Live Review: nothing,nowhere. + Lontalius at The Princess Theatre, Brisbane (11.02.23)

nothing,nowhere. (Credit: Dylan Oxley)

2023 has started off strong with a wealth of international tours that were announced late last year to revive the local music scene. One of the most anticipated of these was the debut headline tour from Vermont alternative artist nothing,nowhere. with support from New Zealand’s Lontalius, who played at The Princess Theatre in Brisbane on Saturday 11 February.

Lontalius (Credit: Dylan Oxley)

Opening the night to a half-filled room was alternative artist Lontalius with his downtempo guitar ballads (think Julien Baker meets Bon Iver). The artist took the stage alone with an electric guitar and strummed softly over steady beats which complimented his gentle vocals and emotive lyrics. His mild manner made for a mesmerising performance as each song had slow builds of delayed guitar and feedback before dissipating into the supportive crowd.

nothing,nowhere. (Credit: Dylan Oxley)

nothing,nowhere. and his band emerged with punchy guitars and heavy drums for an extended intro of new single “CYAN1DE” to kick things off. The experimental singer’s powerful vocals were on point and the crowd was so amped that there was a mosh pit in the first song of the set. They kept the energy up by following with punk hit “Pretend” and upbeat bop “Nightmare” while interacting with fans all throughout.

An exciting aspect of the live show was the guitarist playing licks of synth melodies instead of just performing over backing tracks. Despite programmed beats and vocal dubs, the occasional squeals and pinch harmonics were a nice touch and reminded you it was being recreated in real-time. Big singalong “Pieces of You” went down well and nothing,nowhere. ironically expressed his appreciation for the crowd once again before playing “Fake Friend”.

nothing,nowhere. (Credit: Dylan Oxley)

Hype song “Buck” got the room jumping before playing back-to-back old favourites “Clarity in Kerosene”, “Hopes Up” and emo banger “Letdown” – which it definitely wasn’t. The band had everyone put lights in the air for Dashboard Confessional’s verse and fans took it upon themselves to clap together as “M1SERY_SYNDROME” started, which saw a wall of death in the breakdown. This was the perfect segway to latest release “THIRST4VIOLENCE”, a melting pot of his hip hop and hardcore influences.

Things got rowdy for brooding closer “Death” as a circle pit ensued – just minutes after an emo trap tune – and the band left fans to chant ‘one more song’. Shortly afterwards they returned for anticipated encore “Hammer”, his oldest song cemented as a live staple. With an extensive catalogue of home-produced music dating back to 2015, it was an updated set featuring all the favourites from one of the most diverse and prolific artists of our generation.

Read our recent interview with nothing,nowhere. and follow his Facebook and Instagram pages for regular updates.

FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)