The Veronicas are already owning the stage as I walk into the cavernous Brisbane Entertainment Centre, packed wall to wall with punters.
If Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun farewell tour in Brisbane (5 April) is not a sellout, there's only one poor bastard missing out. Stevie Nicks' 'Edge Of Seventeen' is haunting its way throughout the Brisbane Entertainment Centre PA – and what I caught of this version, it has bite.Lisa and Jess Origliasso aren't easing in – they're belting it out. Locking harmonies while guitars are shredding, these two are throwing down some serious rockstar energy. It's bold and it's working.
'Take Me On The Floor’ creeps in with a dark electro pulse before erupting into pop-rock fire. Jess and Lisa are electric – eyes locked, feeding off each other, dragging the crowd into their world.
Then comes the unmistakable riff of The White Stripes' 'Seven Nation Army' – the place loses it as this intro snippet morphs into 'When It All Falls Apart'; it's heavy in a different way. The chorus lands hard, melancholic and massive. People humming, stomping, singing the hook like it's gospel. The Veronicas hit it with raw vocals and booming beats and the arena moves with them.
'Everything I'm Not' pulls the energy back up, strutting with swagger. Hands shoot up, every lyric shouted back at the stage – it's a proper anthem moment. Their take on Pat Benatar's 'Love Is A Battlefield' goes just as hard, full of attitude and punch. The chorus erupts across the crowd, a full-blown sing-along, and the sisters look like they're soaking it in.
After confirming to us that Cyndi Lauper is definitely "in da house!", and that their dad and high school mates are in their hometown crowd tonight, they play 'You Ruin Me' shifting the gears yet again – no lights, no flash, just voices cracking through silence. It's a vulnerable gut-punch that hushes the arena.
Just as quick, 'In My Blood' drags us back to our feet, a thumping arena anthem that has bodies jumping, lyrics flying, and the sisters in full throttle. Backing it up with 'The Best', a Bonnie Tyler classic, reimagined with all the drama and guts The Veronicas can muster, it's a statement piece, and they nail it.
'4ever' follows and the roof nearly comes off. Fans are screaming, fists in the air creating a vibe of pure pop-rock chaos. Then arrives 'Untouched'. The one we're all waiting for. From that opening string line, it's mayhem. The crowd's louder than the band, and the sisters are beaming. Hometown heroes, feeding off the roar. This isn't a warm-up act, it's close to being a headline-level smackdown.
The crowd's buzzing, squeals going off like kettle whistles, and punters waving like they've just spotted a mate across a dance floor. Some even manage the sacred: eye contact and a grin. The rest? Classic wine-fuelled cockatoo shrieks from Gen X and Boomer babes, hollering like its happy hour in 1986 instead of, y'know, using a phone.
On the giant screens, lyrics scroll for 'Time After Time', 'Sisters Of Avalon' and 'True Colours' – a not-so-subtle nudge at what's to come. Then Blondie's 'One Way Or Another' pumps through the speakers, and the room tightens with that electric, hairs-on-end kind of anticipation.
Cyndi Lauper - image © Clea-marie Thorne
It's nearly time. The stage glows with silhouettes of her band, scrolling lyrics swapped out for iconic posters, tabloid snaps, film clips and protest moments. Then, boom! Cyndi Lauper steps out.
Pint-sized from where I stand, her hair a neon halo while the rest of her is drowned by bright spotlights and bursts of chaos – coloured confetti that somehow matches her essence perfectly. We're gently showered with her true colours as she tears into 'She Bop'. No easing in, just full-tilt Lauper, limbs flying in that signature way. Peter Garrett could never. Arms up, drinks in hand, punters belting back every word of the chorus. I join 'em –camera raised high above the bobbing sea.
Next comes 'The Goonies 'R' Good Enough', and it's pure joy. Even the TikTok teens are yelling the lyrics. Lauper's face beams as she bounces across the stage, clips from the film flickering behind her. It's sweaty. It's loud. It's a celebration.
Cyndi Lauper - image © Clea-marie Thorne
'When You Were Mine' slows the vibe, Lauper channelling Prince with aching precision. The chorus rolls out through the crowd, goosebumps rippling. Her voice is full of longing, the kind that makes you want to belt out the words even though you know it's a bit too much for your vocal cords. As the song builds, you hear people around you picking up the chorus and a wave of yearning washes over the venue.
