Photos by Oli McCormack
Despite performing thousands of miles from their hometown of Byron Bay, Australia, Skegss’ performance drew a crowd with an energy similar to that of coastal New South Wales. The duo’s music blends mellow instrumentals with more intense vocals and guitar solos. Their sound combines rhythmic rock with more intense, punk-adjacent music.
The setlist of the evening provided an upbeat atmosphere. Skegss played eighteen songs, flowing from each to the next with nearly no breaks between songs. This momentum allowed the crowd to maintain their energy throughout the night, compared with other set styles that offer calmer, conversational intermissions between performances.
The set began with Skegss’ song “Valhalla” from their 2021 Rehearsal album, their 2017 single “Got On My Skateboard,” and their 2024 single “High Beaming.” These songs have a strong sense of rhythm and guided the start of the set by establishing energy for the performance to come. With strong vocal elements, the duo was able to establish a strong, two-man dynamic, with each playing off the sounds of the other. Skegss followed with their 2020 release “Under the Thunder,” their song “Out Of My Head” from their 2024 record Pacific Highway Music, and their song “Slayer” off their 2016 album Everyone Is Good At Something.
The Fonda’s standing-room venue style allowed the crowd to move freely and curated a playfully rambunctious atmosphere. Nearly a third of the standing-room space was occupied by a circulating mosh pit. Flowing in a counter-clockwise motion, crowd members created cyclical movement directly in front of the stage. A few friends of the band added to the chaos of the night by stage diving out of the darkness of the backstage area head-first into the audience.
The group followed by playing their 2021 release “Down To Ride” off Rehearsal, their 2016 single “Spring Has Sprung,” and their 2018 release “Paradise” from their My Own Mess album. These songs sped up the tempo of the show, incorporating stronger guitar instrumentals that evoked a more chaotic energy in the crowd. The next songs performed were 2016 release “Mustang” from Everyone Is Good At Something, 2021 release “Running From Nothing” from Rehearsal, and 2024 “Stuck In Cheyenne” from Pacific Highway Music.
In moments when the mosh pit died down, crowd-surfing would take place to make up for any lost excitement. Countless legs were thrown into the air throughout the night as audience members of all ages (and heights) surfed above the crowd’s arms. The security guards adjacent to the stage were tasked with catching each crowd surfer as they made their way over the barricade. A near constant circulation of audience members were lifted up into the photography pit area and sent running back into the crowd.
The set began to come to a close with Skegss’ 2025 release “So Excited,” 2014 single “LSD,” and 2018 song “Infinity.” The group then flowed into their 2019 single “Save It For The Weekend,” 2018 release “Up In The Clouds,” and 2022 release “Stranger Days.” Bouncing between older and newer releases, the duo was able to create a cohesive set that did not reflect the difference in time between each song. Although their sound has slightly shifted throughout their years of creating music, their style of scrambling timelines throughout their set made it impossible to distinguish their musical evolution. Throughout all of Skegss’ music remains the same playful energy authentic to their style that provided a spark of connection throughout the Fonda’s crowd during their performance.
