Loon Lake @ The Brightside, Brisbane - 06/11/2015

After just only 6 short years, Aussie outfit Loon Lake have called it quits and to say a proper goodbye they embarked on The Final Wave Tour which I was lucky enough to catch when the boys took the stage at The Brightside in Brisbane - one last time.

To kick things off in the muggy, sweaty, crowded room that is The Brightside, Polish Club, the indie garage-punk explosive duo from Sydney proved they can really make a lot of noise with lead singer, Novak finishing their set with a broken string.

Although you may assume their instrumentation would be sparse, lead singer Novak’s blusey vocals coupled with the powerful drumming of John-Henry, filled the room with an astounding sound.

The moment we had all been waiting in anticipation for arrived and Loon Lake took to the stage opening with their hit ‘On Fire’ which got the crowd absolutely pumping.

As a music lover, Loon Lake delivered everything you expect from one kickass gig only cementing themselves further as one of the greatest live acts around. The departing band pumped out track after track of guitar-driven indie-pop rock tracks.

Sam Nolan the band’s front man had the time of his life, in constant banter with the crowd between Surfin' and The XX cover Angels. Sweat dripping off his face, Sam muttered “I’m not going to lie about it, playing this gig is pretty fuckin sad but there’s a good vibe in this room” which made the crowd go even more bananas.

Nick Nolan on the other hand had to run off the stage to pee multiple times during the performance, which I put down to succumbing to peer pressure as the crowd roared for him to skull beer after beer - Obviously the light weight.
Taking things down a notch, Sam began playing ‘Heart Stomper’ which saw a sing-a-long break out amongst the crowd, which later turned into some heaving head banging when the rest of the band joined him on stage.

As the boy’s began to wrap up, fan’s, including myself couldn’t take it and swarmed the stage to get the ultimate last taste of a Loon Lake gig. Yes I fan girled! How could you not?!

Closing the set with ‘In the summer’ the sheer gratefulness and appreciation of the support they had received was evident on the smiles planted across their faces.

Fan’s of the 5-piece still have a chance to farewell the band by buying the boy’s Low Res Album at a ‘pay what you want fee’ so be generous because it is damn worth it. The boy’s will be finishing up their ‘Final Wave’ tour with a hometown show at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel. 

By Jariah Travan