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DAYSEEKER
+ Landon Tewers
+ Reliqa + Inertia
@ Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide,
9th July, 2024
(Live Review)

Review and photos by Missy Smiley (@itsmissysnaps) and Belinda Quick

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DAYSEEKER / Photo – @itsmissysnaps

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As the doors of the Lion Arts Factory opened on a chilly Adelaide evening, eager fans stream inside. Tonight is the much anticipated and long-since sold out second show of American genre-blenders DAYSEEKER’s debut headline DARK SUN tour, celebrating their 2022 album of the same name.

Joining DAYSEEKER is a killer line-up consisting of two of Australia’s hottest up-and-comers in alt. metal INERTIA, and RELIQA, and post-hardcore icon LANDON TEWERS. The crowd quickly fills the band room, not wanting to miss a single minute from the stacked bill.

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INERTIA / Photo – @itsmissysnaps

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Opening the night is INERTIA, a four-piece hailing from Sydney. However, before their set has even begun, guitarist Mark Williamson takes to the stage to explain that they’ll be performing tonight sans vocalist as Julian Latouche had come down sick on night one of the tour.

Making the best of a bad situation, INERTIA’s opening track, Dominion, is aptly titled, alluding to the effect of the instrumental outfit. With the backing vocal track substituting, a core-shaking bassline assaults, this promises to be less a band without a frontman and more the evocative soundtrack of a horror film. 

Joined by “friend”, Dan Richards from Adelaide’s own ALT. for the oppositely named, Nemesis, INERTIA can deftly diversify, and tonight’s substitute singer proves he’s capable of the same. Learning the Parallels “in a couple of hours”, this is the hometown way of helping out a dedicated band determined to put on a solid show for us all despite circumstance.

Richards commands the stage for two songs, strutting back and forth and proving to be a worthy fill-in for Latouche, before departing the stage and leaving the remaining three from INERTIA to continue on with the backing track.

Despite the missing frontman, INERTIA deliver an engaging and energetic performance. Wrapping up their set with their latest single, Too Far Gone, a cinematic and catchy taster from their upcoming debut album Second Shadow which will be out on August 9th.

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RELIQA / Photo – @itsmissysnaps

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Rumours swirled with panic between sets that illness had spread and RELIQA’s Monique Pym had been similarly struck. Although some in the crowd may have found initial indicators differentiating the femme fatale’s performance at 2023’s FROTH & FURY FEST, or even just a few weeks prior in support of CALIGULA’S HORSE, by the sophomore song, Pym was all smiles.

Careening across the stage, conducting the crowd to Killstar’s beat, this is a woman that cannot be held down and a band on the rise. With admissions that tonight’s set may be “a bit of a rough one”, confirming our fears, this was no signal of a Dying Light.

The Bearer of Bad News was an unfortunately apt title for the fourth song of the set as, shortly after the final chords were played, RELIQA’s set was unexpectedly cut short due to a medical emergency. Despite delivering an incomplete set, we were still treated to four quality songs.

After the extended but understandably longer interlude, THE PLOT IN YOU’s enigmatic frontman took to the stage. LANDON TEWERS is a unique musical entity, whose banded works I know intimately, his solo work is described in like terms – his delicate voice during Gospel Therapy contrasting the eviscerating lyrics of his intensely personal music.

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LANDON TEWERS / Photo – @itsmissysnaps

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A similar dichotomy between darkness and light is epitomised by Kill Me, in which TEWERS’ signature screams are met with audience participation and gleeful dancing, which continues into the blissfully bluesy pop of Cinnamon Skies leaves us feeling the sensation of freely Fallin’ Out the open door of an airplane at 30,000 feet.

TEWERS’ continues weaving his magic throughout his set, the crowd dancing and screaming and swaying along like they have a Sick Obsession. You can feel the tension building as the opening bars of the 2017 hit, Don’t You, ring out across the venue to the cheers of the crowd. As the song reaches its peak and TEWERS’ screams the chorus, the crowd is stirred into a frenzy.

After such a set, the solo artist simply had to leave us salivating one last time. She Thinks of Me is quite honestly the most salacious, audacious song, and testament to the fine line this man rides. Pure sex, I think we collectively need a cigarette after that.

