The 12th of April ended up being quite the memorable night at The Margaret Court arena where Slowly Slowly Jumped into the last show of their ‘Forgiving Spree’ tour quite literally, the night was filled with melodic melodies, flips and tricks and quite the boogie to keep the sprightly night alive. It was definitely an unforgettable night for me with Grayscale and Honey Revenge absolutely owning the stage for each of their opening performances and then of course having the incredibly talented Slowly Slowly take the stage only enthralled the crowd along with myself more for what’s to come.

Gracing the stage for their first time in Australia, let alone Melbourne was Grayscale all the way from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Whilst touring through Australia with Slowly Slowly they were also set to perform two headlining shows themselves in Australia, at ‘The Baso’ in Canberra, ACT on the 8th of April and at the ‘Sooki lounge’ in Belgrave, Victoria on the 13th of April keeping themselves very busy exploring and performing in their time here. The band members consist of 5 guys who have been best friends since they were young, Main Vocalist Collin Walsh, Nick Veno on the Drums, Guitarist Andrew Kyne, Nick Ventimiglia on Bass and Guitarist, Keys and Vocalist Dallas Molster. They played many tunes from their new album ‘The Hart’ containing 12 artful songs that was released in late January 2025. They played popular hits such as ‘Through the Landslide’ that sits in the number 5 spot of the bands most played songs on Spotify, along with others like ‘Dance with Your Ghost’ and ‘Some Kind Of Magic’. The band recently collaborated with Slowly Slowly to put out a single together as well called ‘Keep Me Alive’ which they released just as they went on to play their first show in Australia on the 4th of April in Perth.

The only way to describe the performance displayed by Honey Revenge was energetic and dramatic with the way they absolutely owned the stage, the pink hair rocked by one half of the band being Devin Papadol and the whole band's matching pink pants they definitely set the stage for something electric. From Los Angeles, California the band includes Main Vocalist Devin Papadol, Guitarist Donovan Lloyd and for this tour it features touring-drummer Matt Arsenault and Bassist Sher. Playing many of my favourite songs such as ‘Habitual’, ‘Rerun’ and ‘Airhead’ that all featured on their latest album ‘Retrovision (Extended Edition)’ that was released back in late 2024. Similarly, to Grayscale, during their time in Australia Honey Revenge also will be performing two headlining shows in the Lion Arts Factory in Adelaide on the 13th of April and the Amplifier bar in Perth on the 15th of April. Following their time here in Australia, they will be heading back to the US to begin their very own ‘The Loving and Losing Tour’ featuring 33 dates across the country with special guests including Daisy Grenade, Vana, Wolf and Bear along with Nightlife.

Finally came the main showcase of the night, the crowd had filled out and all were eager as Slowly Slowly began to take their places to begin their final show of the ‘Forgiving Spree tour’ in Melbourne. Having had an incredible run for their UK and EU tour with Bukowski there was no doubt that now back home in Aus this tour was going to go off, and the night did all that and more, given all the members originally call Melbourne home this was an extra special show for them all to end the tour on. Given the tour was set to showcase their most recent album ‘Forgiving Spree’ it’s no surprise they played album favourites like ‘How Are You Mine?’, ‘Gimme the Wrench’ and ‘Love Letters’ that went down a treat with the crowd. Before almost every show in almost every location so far, the band have been seen hiding a personally written love letter somewhere throughout the venue, creating a game with fans as to who can find it first. The game relates to their song ‘Love letters’ and from there they give hints through their social media as to where to find this memorable prize. This night was no different with someone finding the first letter hidden within the venue, except for the fact that just before the band played ‘Love Letters’ Main vocalist Ben Stewart told the crowd he’d written a second letter, and he would go on to throw into the crowd sometime throughout the song.

The band had no problems with energy, but this especially goes for Main Vocalist Ben Stewart as the night was full of memorable twists, jumps and flips off just about anything in his vicinity along with a little boogie as his dance moves appear fairly hard to beat. The other skilful members of the band include Albert Doan on Guitar, Alex Quayle on Bass Guitar and Drummer Patrick Murphy. Although this is the end of the ‘Forgiving Spree tour’ for Slowly Slowly, there is still many more exciting things to come for this ever-rising band with another show in the books for myself as they headline ‘The EV’s Years, passing the mic’ at the EV’s youth centre on the 3rd of May, hitting the stage with other rising bands such as Bodyjar, Antiskeptic and many more, be sure to check it out.

As I exited the venue, I felt content and grateful to have gotten to see the final leg of this electrifying tour play out as it had, especially for it to end in the place that it all began all those years ago, the place that’s home for the headliners. After that night I had since discovered a deeper found love for both Grayscale and Honey Revenge and the night only further solidified my adoration for Slowly Slowly. All these invigorating bands have many exciting things planned in the future so make sure to keep an eye on all three, as you wouldn’t want to miss out.