Nothing To Cry About: Concert Review

I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Aleksiah’s music over the past year after seeing her support Teenage Dads and Lime Cordiale. I love arriving on-time for a concert and finding new songs and sounds to love from support acts. But it’s even more fun to watch along as those support acts return, this time for their own, headline, shows. Aleksiah was an artist I knew I would be a fan of from the first time I saw her take to the mic and I’m excited to get a longer set from her tonight. Ironically, I ended up in the venue 25-minutes late because of how long the line was to get in, almost missing out on continuing the cycle with Aleksiah’s support acts tonight! The space is intimate and everyone is giddy with excitement to see this Adelaide artist share her music tonight.

This is what happened at Aleksiah’s Cry About It show at Black Bear Lodge in Brisbane on July the 19th, 2025.

STELLE

By the time I got into the venue, local artist Stelle must have been halfway through her set! Luckily, her sweet vocals were a warm welcome to Black Bear Lodge as we made our way inside, one slow step at a time. Stelle’s music presents for the most part as a soothing indie-folk sound, featuring a lot of acoustic guitar and her light, honest singing talents. Stelle is young and brings a refreshing sound to the ear, best demonstrated in her cover of Avril Lavigne’s Complicated, which turns the bittersweet ballad into something more loving and gentle. I’m excited to catch more shows Stelle in the future, and count myself lucky she’s making music close to home!

Fave song: Have To Get Older

CHLOE PARCHE

Bear with me here, but if Disney were to make an edgy Hannah Montana reboot, Chloe Parche would make the perfect lead. Her energetic pop-rock excited the crowd and had us dancing for the full length of her set. Chloe is charismatic in her performance and stage presence; she’s got a wry sense of humour which comes through in her songwriting, admittedly tricking the audience into thinking that songs about random and strange events are actually about love. She prefaced the debut of her upcoming release 10tall with a request to the audience: “Give me some feedback… but I can’t take negative feedback!” With powerful instrumentation and an upbeat vocal performance, Chloe Parche left me wanting more, quickly!

Fave song: Driveway

ALEKSIAH

The powerhouse trio of acts this evening concluded with the leading lady, Aleksiah. She appeared on-stage amongst her band, armed with her beautiful red heart guitar, Ruby. Just as I predicted in October last year, Aleksiah was a sell out at Black Bear Lodge and the audience was perfectly matching the bright enthusiasm of the singer and her band. This cheerful and sweet pop-rock is nuanced though, with each song hinting at something either sharper or deeper beneath the surface, with opening songs Batshit and Keep My Cool serving as good examples of this.

Fern served as the early turning point of the set, letting the rock melt away for a moment to emphasise Aleksiah’s strength in heartfelt, tender and deeply personal writing. Aleksiah’s ability to harness her emotions into powerful musical feats that allow audiences to connect intimately and quickly is admirable. I hope the weight of the difficulties Aleksiah sings about in Pretty Picture and Think About It is made somewhat lighter by the knowledge that her audience loves and cares for her in those moments of vulnerability. Bringing some reprieve is the adorably lovesick Ant Song, which needs to find a home in the soundtrack of a major motion romcom soon!

A nostalgic cover of Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream kicked off the concert’s third act, as we were treated to a couple Aleksiah’s older hits, the passionate Getting Older and hopeful, ironically inspiring, 24, which both offer some reflection on the discomforts that come with growing up without feeling… good enough to be doing so.

To conclude the show, we were treated to two of the hits (including The Hit…) from the Cry About It EP, with Clothes Off uniting the crowd for those final musical moments. Donning a beautiful jacket, bedazzled with an image of herself, Aleksiah led the audience through the final lines of her lyrics, leaving the crowd wanting more! It was one of the concerts that passes by in the blink of an eye as you get caught in the moment of singing along and dancing the night away.

Fave song: Ant Song

SOUNDS GOOD?

Aleksiah’s tour is not done yet, so there’s still plenty of time to get to one of her gigs, and I’d suggest snapping up a ticket quickly if you can! And if you did get to the tour and are looking for some similar artists to enjoy, why not start with these three?

MAY-A – MAY-A brings the same authentic energy, reflective lyricism, and on-stage enthusiasm as Aleksiah, distinguishing it with a sharper rock sensibility. Another sell-out singer, these two would complement each other excellently in a show.

CXLOE – This Sydney-artist creates strong electropop hits that’ll have you swaying along in the softer songs and jumping at the drop. Another artist with a talent for turning a traditionally upbeat music genre into a deeper exploration of personal growth and the events that push us through that.

Mia Wray – Mia has range as an artist, with her earlier sets and releases presenting her as a folk artist, heavy with an acoustic sound. Since then, she’s transformed her musical contemplations on life and love into a loud and proud indie-pop sound, delighting and exciting artists with her music and on-stage energy.