BANKS’ show at Melbourne’s Forum Theatre has been highly anticipated for a while now. Though she has appeared at Laneway Festival before, we hadn’t been treated to a headline performance yet. You could feel the energy buzzing and it was obvious that everyone in the room was eager to see what BANKS had in-store.
Though she was approximately twenty minutes late to hit the stage (it’s okay, we’ll let that one slide), once she did, it was everything we could have possibly wanted and so much more. Accompanied by her band and two backup dancers, BANKS made her way onto the stage looking fierce with a black veil draped over her face. It only took a few moments after she hit the stage to come to the realisation that we were about to see something incredibly special. She opened up with ‘Poltergeist’, which ultimately set the tone for the night. After that was ‘Fuck With Myself’, and with that, the fierceness barometer hit a record high. The sensual track was captivating live, and BANKS’ intense strutting across the stage and subtle dance moves were diva goals — I mean, damn, why can’t I be that fierce?
The biggest thing I took away from the show was her amazing stage presence. She takes her performances very seriously and it’s clear that she spends a lot of time planning what her shows will look like. In a way, her show presents a story and everything seems to have a purpose.
Another incredible moment from the set was her poem. I’ve never seen an artist do something like this during a live show and I thought it was intriguing. The poem added another level to her artistry and it was truly beautiful.
All good things must come to an end, and BANKS show was no exception (*sad face*). She played the broody ‘Judas’ before getting into ‘Beggin for Thread’. She closed her set on a high note with ‘Haunt’, leaving us wishing it would never end, yet feeling thankful for the brilliance she served up during the night.
BANKS’ show was more than a set, it was a performance that captured all that she represents as an artist, as well as capsulizing everything that is beautiful about her music.
