When you put your first act on before 9 it’s always a risk they’ll be playing to an empty space. Not with the Brisbabes crowd though, who eagerly consumed all five acts from 8.30 onwards with The Foundry filling up early on. Part political middle finger to the establishment and part diversity showcase of a handful of excellent local female-fronted bands, the third instalment of Brisbabes was a hit yet again.

Ruby Smith kicked off the night playing one of her first gigs as Post-Dusk, and despite having only one single under her belt she effortlessly bought her dreamy folk to the stage. I’ll forgive those who insisted on sitting in front of the stage for the first three acts because like, whatever, let’s not get distracted from the spirit of the night, and it kind of fit for Post-Dusk and her successors Cheers G’day.

Cheers G’day frontwoman Irina Strauss pumps some serious power into the band’s bright indie jams, never faltering as she unleashed a lungful on ‘Dream Girl’ the first single off their forthcoming EP. Strauss’ belters were made all the better by their scarcity, I wanted to subtly turn off her mic’s reverb at times to hear her vocals closer to their pure form. People were filtering in all the while and Cheers G’day closed their set to a fast filling room. 

One song into blues rock powerhouse Deena’s slice of the night and it became obvious that the belters were not about to let up. The Brisbane singer songwriter’s brand of propulsive vocals-driven rock is meant for live performance, and she doesn’t hold back. Deena Lynch spreads her talents between shredding and nailing soaring long held notes with equal fervour, and really does try to get the punters down the front to stand up. Not even in a metaphorical “raise the roof” way, she just literally wants people to stop sitting down. Which was fair enough considering how electric her set was. But people love their sits, and at least it cleared visibility for those at the back to appreciate Lynch’s captivating presence. 

Whether it was out of shame or the sheer infectiousness of jazz seven piece Inigo, there were no seated punters for their set. Inigo put on a truly spellbinding show, I never quite knew where to look and found myself bouncing between Erin Fiztsimon’s neon pink hair to her mouth trying to figure out how she was making those beautiful delicate sounds, and then to the Hawaiian shirted trumpet player being suave as hell with the brass section powering the whole operation. If you ever want to see a tight, professional band that want you to have as much fun as they are, Inigo have you covered.

The crowd was buzzing to cap off the night with r’n’b soulstress Romy, the energy generated by all four of the ladies so far was palpable. Maybe it was because she’s just spent a stint in LA finishing her debut album and only has one single released so far but she just didn’t quite make the crowd connection needed to ice the otherwise delicious Brisbabes cake. Granted, her single Wild Hearts did get a great response, it just didn’t resonate as much as the earlier acts. 

Despite this, it was still so refreshing to see a whole night of front-women with zero indie dude rock fatigue. Any event that explicitly carves out more opportunities for girls trying to make a career out of music is a win in my books. The next night I saw four more bands at a different venue that wasn’t billed as a specialty girls to the front event, but all the bands had female leads, and that is progress. 

- Grace Pashley (The Amplifier)