When Mallrat stepped onto the stage to begin her world tour, it signaled a metamorphosis. Fresh off a run with pop royalty Kylie Minogue, and riding the momentum of her new album ‘Light Hit My Face Like a Straight Right‘, Grace Shaw let the night unfold slowly – vulnerably, wrapped in light that somehow caught everything but her.
Before she’d even sung a word, the room was already vibrating thanks to three wildly exciting openers. First up was Naarm/Melbourne DJ Prophecy Girl, who quite literally didn’t stop moving the entire time. A masterclass in momentum, they played the heaviest remix of ‘Pink Pony Club’ I’ve ever heard – an absolute pleasure to watch.
Then came Denim, wearing an outfit that screamed Y2K: a “Shut Up!” t-shirt I’m almost certain I bought from Supre in 2009, paired with Ugg boots. The set was just as iconic – earthquake-level bass that rattled your spine loose.
Then there was Daine, the certified emo-pop princess. Wrapped in a snowcoat, channeling Sky Ferreira and Crystal Castles if they were locked in a room with a vocal processor and a burst of Monster Energy-fueled adrenaline. She swung between soft, melodic vocals and sudden screams with little warning. The set was unpredictable, dynamic, and so fun.
When Mallrat finally appeared, she carried a subtle hesitancy. Not nervous, exactly – more like she was feeling out the room. And then, gradually, that caution fell away. By ‘Wish On An Eyelash’, something shifted. Her voice steadied. Her presence expanded.
Backed by a band of shape-shifting multi-instrumentalists, she drove through her set like someone quietly flipping through the pages of a diary.
The setlist was thoughtful, spanning early favourites to new tracks from ‘Light Hit My Face Like a Straight Right’. ‘Pavement‘, ‘Hideaway‘, and ‘Hocus Pocus‘ carried a delicate weight. ‘Worst Thing I Would Ever Do‘ and ‘Teeth‘ showed how far she’s come in both sound and presence since her 2016 debut. ‘Groceries‘, ‘Wish On An Eyelash‘, and ‘Charlie‘ reminded everyone why they fell in love with her in the first place. And the song dedicated to her sister, ‘Horses‘, grounded the entire theatre in a way I’ve never seen before.
The show was intimate, thoughtful, and completely hers. Grace is bearing all – telling stories, building worlds, letting us in gently. And it shouldn’t be taken for granted, for it feels like such a privilege.
The tour rolls on, with Mallrat performing in Naarm/Melbourne tonight before heading across North America later this month.
Image Credit: Jess Hutton (@juiceboxjpg)
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