Gig review: diamond construct at last words 29/08/26
If you're into local live music in Sydney, Or you just love a good emo night- you've probably heard of Last Words. But If you haven't, let me introduce you. Last words is a weekly alternative party run at Bootleggers in Newtown every Saturday with DJs, drink specials and live bands once a month. Last week, last words hosted Diamond Construct, Harroway and Aurateque.
From the start of the night the room was full, which is always good to see, lots of the familiar faces of Last Words as well as a bunch of new people, piling in for the first Diamond construct gig in nearly a year. Spirits were definitely high.
Kicking the night off were the absolute legends in Aurateque. This band is such a powerhouse and every member just possesses more talent than you could even imagine. The technicality of both guitars is mesmerising and vocalist Lauren Coleman is an absolute master of her craft- both in general skill and in working a stage. I could barely keep my eyes off her. Even when her pack fell off mid set she was so unphased and played it off so cooly. I've lost count of the amount of times I have seen and shot for this band but something that amazes me is how far Matt (lead guitar/screams) has come with his vocals. the way his screams match both Lauren's clean and harsh vocals is so cool and just elevates their intentionally chaotic vibe so well. Highly recommend watching aurateque if you ever get the chance (which you will, because they're going to soar) .
Following them up we had Harroway. Off the back of a massive few shows for them, they returned back to last words for the first time since headlining the very first one in late 2024.
They opened with narsociety, a song they haven't been able to play in a while due to the clean vocals, however they've had james merkouris from synge filling in on drums recently, and dudes got some pipes. It's always so impressive to me when a drummer can sing at the same time, drumming itself is difficult enough I couldn't imagine trying to sing in key while doing it.
Overall the energy was there from the minute the band began, as far as crowd participation goes, and it carried throughout the whole set. Vocalist Matt Banks has a very commanding stage presence, and Harroway has a very dedicated fan base. Throughout the whole set there were circle pits, moshes and lots of people singing lyrics back to the band. Overall you could tell the fans were having a super good time and the crowd were nice and warmed up for our headlining act.
As mentioned earlier, diamond construct havent played a sydney gig for a hot minute, and boy did they make up for lost time with an absolutely incredible set with new songs, old songs and even a couple unreleased songs which i for one cannot wait to hear again. As per usual the boys were full of energy, kynan particularly was all over the stage, engaging with the crowd and even jumped in the mosh for a bit with everyone. Even during a few technical difficulties he was cracking heaps of jokes, having banter with the crowd and keeping everybody entertained. Asking everyone what their favourite karaoke song was and humorously singing a couple of lines of jolene by Dolly Parton (rest in peace queen). The crowd work was definitely a testament to how good of a frontman kynan groundwater is, especially in the face of adversity.
Something I always love is when you can tell the band are as happy to be there as the crowd are, and the boys were absolutely grinning from ear to ear, just so stoked to be playing shows and hearing the lyrics being sung right back truly touched their hearts and you could tell. Overall a super wholesome set and we can't wait till the boys are back again.
overall, it was a really good night (as per usual at last words) the crowd was happy, the bands were happy, and I'm intrigued to see what next months show has to offer. while you wait though, last words will still be here for all your weekly alternative party needs every Saturday night at bootleggers in newtown.
