The thunderous Australian dance-punk trio are ready to dial up the hedonism on their upcoming tour.
There’s no denying it: garage punk heavyweights DZ Deathrays are a household name in rock circles. Made up of Shane Parsons, Simon Ridley and Lachlan Ewbank, the band have endured with their roaring riffage and boisterous stage presence, making hard rock that’s ready for the weekend.
By this point, they’ve been at it for ages. DZ Deathrays have amassed countless ARIA Awards and toured worldwide alongside the Foo Fighters, Ratatat, Biffy Clyro, Grinspoon and more during their over a decade-long career.
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To put their commitment into perspective, the rock powerhouse just returned from a Europe tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of Black Rat, the album that catapulted them into a run of ceaseless sold-out gigs.
“I think once we made it, it just became our life,” Parsons says. “If we stay at it, we’ll be doing this longer than we wouldn’t have been doing it, and that starts to sink into something quite strange.”
DZ Deathrays emerged 16 years ago when Parsons and Ridley were in their mid-twenties. The two couldn’t be more grateful for any opportunity they get to play gigs, go overseas and unleash their hard rock upon the world.
Ahead of the celebratory Black Rat shows, the DZ’s re-entered the spotlight with the party-ready single First Night Fever. “We’ve done a million party songs, but this is a proper party song about partying,” Parsons explains.
“When people would come and visit for the weekend, the Friday night would get a bit out of hand and that would snowball into the rest of the weekend. It’s a little in-joke for us and our friends, but it’s just a fun track.”
The guitar-heavy tune leans on familiar territory – enjoying hedonistic fun without a care of the world. It prolongs the trend of effective mosh-ready raucous rock introduced in R.I.F.F, their latest high-charting top 10 album released last year in 2023.
DZ Deathrays are now more than ready to bring the song’s relentless energy to the stage, announcing their mighty Weekend Warriors regional Australia tour from February to April 2025.
Hitting the road with them is a massive roster of emerging local punk and rock talent. All their electrifying chops are about to grace stages you’d never expect to hear such noisy, chunky riffs at.
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There’s a huge difference between playing small towns and the big cities. “You never quite know what you’re going to roll into,” Ridley says. “You just get to see lots of parts of Australia you usually wouldn’t.”
It’s a full circle moment for the band, who grew up in Bundaberg and will play for the first time in their hometown. “We grew up in a regional town, so we understand it’s pretty hard to see bands if you live in those places. When we were there – and I mean, we were in high school – no one came through.”
Other spots they’ll be playing at for the first time include Mount Gambier, Tamworth, Bundy, Beechworth and Warrnambool. They’re bringing their live show as far as they possibly can on Australian soil.
Parsons and Ridley are keen on playing heaps of shows on the weekend, being able to kick on at the pub and meet tons of people. That leads to funny, crazy gig stories from the regional crowds.
“I liked the guy in Geraldton that stopped the show. He kept on asking Shane for a photo,” Ridley recalls. “Turned out he wanted Shane to take a photo of him in the front row.”
Ridley shared another story from Wagga Wagga. “Some guy just gave me a handshake as we were entering the bar, and then I realised he gave me a whole thing of weed in my hand. I was like, ‘Oh shit, I hope he’s not running from a bouncer or something because now I’ve got it!’”
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Not only will they be catching up with the locals, but also with local bands just like them. The lineup of up-and-coming support acts exceeds 10 names, with Fremantle’s politically-charged punk rockers Last Quokka, rowdy garage rockers Drunk Mums and the thrash, grungy power pop duo Mannequin Death Squad being just a few of the awesome acts accompanying the DZ’s energetic victory lap around the country.
When asked about the initiative behind bringing them along on tour, the two say they’re giving them a one-up by helping them get their names out there.
“The whole idea is what we want [those small towns] to get local bands, to do state by state as main support and then the locals doing multiple shows,” Parson says.
“Every band who plays doesn’t have to fly anywhere, so they’re going to save a lot of money and hopefully make money out of doing the tour. We wanted bands to be able to walk away and go, ‘Cool, we just made a little bit of money and can put it towards recording or our next show.’ We understand how hard it is to make money.”
Regarding how the supports were chosen, Ridley speaks from the perspective of an avid concertgoer. “It’s just bands we want to see really. A lot of these bands are like, ‘Oh, I know the name, I’ve heard a couple of songs and want to check them out live.’ This is the chance, you know?”
Now, with DZ Deathrays long-established as rock mainstays, they’re in the position to give back to fans and local bands alike, something that didn’t seem possible at the very beginning.
“When we first started, no one wanted to talk about us at all, and we got a bit disheartened by it,” Parsons admits. “As we briefly became a two-piece, we didn’t even bother trying to get support acts and luckily enough, things started coming to us.”
The camaraderie is everything. “It’s also really nice to get locals to come in and open the show as well,” Parsons adds. “A lot of the time, they’re stoked they get to do it and they’re like, ‘I’ve seen you guys three or four times you’ve been over here’ and they’re just so happy to play with you.”
Alongside First Night Fever, DZ Deathrays have been kicking around some new tracks set to be finished in the studio in January, so more music is on the horizon.
DZ’s epic regional tour of endless weekend carnage is set to be unforgettable and attests to the incredible power of connecting through live music. “That’s the best thing about touring – just getting to check out other bands and what other people are doing,” Ridley says.
To get tickets to see DZ Deathrays on their upcoming Weekend Warriors regional tour, head here.
