Review: Joshua Batten. Photos: Jason Rosewarne
The last time Boston-based retro soul-pop outfit Lake Street Dive toured Australia over Summer 2016/17, the circumstances were quite different. Back then they were a four piece, and their headline shows were off the back of appearances at the Woodford Folk Festival, with two intimate headline gigs in Melbourne – one in Brunswick at Howler, and the other at the Oakleigh Music Hall. Since then, they’ve grown to a five piece, released three more albums, and their fanbase has grown to the point where they are a true headline act, commanding major stages such as New York’s Madison Square Garden. Tonight they play to their biggest Australian audience to date, kicking off their run with an open air show as part of Mushroom Music’s Live At The Gardens series.
Although it’s the first show of Lake Street Dive’s Good Together Australian tour, it’s also the last show of the Live At The Gardens summer 2025 season, which has hosted local and international headliners and given a boost to the current music scene by providing opportunities for local supports as well as independent food vendors. Walking through the gates onto the grounds of the observatory, there is a friendly festival vibe, with plenty of food trucks, free water refill stations, and picnic tables before even setting foot in the main seating precinct. It’s a hot 35 degree night, but everyone is chilled out and in a good mood.
British-born, Melbourne-based singer songwriter Batts kicks things off with a solo set, walking onstage in double denim with a Telecaster across her shoulder. Batts has a deep sultry voice with the occasional bright falsetto, clearly inspired by the likes of Lana Del Rey. Like many modern independent singer-songwriters, the voice is her primary instrument, with basic guitar chords to provide a harmonic bed, and a flanger effect to create a spacey vibe. The highlight of her set is a cover of Gillian Welsh’s “Everything is Free”, with lyrics that hit deep for independent artists who struggle to make a living from their art, but do it anyway because it’s the only life they know.
With a band name like Playlunch, the expectations are raised for an energetic set and these guys certainly deliver. Recently signed to ABC music and quickly becoming rising stars on the Australian music scene, Playlunch have a clear aesthetic and theme, playing their own brand of self-described “Bogan Funk” with lyrics inspired by millennial nostalgia, specifically targeting kids who grew up in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. As a child of the 90’s myself, I got every reference called out by frontman Liam Bell, with songs like “Foxtel Girl”, “Soupe Opera” and “Station Rat” all tapping into a very specific culture. Musically the band also seems to draw from a 90’s/2000’s playbook, heavily influenced by bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Cat Empire, combining early hip-hop with funk and jazz-pop, which was certainly in style at the time when I went to school. All seven musicians onstage are genuinely talented musicians and are incredibly tight, as if they met in school and just never stopped playing together (In reality they have only been playing together since 2020).
As the sun sets, the entire seating section on stage right have risen to their feet and are dancing to the grooves. During “Athletics Day”, Bell splits the crowd into four groups and leads each one in a school house chat. Ending with the perfectly titled “No Hat, No Play”, Playlunch have set the mood perfectly for the evening ahead, proving that they can be capable headliners in their own right and that it’s occasionally okay to let out your inner child and reminisce on a simpler time. Just don’t expect the Americans in Lake Street Dive to get any of the references.
A few drops of rain threaten to dampen the mood during the break before Lake Street Dive hit the stage, but miraculously it never escalates and the sky will remain dry for the entire 90-minute set that is about to follow. Opening with three back-to-back songs from Good Together, including the title track, “Far Gone” and “Better Not Tell You”, the band is tight from the off and the crowd is immediately onboard, singing and clapping along to these new songs as if they’ve been around for years.
Starting off relatively stiff, by the third number lead singer Rachael Price has started moving her hips and the crowd goes wild. Even more people get out of their seats to dance along to “Hypotheticals” with its syncopated groove and descending jazzy chords. Rachael is a powerful singer and gets into the music with simple ballroom dance moves, never over-performing and keeping it classy. She is backed up on BVs by all four of the other members, fully embracing the band unity and friendship that comes across in their marketing and social media content. Keyboard player Akie Bermiss and drummer Mike Calabrese introduce each other at separate points during the evening, complimenting each other on their skills and passions outside of music. Bassist and lead songwriter Bridget Kearney effortlessly switches between double bass and electric bass guitar, and although newcomer James Cornelison is a bit low in the mix at first, his level is brought up for his clean jazzy solo in “Better Than”, their most streamed original song on Spotify.
