Words by Mariyah Shahrin
Tuesday 3 March
Support: Arrows in Action
Pop-punk prodigy Taylor Acorn returned for her third time in Brisbane on 3rd March at the Triffid, following the opening of her Australian tour in Melbourne two nights prior. Supported by Florida-grown trio Arrows in Action, the two American acts lit up a very typical sleepy Brisbane weekday night. If there was one word I could use to describe this night, it would be nostalgia.
The alt-pop band kicked off the night ‘Empty Canvas’, aptly setting the tone and catching our attention with their charismatic stage presence. Within the first few songs, I quickly noticed the fans in the crowd who have evidently been waiting a while for this day to come. You couldn’t ignore the way vocalist Victor Viramontes-Pattison’s booming voice filled the industrial venue, while guitarist Matthew Fowler stepped into confidence through itch-scratching guitar riffs. Leading the crowd through a stomp-and-clap routine before ‘Head In The Clouds’, they united the crowd, who were later rewarded by a taste of a new song, ‘Stop Talking’.
I’ll admit the only taste of this trio I’ve had is from listening to their top songs on Spotify for the past few days. But I’ll admit I left the show quite a fan. Not only for their contagious energy you don’t often feel on a Tuesday night in Brisbane, but for their goofy way of being. It seemed like this silliness doubled when drummer Jesse Frimmel hopped off the drums and joined his counterparts, almost like when three class clowns are reunited. I mean, when else but in Australia can you talk about dropbears and not being here to f*ck spiders, right? But they definitely won a memorable place in my books as soon as I heard Jesse McCartney’s ‘Beautiful Soul’ intertwined with their very own ‘Over It’.
A perfect balance of hopecore and catchy melodies, Arrows in Action’s set left me feeling refreshed and energised for Taylor Acorn to take the stage.
Then, Taylor Acorn came out guns ablazing (except the guns were her pocket-rocket guitarist and explosive drummer) and I was immediately struck by her energy. Frolicking across the modest Triffid stage, she opened with ‘Poster Child’, with a demeanour seemingly saying “yup, I’m back”. Shining the spotlight on her latest album Poster Child for most of the set, she also paid respect to a few songs off albums Certified Depressant and Survival in Motion, with a special mention of fellow pop-punk queen Cassadee Pope who featured on ‘Coma’.
I’ll be the first to say that I’m a sucker for the pop-punk girlies, but I was truly taken aback by Acorn’s vocals belting out and hitting those high notes despite claiming being sick from allergies. There’s a certain kind of power that her voice embodies that feels cathartic, like an emotional release that’s been a long time coming.
That being said, one could argue the stars of the show were the lustrous locks donned by both Taylor and Viramontes-Pattison. He had his hair up in a bun at the start of the set, but as soon as it came down, I swear I heard a collective “woah” echo across the crowd. There’s a lesson in hair-ology somewhere here, so much so it had both me and my +1 longing for them to drop their hair routine (or at least tell us what they sacrificed to the hair gods).
As Acorn approached the acoustic moments of the night, I felt like I was transported back to watching her covers, in the rawness and nostalgia of it all. Mirroring the exact meaning of ‘Home Videos’, she took us back to the taken-for-grated and far-away memories of the past, creating solace from the responsibilities, heartbreak and reality of adulthood, if only for a mere few minutes. We saw a flash of vulnerability from Taylor later during ‘Birds Still Sing’, armed with her red guitar, holding back tears expressing her gratitude for feeling “seen” in this part of the world. There’s something about the size of The Triffid that’s the perfect ingredient to concocting a truly intimate show, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more than a few tears shed along with Acorn.
Seeing first-hand the warm and honest nature of Taylor that I often read about made it clear to me how she has garnered the huge and loyal fanbase over the years. She spoke in a cadence of genuine appreciation for everyone who showed up and continued showing up, whilst maintaining a light-hearted humor across the night when she forgot to pick up her guitar during ‘Home Videos’, and when she very politely declined doing a shoey – “no, but thank you for the offer”.
In the inevitable accidental ease-dropping of conversations while walking out of the venue, all I heard was praise – “her voice is crazy”, “that was so good”, “how did she do that?”, proving the night to be another huge success for Acorn and that it truly, was never a phase. It seems Australia has a special place in her heart and I don’t think it’ll be too long before she returns, as she very quietly hinted at the end of the night.
Taylor Acorn is set to continue the remainder of her Australian tour in Adelaide and Sydney before flying off to the UK for shows in April.
Review by Mariyah Shahrin
Photos by Dylan Hewitson-Bevis/SMTHNGCLRDBLCK
