King Stingray @ Freo.Social
w/ Jess Day, Slimcognito
Sunday, October 16, 2022
King Stingray may have only been around for a couple of years, but in that time they’ve acquired a solid fan base. They wrapped up their national tour in Freo on the weekend, selling out two nights at Freo.Social on their first ever visit west! No wonder. Their live set is so joyful and unifying, it was truly an experience.
Local faves Dulcie had been on the national tour but unfortunately could not play the hometown shows due to illness. Filling in was Supathick alumni Slimcognito. The trio played a set of laid back jazz, joking that they were pitching for on hold music if anyone in the room worked for Optus or Vodafone.
Adelaide’s Jess Day took to the stage next. Initially she had to sing over a lot of conversation but by the end of her set she had won the crowd over. While many of her songs have clear nineties influences, there were also flickers of indie leanings on songs like Signals reminiscent of Waxahatchee, and country twangs similar to Tegan & Sara on tracks like Naked. Rabbit Hole got a good cheer and people were starting to climb on each other’s shoulders, with one punter yelling out “you’re doing a good job!” to which the audience concurred.
Soon enough the lights went down, Beds Are Burning came over the sound system followed by Home Among the Gum Trees, announcing King Stingray, who walked on stage to reverby guitars, thunderous drumming, and ethereal lighting. The air electrified at the sound of the didgeridoo and clapping sticks, and the room erupted into applause. The band greeted the crowd before launching into the anthemic track Sweet Arnhem Land and it would be fair to say a wave of goosebumps swept through the venue.
Raypirri, a fun slice of surf rock, picked up the pace. Sung in Yolngu Matha, it was an opportunity for guitarist Roy Kellaway to solo, and the front men to perform some traditional dance. Hailing from North East Arnhem Land, Yirrnga Yunupingu, Dimathaya Burarrwanga, and Yimila Gurruwiwi, thanked the crowd for “coming down and sharing love and music” and went on to talk about the importance of sharing culture, which was the theme of the night. Notably, Yunupingu and Kellaway both have family ties with Yothu Yindi, the former having also been the bands singer for a time, and King Stingray continue Yothu Yindi’s legacy by bringing Yolngu culture and language to a new generation.
The first big singalong came with Camp Dog, a fun track “all about cheeky dogs”, followed by with their recent single and absolute highlight Let’s Go. All six band members singing in harmony sounds incredibly rich, not to mention the layers of jangly guitars, clapping sticks, and didgeridoo. This one is sung in English, which the band pointed out was their seventeenth language spoken. After every song, Yunupingu would check in, “how was that Freo?” and introduce the next song, telling the story behind it or the meaning of the words. At one point, addressing the crowd in language, you could hear people shushing each other until the room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. It was then that Burarrwanga invited everyone to Arnhem Land, “we will show you around… We are here to share our language, our song, our song lines, everything in our heart, the knowledge…values and beliefs.”
As is appropriate when in Freo, a cover of AC/DC Jailbreak was in order. The band invited their tour crew to jam on stage, who turned out to be talented musicians too! Being the last gig of the tour, there were big party vibes. Call and response with the crowd, kangaroo dances, and even admissions of trying to drag the set out for as long as possible because they didn’t want it to end. But like all good things, after an hour and a half it had to finish (almost.)
There had to be an encore, as no one seemed ready to leave the joyful moment we were in. The crowd was swathed in yellow light, as Kellaway explained the importance of the colour which signifies wealth and richness for their mob, before they launched into their cover of Coldplay’s Yellow which they recently performed for triple j’s Like A Version. There were arms around shoulders as the crowd swayed and sang along, and it felt like a collective emotional experience. Then it was back to dreamy guitars and thunderous drums for the ultimate road tripping song Get Me Out. Determined to leave on a high, the set wrapped up with high energy hit Milkumana that had the crowd wiggling as hard as possible.
It genuinely felt like a privilege to be a part of this gig. Not only with the band sharing their culture, but their messages of unity. If you get the opportunity to see them, do yourself a favour and go. They are the voice of a generation, and a lot of fun.
SHANNON FOX