Halfway through the show, the whole band gathers around a single condenser mic for a little acoustic set, with Calabrese on tambourine, Bermiss on Melodica, Cornelison on acoustic guitar and Kearney back on double bass. Kicking it off by going back to where it all began for the band with their cover of “I Want You Back”, the audience sings along in the choruses and goes wild for Kearney’s bass solo. Following this, Kearney takes the mic to introduce the next song, “Side Pony”, the title track from their 2016 album. Kearney says that they had intended on retiring this song, but fans kept requesting it, with both their signs and their hairstyles, ultimately declaring “Side Pony is back!”. The final song of the acoustic set is “Help Is On The Way”, which has a beautifully simple message in its chorus; “What if all of us out helping ourselves could help somebody else?”.
I’d like to give a special mention to Akie Bermiss, who has become the secret weapon of the band. Prior to his joining the band in 2018, Lake Street Dive had plenty of keyboard parts on their albums, but were missing that extra ingredient that would bring them in line with their R&B/Soul heroes. Bermiss brings that with his musical expertise, impeccable dress sense, organic keyboard sounds, and dulcet vocal tones. He takes several solos throughout the night on a polyphonic Korg synthesizer, plays a tender electric piano ballad leading into “Baby Don’t Leave Me Alone With My Thoughts”, and gets a spotlight moment, taking lead vocal for a cover of Shania Twain’s “You’re Still The One”. Lake Street Dive were relatively successful before Bermiss joined, but now I can’t imagine the band without him, and I’m happy he has now been given the chance to win over Australian audiences with his charm and talent. He even said tonight that he has now forgiven them for touring here without him before he joined!
Almost the entire Good Together album is played tonight, with the other half of the setlist containing fan favourites such as 2014’s “Bad Self Portraits”, which has been given a fresh update thanks to some new drum patterns and Bermiss playing organ instead of piano. Then there’s “Same Old News”, a sweet duet between Price and Bermiss from 2021’s Obviously album. Other highlights include the environmentally conscious “Making Do”, the entire band coming together on the backline for “Party On The Roof”, and the tender ballad “Twenty Five”, sung by Price with solo accompaniment from Bermiss’s piano.
The main set closes with the entire crowd getting to their feet for the retro-disco shuffle “Dance With A Stranger”, followed by the rootsy “You Go Down Smooth”, where Price gets the audience to sing the falsetto refrain in the chorus. However, as the band leaves the stage, there is one song that has been conspicuously left out, and when they return for the encore, an audience member shouts out “Play ‘Good Kisser’!”, referring to their breakthrough 2019 single and second most streamed song. Price reassures the heckler, “We have two songs to play, that’s one of them”. Before that, we get the other one; a cover of Hall & Oates’ ‘Rich Girl’, which has also done incredibly well streaming-wise since its inclusion on the 2012 Fun Machine EP. Lake Street Dive have always prided themselves on paying tribute to their heroes, specifically the people who wrote great pop songs throughout the 20th century, and filtering them through their own unique style. Finally, Rachael sings those words that every girl who’s had their heart broken probably wants to say to their ex; “If you’re gonna tell them everything, tell them I’m a good kisser”. The girls in the crowd go absolutely nuts, singing and dancing along to the half-time shuffle groove with a sense of vindication and pride, proving once again that women are leading the charge in meaningful music for the current generation.
As the vast crowd starts to walk out of the precinct and head down the hills of the gardens, “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life” plays over the PA, and I’m sure for many in the crowd, it was the truth. The warm outdoor setting of the Botanic Gardens was the perfect setting for Lake Street Dive to make their triumphant return to Australian stages after an eight year absence. Their unique brand of musically intricate indie pop, with influences from Motown, Soul and early Rock n Roll has made them stand out in an industry so focused on simplistic hooks and one-off viral hits with very few organic sounds. Most of the audience in attendance had probably never heard of the band the last time they were here, or might not have even been old enough to see them at one of their 18+ shows, but everyone was here tonight because they are loyal to the band now. Their brand of joyful rebellion is on full display in their live show, delivering uplifting songs with catchy and timeless hooks, and reminding us all to be good together.
