When Spotlight Report sat down with Bonnie Fraser earlier this month, we asked what could be expected on the WAS HERE tour. “A lot of chaos ..
. It’s basically every crazy idea we’ve ever had” was Bonnie’s reply. And boy was she was right.
In the best possible way. Stand Atlantic ’s Sydney show was beautiful, beautiful chaos. And it was absolutely wonderful.
The show was kicked off by Vana , a set full of playful banter, gorgeous glam goth aesthetics, and a pretty cool vibe. It was a really fun set that pulled in the crowd and felt a lot like watching Goth Barbie strut her stuff. Next up was Perth’s Sly Withers to continue amping the crowd up with their fun, catchy songs and laidback attitude.
And then it was time for Stand Atlantic to deliver on the promised chaos. Stand Atlantic stepped onto the Roundhouse stage – a venue the band mentioned being especially excited to play given their fond memories – to greet an incredibly excited crowd that were packed in as close to the stage as it was possible to get. The atmosphere was impressive, maybe partly due to the show being a hometown one, but mainly just because these guys are absolutely epic live.
They opened their jampacked set with “WAKE UP-SIT DOWN-SHUT UP” and it was instantly clear that Bonnie has unbeatable stage presence; it was hard to take your eyes off her even with all the chaos that followed. Despite their new record only being a week old, the new tracks were a huge hit with the crowd – unsurprising, given the ARIA success of WAS HERE ( #2 Australian Album , #3 Album, #3 Vinyl ). And can we take a hot minute to appreciate how beautiful the chaos was? From “the cops” shutting down the show only to join in as surprise pole dancers, to free t-shirts being delivered to the crowd via crowd surfers carried over everyone on inflatables, to smoke guns, bubble guns and of course the music itself; this show was a blast from start to finish.
Some highlights include – honestly, the whole show was a highlight though – “KISSSIN’ KILLER COBRAS”, “KILL[H]ER” “SEX ON THE BEACH” (damn it’s a good song, and even more impressive performed live). There was also a pretty epic moment when Jenna McDougal ( Tonight Alive ) took to the stage to sing “LOVE U ANYWAY” with Bonnie. The set was closed out with “CRIMINAL” featuring Vana and “deathwish” before the encore consisting of epic throwback song “Coffee at Midnight” and new fan-fave “GIRL$” farewelled the crowd.
Another successful show ticked off the band’s extensive list. It’s still a pretty big disappointment that the night is over; the show was such a high, and I expect there will be a lot of post-gig blues hitting in the next few days. Because it was one hell of a show! Well done guys! If you haven’t picked up a copy of WAS HERE yet, you can grab yours from: https://artistfirst.
com.au/collections/stand-atlantic.
