It’s been a busy few months for US pop powerhouse Daya. Jetting around the world in support of her long awaited sophomore album ’Til Every Petal Drops’ she finally touched down in Australia last week, kicking off her run of headline shows with a energetic and captivating night at Richmond’s Corner Hotel.
The evening got under way with Australian rising talent Darcie Haven who brought her wonderfully raw mix of dark, indie pop to the stage in front of a clearly engaged crowd. It’s always great to see a support act embraced by the audience and this one clearly connected with Darcie’s mix of intimate, poetic lyricism and the grungy pop textures of her music. At one point early in the set the stage lighting completely failed for a minute or two but Darcie and her band didn’t even miss a beat, continuing in the darkness and then by the faint torchlight of the audience’s phones. It created an impromptu but memorable moment that felt totally in sync with the emotion and thematic concerns of the music being played.
When Daya emerged onto the stage to a driving drumbeat the crowd went wild. Designed to reflect the flower and petal themes of her latest album, from the bright, colourful lighting caressing the stage, the hand made flower arrangements adorning the microphone stand and instruments, through to Daya’s striking custom designed outfit, everything about the visuals worked perfectly with the music.
Moving through a setlist that embraced the full range of her career so far, from the vibrant EDM synth-pop sounds of her earlier work to the more mature, reflective music of recent releases, Daya managed to fuse her old and new styles together beautifully. The arrangement of earlier tracks have been reconfigured to better match with the darker, alt-pop vibe of her newer music, the result of which was an electric, high tempo performance that flowed seamlessly. Special mention must be made to drummer Val (Valerie Franco, who you just might recognise as Spinal Tap 2’s drummer Didi Crocket) whose pulsating powerhouse performance drives the music with a blistering and frantic energy.
The crowd were along for the ride the whole night, singing and dancing and generally just having a whole lot of fun, with both artist and audience feeding off each other’s energy to wonderful effect. Daya put on a show that was vibrant, exciting, and musically uplifting, and if the huge queue of people waiting to chat with her at the merch desk after the show is anything to go by, she’s got herself an enthusiastic and growing fanbase on this side of the world, and one that can’t wait for her to return.