Sienna Skies | The Leadbeater Hotel
On Friday the 8th of November, myself and a couple of friends made our way into Richmond to the bustling Leadbeater Hotel to catch the Sienna Skies “The Hardest Part” tour. It was my first time in the band room of the Leadbeater Hotel, and it certainly didn’t disappoint with a large bar and copious space for eager on goers and legions of band merch.
The night kicked off with one of the featuring opening bands 50Fifty, a band born out of the Melbourne lockdowns in 2021, the lead vocalists’ Cat Mayson-Payne had incredible vocal range, with guitarist Alex Kresojevic, drummer Jesse Gallagher and bassist Ryan Upine Roberts they all put on an amazing show and were all clearly having a lively time on stage.
The fourth song they played was their newest single “You’re Losing Me” which captivated the audience even more after they announced they had just released the official music video for the song. The Leadbeater Hotel was only the bands 3rd live show, not that you would’ve known as the band performed exceptionally with great movement and energy and a natural confidence on stage that makes them a band to keep an eye out for in future.
Following 50Fifty was the Sydney based band Clay J Gladstone who although had a few technical difficulties towards the beginning with the microphones but ended up putting on quite the show. The band consists of vocalist Tim Wisbey, the guitarists Matt David and Sam Thomlinson, the bassist Cole Wilkins and the drummer Justin Spaccavento with the fifth song they played being their new record released last week “This Is How I Die” which went down a treat with the very enthusiastic audience.
The band's self-titled sad-party-punk genre, created the right atmosphere for the show they were putting on, having great chemistry and really engaging with the crowd and other band mates. The band's vocalist Timmy even brought out a few members of Sienna Skies on stage who joined them for a chorus or two, it seems they may have gotten caught up in the music after the microphone stand ended up falling off the stage, but they recovered well and continued like it never happened.
Up next all the way from Michigan in the United States, we were lucky enough to hear Of Virtue begin to play live for their first time in Australia as the final opening act before Sienna Skies came on. The band consists of a main singer Tyler Ennis, singer and guitarist Damon Tate, guitarist Michael Valadez and finally drummer Ryan Trinh. On stage they have great chemistry and tons of movement even having Tyler break off stage and join the crowd in the mosh circle for quite a few songs really adding to the ambience of the venue and their performance.
On stage Damon spoke about a song from the most recent album that was close to his heart being ‘Sober’ and his journey down that path as well as the band playing hits such as ‘Sinner’ and ending with ‘Cannibals’ all from that same album ‘Omen’. After speaking with Damon following their performance, he mentioned that they were working on a new album and are excited to show fans the hard work they’ve been putting into it along with what’s to come for new tours in the future.
Finally Sienna Skies took the stage, no delay as the band shuffled into their spots and began kicking off on their first song ‘The Hardest Part’ which really got the crowd moving and absorbed as soon as the music began to pour out. The light shows behind them brought excitement and was truly something else as well, setting the mood as the music ramped up to play their next song ‘Quarterlife’ from one of the bands older albums ‘Seasons (Reissue)’. The band consisting of vocalist Thomas Pirozzi, drummer Damon Brohier, bassist Josh Wade and guitarists Nick Musgrave and Michael Sankey truly are great performers with Thomas, Damon and Josh having not only incredible vocals but great range.
Fans turning up from everywhere including one lucky little 9-year-old boy whose dad brought him along, he was said to be a huge fan with his Sienna Skies T-shirt and his overhead earmuffs, even getting himself a major shout out by the main vocalist himself which I’m sure made his night. The band played the night away with big tracks like ‘Cut Me Off’ and finishing with one of their top played songs on Spotify being ‘Mess’ even bringing out the vocalist Timmy from Clay J Gladstone to conclude the final song of the night, ending it all on a huge high.
Overall, it was definitely a night for the history books, with truly incredible performances filled with pure passion and expertise from all four of these amazing bands. Be sure to keep an eye out for 50Fifty, Clay J Gladstone, Of Virtue and of course the sensational headliner Sienna Skies with plenty of exciting new things in the works for all these unbelievable bands, sure to keep the fans wanting more.
