian electronic music. Massive sound, non-stop bangers, and an unbeatable vibe.
