Windwaker – Gig Review & Photo Gallery 23rd November @ Evelyn Hotel, Melbourne VIC

Windwaker
Evelyn Hotel, Melbourne VIC
November 23rd, 2019
Supports: Diamond Construct, BLKLST and Rumours

Arguably Australia’s most successful up and coming band of 2019, Windwaker are currently on the road to celebrate their success over the past year and also as an opportunity for fans nationwide to say goodbye to guitarist/vocalist Liam Guinane as he wraps up his final headline tour with the group.

The first act to take to the stage in front of half-full room was ex-Wagga Wagga band, Rumours. They did an outstanding job at warming up the crowd. With their mix of post-hardcore and pop-punk excellently delivered, it was hard not to be impressed. Their charismatic stage presence seemed overwhelming at one point; vocalist Jackson Bentley swung his microphone by the cord attached and the mic disconnected, leaving Jackson looking for it for some time. Oops!

Melbourne band BLKLST was next up. I can’t help but feel that after seeing this band play quite a few times this year that their sets are becoming stale. They play the same songs, in the same fashion, without changing up the style of how they present their music in a live setting. With a small push-pit eventuating from the crowd throughout their performance, it was easy to see that not all of those in attendance were too enthused about BLKLST‘s performance.

Another act which has seen a rise in success over 2019 is Diamond Construct, and it was their turn to grace the stage with their presence. As they began their set vocalist, Kynan Groundwater took a minute to encourage moshing and singalongs, which had a powerful effect on the audience only for his speech to be anticlimactic as the band soon after faced some technical difficulties. Once everything was in order, that energetic connection with the crowd was lost, and it took several songs to re-spark it. Playing songs only from their debut album Diamond Construct (our review here) which seemed to resonate with the punters as we saw the night’s first wall of death occur. If you are heading to UNIFY Gathering next year, I suggest you make time to see this band perform.

Finally, it was time for Windwaker to perform. Starting their set with ‘The Sitch’, the packed band room displayed their love for the band as blaring singalongs and moshing occurred. The night’s second and final wall of death occurred during ‘New Infinite’, which was only the second song of their set. The band’s performance, which was filled with synchronised headbanging and jumping, was outstanding. Throughout the group’s performance of ‘Grey World’, vocalist Will King jumped off the stage, into the crowd to sing his lyrics in the faces of those who were in attendance. The band mixed things up by performing an almost perfect rendition of ‘Freak’ by Silverchair, which really got the crowd excited as people began getting on stage, only to jump off and crowd surf. As the song started, ten or so beachballs were thrown into the crowd; they managed to float around the venue throughout the entire show. It was time for Liam Guinane to do something special for his last Melbourne headline show with Windwaker, all other band members left the stage as Liam began playing ‘Colourless’ on the keyboard, he struggled to get his lyrics across as this was quite an emotional experience for him. Crowd members cheered him on and sung along with him throughout the memorable experience. Finishing off with fan favourite ‘My Empire’ as the encore, each attendee had surely witnessed something special, as I looked around the busy room I was quick to notice that everyone had a smile from ear to ear.

If you are yet to witness Windwaker perform, give yourself an uppercut, then buy a ticket to Good Things Festival and make time to see them. They are one Australian act who has a bright future ahead of them.

Gig Review by Adam Rice @adamrice1994

Setlist

The Sitch
New Infinite
The Destroyer
Grey World
Freak (Silverchair cover)
Reject
Colourless
Arrested

Encore

My Empire

Photo Gallery by Clinton Hatfield. Insta: @ampd.agency
Please credit Wall of Sound and Clinton Hatfield if you repost photos.

Rumours

BLKLST

Diamond Construct

Windwaker