LIVE REVIEW: The Presets & Jess Kent – Factory Summer Festival

Factory Summer Festival is turning up the heat in Brisbane with its inaugural residency at Brisbane Showgrounds. With the opening weekend proving to be a huge success even with a rainy backdrop, the summer vibes were truly felt with the pure euphoria of finally being able to be at a festival and dancing (safely) all together again.

The impressive festival setup sees a spacious ground that intertwines carnival and a classic festival exterior. With the crowd making their away around the grounds with drinks in hand, the Sunday night vibes were in full momentum for The Presets and Jess Kent’s second night.

Making her way onstage to ‘No One Else’ after a big drum intro, Jess Kent had her guitar in tow and gave the crowd a set that intertwined some chilled out vibes with a lot of dancing and encouraged singing along. ‘Life Happens’, ‘Slushie’ and ‘Hi, It Me’ were some of the recent new material that floated in the set, but one of the true highlights came from the unreleased ‘Grey’. Dedicated to the unbearable thought of losing a friend, she hit you in the feelings and had you very keen to hear more from this new direction she’s sonically heading in.

After throwing in her triple j Like A Version cover of ‘Hell N Back’, she wrapped up her set with ‘Get Down’ and ‘Cloud 9’ which definitely encouraged a whole lot of dancing. it’s been a while since Jess Kent has been in Brisbane for a live show, so hopefully it won’t be as long in-between gigs next time as she definitely knows how to brings the right vibes.

Bringing a kaleidoscope of colours and sounds, The Presets didn’t mess around by kicking off their headline set with the euphoric anthems ‘Talk Like That’ and ‘Martini’. With the stage covered in smoke, and the strobe lights matching the syncopated beats, the energy was immediately high and took the audience on a journey between moodier tracks like ‘Ghosts’ and ‘Paradise’, but also matched the dance floor ready ‘Do What You Want’ and ‘Tools Down’ as well.

Their hits rolled in with ‘This Boys In Love’, ‘Youth In Trouble’ and ‘My People’ which are all festival anthems in their own right, and are pure serotonin in song form. But as they crept toward the end of the set, they wrapped up the show with the unexpected closers ‘Together’, ‘14U+14ME’, and ‘Until The Dark’.

The Presets are a band that really excel in the live realm. Their stage show is not only energetic and sonically captivating, but their accompanying visuals soak in the perfect atmosphere. This was such a perfect show to kick off the opening weekend for Factory Summer Festival because it’s one that punters will be talking about for a very long time.

Check out the full gallery captured by Zac Montgomery BELOW;