DZ Deathrays @ The Gov, Adelaide 13/7/2024
It all came to and end in Adelaide last night!
DZ Deathrays have been riding high over the last month on tour celebrating the tenth anniversary of the second album Black Rat, which is an absolute beast of an album and really did launch them in a big way. Adelaide really did turn it on, it looked sparse early but by the time all the action started it would have been close to a sell out. I have seen such an enthusiastic crowd go off like this for quite a while creating quite the headache for security and stage staff with the onslaught of crowd surfing, stage diving and the crush down the front.
DZ Deathrays aren’t the same band they were in 2014 which was primarily a duo featuring singer and shredder Shane Parsons and drummer Simon Ridley. They have evolved their sound over the next four albums making them quite a formidable force. Touring as a four piece with guitarist Lachlan Ewbank and Luke Henry on bass the expanded line up allows them to push the envelope even further.
As far as the set list goes there were no real surprises playing Black Rat in its entirety from start to end. When it was played in this format you can really appreciate how awesome a record it is which still resonates strongly with fans today. Kicking off with Black Rat and Gina Works At Hearts and as Parsons put it, they were ready to kick this one in to the “stratosphere”.
By the third song the crowd found energy and the relentless crowd surfing and stage diving had started. Good luck if you were down the front right in amongst the crush. Less Out Of Sync is would have made the perfect live video and watching the sheer intensity of the crowd was really something. The crowd started yelling for requests drawing a quick replay from Parsons saying “let’s get this record out of the way first”.
Reflective Skull and Northern Lights were simply epic moments in the set. The band definitely lifted riding on the euphoria of the crowd as they shredded their way through Nightwalking, Fixations and Ocean Exploder. The chemistry and on stage dynamic between Parsons and Ewbank is incredibly to watch and it’s definitely like the perfect partnership. With the main set finishing on Tonight Alright and Night Slave there was a barely a minute before the band was back for the encore.
The band did acknowledge that it seemed as if their best was saved for Adelaide – they knew and the crowd knew it. There was no respite powering through The Mess Up and Gebbie Street. The crowd wanted more… and many more opportunities to crowd surf. The hand clap was the perfect lead in to the thrashy single Paranoid of R.I.F.F. finishing on Shred For The Summer making for an awesome Saturday night and no doubt there will be a few battered and bruised bodies the day after.
Live Review By Rob Lyon