It’s Wednesday evening and a crowd curls down the street and around the corner at the Metro Theatre. They’re here to see Karly Hartzman’s Wednesday perform. The band have arrived in Sydney carrying the weight of expectation that comes with releasing one of 2025’s most acclaimed albums (‘Bleeds’), but also the confidence of a band that has spent years refining a sound entirely their own.
Opening the evening is Naaki Soul, whose set consisting of a blend of emo, noise pop grunge is received warmly by the crowd.
Karly Hartzman’s solo project becan in 2017 but since then she has become one of the most distinctive voices in modern rock. Across albums such as Twin Plagues, Rat Saw God and now Bleeds, her band Wednesday, have developed a musical language that merges alternative country, shoegaze, noise rock and Southern storytelling into something entirely their own. Before the band arrives, I notice various furry stuffed animals sitting atop amplifiers around the stage, quietly surveying proceedings. Their presence gives the stage the feel of a family living room transplanted from North Carolina to Sydney. Wednesday’s current line-up sees Hartzman joined by drummer Alan Miller, pedal steel player Xandy Chelmis and bassist Ethan Baechtold. Although guitarist MJ Lenderman remains a member of the band, he has stepped away from touring duties, with Jake “Spyder” Pugh deputising on lead guitar. (Backseat Mafia caught MJ Lenderman when he perfomed at the Sydney Opera House in 2025.)
Wednesday take the stage to a roar from the crowd and someone shouts out “Happy Wednesday, Karly!” to a smiling Hartzman who’s powerful voice washes over the theatre. Delicate moments are allowed room to breathe before being swallowed by waves of distortion, creating the push and pull that has become the band’s signature. The result is music that feels simultaneously intimate and overwhelming. A great band with universal appeal proving that stories told with honesty, humour and volume can travel remarkably far-from North Carolina to Sydney in this instance.
Images Deb Pelser
