After a significant lineup change in 2015, Dear Seattle went through a complete rebranding which has taken them to further heights. The change in genre has caused the band to grasp larger audiences, including the support from triple j’s Dave Ruby Howe and Dom Alessio, along with touring with the likes of Balance and Composure and Columbus. Fresh off Kingswood’s “Kingwoodus Maximus” tour, the boys are back with their new single ‘Cut You Deep’ in one hand and a cold beer in the other. And with their recent record deal with Domestic La La Records, there’s no doubt that this sold out Sydney show was going to be a special night.

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Supporting Dear Seattle throughout the tour is Queensland-based indie rockers Eliza & The Delusionals, who came on the stage in full force. One of the most vibrant acts to come out of Australia’s music scene as of late, frontwoman Eliza Klatt holds an undeniably captivating hold over the audience who came to the upstairs band room early. Her delicate vocals mix ridiculously well with the instrumentation her band plays, translating songs from her critically-acclaimed debut EP into indie rock bops.

Klatt carries a sense of poise in the way she presents herself, both offstage and on. In the brief moments she spoke to the crowd, she talked with a calm, collected tone which was different yet refreshing to see. And throughout their final song “Cigarette”, Eliza and The Delusionals set the bar high for the night to come.

When the members of Dear Seattle stepped onto the stage, it didn’t take long for punters to go crazy. Halfway through “The Things You Do”, the first song in their grunge-driven set, surfers began flooding the crowd and the guys in Dear Seattle mirrored the rowdiness displayed in front of them. Playing songs back to front from their sophomore self-titled EP, the crowd relayed every word back to frontman Brae Fisher, whose smile expressed his elation in selling out the 250-capacity room.

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Although the majority of Dear Seattle songs revel in distorted guitar and hard-hitting drums, there were songs played that expressed sorrow in a calmer fashion. “Brae’s Song”, a song written by Fisher himself, left the crowd in a warm embrace as Fisher sung of his late dad. However, this moment of calmness did not last long as the beginning notes of “The Meadows” took everybody’s inhibitions and threw them in the air with the lyrics,

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“FUCK BEING SAD, I’M SO OVER IT”

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This left the crowd fighting for an encore, and “only because you asked so nicely”, it was delivered in the form of Silverchair’s “Freak”. And somehow, the encore threw the crowd in more hysteria than before.

There is more than enough evidence in their live show to understand why Dear Seattle are making waves in the Australian music industry, and it’s evident that there is so much more to come. Jump on the bandwagon and hold on tight, because there is no escaping from this Northern Beaches four-piece, even if you tried.

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AMNPLIFY – DB