Under a rare, storm-less Brisbane night in stifling heat and humidity, Parcels made a hot crowd even steamier on a night to remember.
It all started with the lunar exploits of Mildlife (28 November). The Melbourne-based quintet were the perfect choice to bring in the crowd with their jazz-infused exploratory sound.
Much like the headliners, they weren't afraid to take the listener on a journey with instrumentals mixed up between the ambient keys, vocoded vocals and popping bass.
This band are the real deal if their third album, 2024's 'Chorus', hadn't already proved that. Expert musicians with a knack for combining instruments into a psychedelic cosmic feast.
The Parcels story is a bit of a disco-funk fairytale. They formed in Byron Bay in 2014 after listening to The Whitest Boy Alive in high school, decided to relocate to Berlin and almost immediately, were noticed by Daft Punk in their first ever show in Paris, who went on to mark the production of their single, 'Overnight', as their last ever production credit.
Fast forward to 2025 and the five piece have pretty much played every major stage in the world including in front of 15,000 French fans just weeks earlier, Coachella, Glastonbury and over 60,000 in Mexico all in this year alone.
Now it was Brisbane's turn. They eased into the show, playing the first track, 'Tobeloved', from their 'Loved' album of this year and straight away the swell of the sound flowed up from the river rising through the natural amphitheatre.
This was a crowd that was up for it and with standing room only, there were plenty ready to dance. "I thought it would be half full, but it's fully full," exclaimed Patrick Hetherington, guitarist, keyboard and vocalist. "Let's have a great time tonight."
'Overnight', with its Nile Rodgers-esque guitar is a hit with the audience, but the following song, 'Somethinggreater' evokes a massive sing-along dancing over the outstanding bassline of Noah Hill.
This transitioned into a more downbeat part of the night, with 'Sorry' and 'Safeandsound' played in the opposite order to how they appear on the record, but flowing seamlessly. . . with the track building up to a killer guitar solo from Jules Crommelin.
It's impressive how they can move from the sensitivity of a slow-jam to a full-on rock jam, but this is all in a day's work for Parcels. Hetherington, again looking at the huge crowd, said: "It feels like a festival. Our own festival. This is amazing!"
The love for the band is evident and flowed into the crowd with 'Summerinlove' as a perhaps Coldplay-inspired kiss-cam went through the audience. No controversy here though, just a reciprocal love-fest.
'LordHenry' was an almost 15-minute jam, but it was worth it to get into the groove of a band that is so tight, despite coming from all corners to meet back in their homeland.
It's easy to forget there are four vocalists in the band, but when all of them take a seat at the front of the stage and their harmonies are in full effect, it's a joy to hear.
It was followed by a trio of hits: 'Lightenup', 'Yougotmefeeling' and 'Tieduprightnow' before a small instrumental break, 'Finallyover' suitably wrapped the night. After all of the dancing, it felt ok to sway along to the end.
This is a band at their peak. Just over ten years and three albums into their career with the original members, it doesn't feel like they're slowing down just yet. . . besides there's still two sold-out nights at Sydney Opera House forecourt to play this coming weekend.
Where will Parcels land in the pantheon of Australian bands that've made it big overseas? They also certainly deserve greater recognition in their motherland, but at least, on this balmy Brisbane night, there was a packed-out crowd, pretty close to their home town that really loved every moment.