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DAYSEEKER / Photo – @itsmissysnaps

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The deep well of emotionality that DAYSEEKER inspires is unsurpassed. Dressed to desire, the Californian quartet launch emphatically, opening the Gates of Ivory to us all, welcoming us into this ethereal Dreamstate. Rory Rodriguez switches between gutteral commands to “bang your fucking head” into soulful serenades and back again. 

Discarding dinner jacket to reveal a perfectly fitted, delicate lacework shirt, Crooked Soul is poetically-named irony. The appreciation palpable, the sold-out audience’s callback echoes almost over the band themselves. Phone lights held high, the crowd is captivated as Burial Plot’s heartbreak resonates, before Rodriguez personally shares his experiences of a person “pulling them up out of the dirt”, a love that makes one Homesick.

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DAYSEEKER / Photo – @itsmissysnaps

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Rodriguez continues the balancing acts; hitting high notes perfectly one moment and earth-shuddering screams the next, sharing vulnerability one moment and swaggering across the stage the next. Reflecting on their latest release, Dark Sun, Rodriguez shares that he wrote most of that record about his father’s “very long battle and eventual passing from cancer” before launching into the title track from the album.

Crying Whilst Your Dancing certainly had the crowd dancing, but if there were any tears they were those of joy at hearing some of their favourite songs performed pitch perfectly. DAYSEEKER then slowed things down with an acoustic Paper Heart; Rodriguez taking to the stage armed with an acoustic guitar and supported by guitarist Gino Sgambelluri. The delicately arranged song tugged on our heartstrings and took us on a journey that peaked with the return of the full band to see the song out with a bang.

Rodriguez pauses again to share that his dad passed away nearly exactly 3 years ago in July 2021 and that his dad “was instrumental in me finding a path to music” before dedicating their next song Drunk to his dad. A still visibly emotional Rodriguez shared that it doesn’t get old getting to play to a packed out room across the country before announcing they have “one more song” (we all play along even though we know they will have an encore) and get the crowd jumping and singing along with Sleep Talk.

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DAYSEEKER / Photo – @itsmissysnaps

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The classic chants of “one more song” echo through the Lion Arts Factory for several minutes before Rodriguez returns alone to perform Parallel. We are then treated to a second encore with the full band back for Neon Grave where Rodriguez treats us to a mind-blowing final scream to round out the evening.

Although some would argue that the evening was plagued with mishaps, these were all expertly handled and did little to take away from a jam-packed evening of incredible music that I know we will all be talking about long into the cold evening as the crowds disperse.

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DAYSEEKER / Photo – @itsmissysnaps

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Check out Missy Smiley’s (@itsmissysnaps) full gallery of this event HERE

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DAYSEEKER / Photo – @itsmissysnaps

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Follow DAYSEEKER
Website – Facebook

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DAYSEEKER / Photo – @itsmissysnaps

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Press Release 24th February 2024 (below) HERE

DAYSEEKER
announce REPLICA acoustic album
aarives digitally on April 19
+ Physically on June 14

+ Band shares visualiser for
BURIAL PLOT
feat. BEARTOOTH’s CALEB SHOMO

Touring Australia in July
with special guests
CASEY + LANDON TEWERS
+ INERTIA

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Destroy All Lines Presents

DAYSEEKER
AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2024

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
CASEY + LANDON TEWERS + INERTIA

SUNDAY 7 JULY – MAGNET HOUSE, PERTH 18+ FINAL TICKETS
TUESDAY 9 JULY – LION ARTS FACTORY, ADELAIDE LIC AA SOLD OUT!
THURSDAY 11 JULY – THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE LIC AA SELLING FAST
FRIDAY 12 JULY – LIBERTY HALL, SYDNEY LIC AA FINAL TICKETS
SATURDAY 13 JULY – FORUM, MELBOURNE 18+ SELLING FAST
TUESDAY 16 JULY – NECK OF THE WOODS, AUCKLAND 18+ ^ FINAL TICKETS
WEDNESDAY 17 JULY – SAN FRAN, WELLINGTON 18+ ^

*Dayseeker appearing only

Tickets on sale now from destroyalllines.com

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AMNPLIFY – DB