It was the last night of a massive tour that Kingswood had embarked on to celebrate the release of their latest album, After Hours, Close To Dawn and it was promising to be a big one at Capitol, especially if we were to go on any of their previous performances.

Tasmanian artist, Maddy Jane was the first to take to the stage. While she usually plays with a band, she can definitely hold her own as a solo act as she proved on Saturday night. She has a beautiful voice and it was just a shame that there weren’t more people there to see her.

Those that were there early, however, were treated to a great show. Maddy Jane is a lot of fun to watch and she has a great energy and sense of humour about her. The good news though, she is coming back with Luca Brasi when they tour in June so you can go check her out then.

Maddy Jane | Josefin Stolt Westling

Next up was Brisbane band WAAX. They have been around since 2013 but it was the first time that they had made it to Perth and they were determined to make an impression. From the moment they walked on and started with I For An Eye, Wisdom Teeth and Holy Sick, their performance was frenetic and non-stop.

Even though you could see the exhaustion in her face, lead singer Marie DeVita appeared to channel Chrissy Amphlett throughout the set and it was so refreshing to watch such a powerful frontwoman.

They finished up their set with Pool Party (a Julia Jacklin cover), new song W & W, Same Same and This Everything. By this time, the audience was definitely warmed up and WAAX left the stage after having gained many new fans. Thankfully, they will also be back in July with their own headline tour.

WAAX | Josefin Stolt Westling

Kingswood always start their set off by playing classic songs that get the whole audience singing at the top of their lungs – You’re The Voice (John Farnham), The Horses (Daryl Braithwaitte) and Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen). Not only does it seem to unite the audience but it creates an energy that the band feeds off.

They opened with Looking For Love, Like Your Mother, She’s My Baby and Library Books. Fergus Linacre really knows how to work an audience into a frenzy and had everyone eating out of the palm of his hands.

“This is the last night of the tour so it means party from start to finish!” Alex Laska told the audience. “So glad to finish here as we have such great memories of this place!” as he started Golden.

Kingswood went all out with this tour, including bringing out their very talented backing singers, Steph Greenwood and Rachael Sosby, sung Happy Birthday to a fan (after giving him a glass of whisky to skol) and even had their own ‘dance’ moves to a couple of the songs.

They played all the songs from the album interspersed with Suckerpunch, ICFTYDLM and Ohio. For their encore, they came back out to play Medusa, Micro Wars and Creepin.

Kingswood | Josefin Stolt Westling

One thing that their album does not pick up on is the energy, the fun and the joy that Kingswood have while they are on stage. That is something that can never be recorded so you really need to get to a live show just to see how brilliant this band is. It also shows just how diverse they are and how talented the whole band is.

Special shout out of course to their new bass player Braiden Michetti who brings a new dimension to the shows and a very cheeky, fun-loving nature. Hopefully, we will see a lot more of him in the future too.

As Fergus Linacre wrote in my notebook afterwards, “Best show ever. Legit.”

Full gallery from Josefin Stolt Westling can be viewed here

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