Into the Zorb: Concert Review

A few stars collided in the beating heart of Brisbane’s music scene this weekend. The formidable 80s-Aussie rock band Amyl and the Sniffers lit up The Tivoli, while on the other side of the Valley fans of Indie-pop darling Sycco entered The Triffid to find a space curated for a late-night affair. With a giant white zorb ball adorning the stage and a mysterious cube installed on the venue floor, the allure of mystery and excitement drew us further toward the barricade, where we eagerly awaited the Queen of the Zorb herself.

This is what happened at Sycco’s In The Zorb show at The Triffid on January 31st, 2025.

daste.

I always arrive on time for the support acts, but I never research them beforehand. I had this strange impression on my head, based on the name of this act and the ‘house party’ vibes of the concert, that we would be treated to a DJ set to warm up the crowd in the late hours of the evening. When Callum, Tyler and Brax took to the front of the stage with their band I was surprised by the smooth jazz flavours in their music, a sound I don’t usually associate with the Brisbane music scene, if I’m being very honest. After opening up, the band segued into a stacked opening set of chill Indie-pop songs.  

The Gold Coast trio took full advantage of their time on stage to showcase their talents as performers. While Tyler initially took lead for vocals, it soon became apparent that each member of the band had powerful voices to lend to their sounds. One of the coolest things in the show was watching to see who would take the lead on vocals for each song and being absolutely delighted by how the guys wove their singing together at times, showing not only musical prowess but also the chemistry the guys on stage have together.

I’m eager to see daste. again soon, but will probably have to wait awhile until their hectic tour schedule brings them back to Queensland for a show. If you’re a fan of Still Woozy, make sure to get to his gigs early and catch daste. in action!

Fave song: Colours

Sycco

Appearing through a dazzling arrangement of synthetic beats and a nostalgia trip of visuals, Sycco took to the stage with her dreamy vocals to “butter up” the audience with a featured hit from her debut album, Zorb. Projections across the hoisted ‘zorb’ ball ballooned a display of distorted imagery from the concert and home video-style clips that seemed to be taken with the fam that inspired the reflective album Sycco is introducing to the world anew this year. Zorb already took out the 2024 prize for Australian Album of the Year at the J Awards, but this is her first change to really showcase it across the country, because festival sets just weren’t long enough.

While Sycco’s production and vocals project this dizzying sense of young love in songs like Meant To Be, Swarm and Touching and Talking, the album really focuses on the aftermath of that experience as a young person. The love letter in this album really goes back to the Brisbane share house and its occupants, the community, that Sycco was part of cultivating during the pandemic. This hometown show emphasised the sense of family and belonging associated with returning to a special place – not a place where you lived, but a place where you’re from.

The early, love-ridden songs of the start of the set suddenly cave in to reveal a reflection on darker truth. Bad World is a dramatic, electronic and exciting transition into those stressful sentiments that lurk in the corner of our minds, the ones community can’t always keep at bay. Followed by an older hit, Time’s Up (no bending to the will of Nicotine addicts for this popstar!), and later the headrush of The End, a sense of narrative structure in the show added to the depth of Sycco’s euphonic musings.

As Sycco’s set built up to its denouement, we heard a few of the classics, with her recent Like A Version cover of The Pointer Sister’s Jump (For My Love) and her own adored hit, Dribble. Having last seen Sycco at the House Party festival, I was wondering how Monkey Madness, which seemed like such a favourite, hadn’t made an appearance. Luckily, we were treated to an encore appearance of that very song, though I would have loved it to be joined by My Ways or Nicotine, because I’m a sucker for the classics!

Dashing off-stage, Sycco and her crew ran through the crowd to the mysterious cube! Now that the concert was over, the house party started. Sycco and her fam took to the decks, while patrons of the venue remained to dance to a cool mix of house favourites. The crowd swarmed around the house-within-a-home as live-feed videos in rainbow ice-cream hues were projected over the enclosure, and danced the night away.

Fave song: Swarm

Sounds Good?

If you missed out on joining us in the Zorb, make sure to follow Sycco and daste. to keep up to date with their upcoming shows and projects. You might also enjoy some of these artists too:

MAY-A – May-a is another young performer with outstanding presence and an impressive catalogue of songs. If you like energetic reflections on love and loss, May-a and Sycco pair up nicely.

Mallrat – Another Brisbane darling, Mallrat’s indie-pop with electronica flavours takes a whole different direction to Sycco’s version of the same genre. With an upcoming tour, now is the perfect time to dive into Mallrat’s discography!

Alice Ivy – Electronic producer and artist Alice Ivy also has a few upcoming shows, where you’ll no doubt explore some of the vibrant and bubbly tracks from latest album Do What Makes You Happy.