'I Drove All Night' follows, and it's full throttle – drums are thundering, Lauper's voice cutting through the layers of sound. She's not holding back. Fans are with her for every word and singing the chorus at full volume.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any more intense, 'Who Let In The Rain' pours in, soft and sad. Rain floods the screens, her reflection shimmering in the black stage floor like a puddle of old memories. It's cinematic as hell.
Cyndi Lauper - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Then bam! Another costume change. She crawls up from under the stage in a new wig and brighter threads, launching into Sugar Boy & His Cane Cutters' 'Iko Iko'. It's Mardi Gras onstage, full band intros, dancing punters, arms swaying like sugarcane in the breeze. Lauper's smile stretches wide, feeding off the joy around her and pulling fans into her world, making it impossible for us to stay still.
Wanda Jackson's 'Funnel Of Love' throws us into rockabilly chaos, complete with a cheeky history lesson. Lauper leans into it – raw, raspy, brilliant. The crowd claps along in sync. There's a playful defiance in her delivery, her voice raw and driving, just like the guitars.
The pace shifts again as 'Sally's Pigeons' lands like a diary entry, heavy with her story. Lauper talks queens, neighbours, the women in her life. The crowd's hushed, eyes on the screen, soaking it in. 'I'm Gonna Be Strong' follows, and bloody hell, she is. Her voice pierces the room – pin-drop silent by the time she nails the final note.
'Sisters Of Avalon' brings the grit back. Lauper grabs her guitar and goes full throttle, bends the strings on her guitar as she rocks this one out with gutsy vim. We sing-along matching her verve and nodding our heads to the beat.
Cyndi Lauper - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Then 'Change Of Heart' hits, the whole arena filled with '80s synth and soaring guitars. People are singing along still. Every line of the chorus getting belted out in unison. The atmosphere is electric, like everyone in the place waiting for this exact moment to join with Lauper's voice, unwavering in strength and quivering with big feels.
'Time After Time', it's not unexpected. Lauper's perfect vocals is joined by her fans who pick up the chorus like it's second nature. It's a moment of pure harmony – sweet and smooth, with just a touch of raw emotion.
Then comes 'Money Changes Everything'. The guitars are roaring and the beat is pounding. Lauper's energy is unmatched, relentless. I hear fans echoing the words with her, the whole place is vibrating with every line.
I'm in a musical communion with my fellow fans. My teen idol Lauper and my inner teenager have been united throughout this epic show and my eyes are leaking. Is it because of the overwhelming thrill of this live show experience or the recognition that this is Lauper's last she-bop-she-bang and that age and mortality are real for us all? Perhaps both.
As she walks from the stage we call for our encore and before long Lauper is walking through the crowd, bathed in light and camera flashes, singing like she's talking just to me. Intimate. Stunning. She reappears on the platform waiting in the centre of the arena to finish performing 'Shine' for us.
The crowd stands as she engages some of the fans on her short journey to stand surrounded by a sea of phones and outstretched hands. This intimacy shifts the whole vibe yet again. Lauper bends down, opens a wooden box and lifts a rainbow fabric that floats on the air like the confetti did earlier.
Cyndi Lauper - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Our world explodes as she indulges us with her heartfelt banger 'True Colours'. The song is lifting everyone up. The venue is filling with the vibration of those iconic, hopeful words. Lauper's porcelain face softens even more, the song's deeper meaning evident in her iconic closed eyed expression. It's emotional, powerful, perfect.
Then. . . 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun'. The place erupts. Red polka dots against white everywhere: on the screen, on the band's coats. No one's leaving early. Not a soul in my vicinity. It's a full-blown party. A feminist fever dream. A love letter to weirdos, women, and wild joy.
Cannons have replaced confetti charges with streamers that are thrust towards the roof and are now falling to settle on the shoulders of fans, like a hug goodbye. It's like her music transcends time and space, connecting everyone within the colourfully curated and expertly choreographed Lauper universe.
The hits still hit. The voice still stuns, and that glorious, offbeat weirdness? Still so very much the Lauper my teen-self admired. Tonight wasn't a swan song – it was a flamingo dance. Joyful, colourful, unapologetic and totally unforgettable. I'm lucky to have been part of it and the world, lucky to be blessed with her art.
More photos from the concert.
