As part live music festival Open Season, which runs through to July in Brisbane, Ezra Collective glided onto the stage last Sunday (1 June) much like the atmosphere that was lingering like a house party at max volume.
The crowd was an eclectic mix of those who attended Woodford's first festival and those who listened to the Best Of on Apple Music playlist their Dad insisted on.The evening felt like a nod to '90s Lisa Loeb – nostalgia with young women no older than 23 embossing the energy of 1995 era Eryka Baydu holding an iPhone 15 Pro while nursing a kombucha.
As Groove Armada's iconic get-up tune 'Superstylin'' played as Ezra's pre-show energy buzz anthem, I could feel the crowd sway from Sunday nights indoors watching television to 'screw it, let's go out and dance tonight' vibes.
The lights slowly dimmed as we heard a somewhat-familiar voice; the Australian male Siri, who informed us politely that "dance is life and you can't be angry when you're. . . dancing". Words that while said by AI, were exactly what the audience was chasing as a collective.
Nothing can replace the human emotion of dancing with complete strangers to a beat that you feel in your soul. Boom! The saxophone and bass begin and we're suddenly transported to South East London.
The cool-as-hell Ezra Collective, fitted out in their signature Afro-cool couture – which felt more Met Gala than Princess Theatre – had the crowd grooving with their needs-no-lyrics melodies that helped this writer who has a lyric fixation.
In the era of sober-curious 2025, it was delightful to see people genuinely dancing like they were giving praise to their ancestors, a certain primal left-feet dancing that I struggled to keep up with and needed an intermission sit-down break after their first four songs.
However it was extremely hard to remain still during their energetic, soulful set. I found myself dancing with a middle-aged woman who had more pep in her step than I originally assumed on first glance.
We exchanged notes on the best way to boogie to the urban Stevie Nicks, our heels clicking together as we held hands and sashayed away to the thick, infectious beats.
It may have been a school night, but it felt like we were all transported to another world, a world where we could dance uninterrupted, sway with the body chills and overall enjoy an evening without clinging to video evidence to post on Instagram.
