LIVE REVIEW: Thelma Plum – Fortitude Music Hall

Thelma Plum has been trying to hit the road for over a year now for her ‘Homecoming Queen Tour’ but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the shows have continued to get pushed back. With restrictions beginning to ease, she’s finally hit the road to bring some wholesome vibes to audiences who just want to sing all together.

With two sold out shows at the Fortitude Music Hall, her hometown return to Brisbane was an exciting and important one. With a disco ball hanging from the roof, Thelma and her band took to the stage to ecstatic screams as they kicked off the show with ‘Homecoming Queen’.

“Oh my goodness! Hello, my name is Thelma Plum” she gushed before then rolling straight into ‘Woke Blokes’ and ‘Don’t Let A Good Girl Down’. Confessing that over the last year she wasn’t left with much else to do but make new music, she announced she has a new album on the way and was going to treat the crowd to some unreleased music. Playing SIX (!!) brand new songs, she delivered a real insight into where she is currently at as a songwriter. ‘I Don’t Play That Song Anymore’, ‘Dorothy’, ‘Now I Never Leave My House’, ‘When It Rains It Pours’, ‘Backseat Of My Mind’ and ‘Golden Touch’ were the special unreleased selections, and they ranged from big festival singalong’s to intimate acoustic tellings that were intricately crafted by intimate storytelling.

Making sure the audience still had singalong moments; ‘I’m Not Angry Anymore’, ‘Better In Blak’, ‘Clumsy Love’ and a cover of Powerderfinger’s ‘These Days’ were sprinkled throughout the set. This show was one that has taken a long time to come into fruition, but if it was to go ahead a year ago we would’ve seen something completely different. Because of the time in-between she has now been able to give fans an intimate look into the next chapter before it even officially begins, and the songs are sounding incredibly special!

Opening the show was the confident, sassy and positive stylings of Kira Puru who commanded the stage with just herself and a DJ. In the past I’ve seen her perform with a band, and she still managed to bring the same level of energy, and had the audience dancing and vibing along euphorically.

“These are all songs that say fuck you to my ex boyfriend. Or hello to my new boyfriend” she proclaimed as she walked onto the stage and kicked off her set with ‘Say Something’ and ‘Everything Is Better Without You’.

With only one EP and a string of singles out in the world, she performed a couple of unreleased tracks including ‘Talk With Me’ and ‘Bad Things’ which excitingly preluded to the pure fire we can expect from her soon. ‘Tension’, ‘Why Don’t We Get Along’ and ‘Molotov’ closed out her set and left the audience wanting to hear more of her playoff, sassy and honest tracks.

Check out the full gallery captured by Darcy Goss BELOW;