» La Dispute at Liberty Hall, Sydney – review and photos Something You Said

La Dispute at Liberty Hall, Sydney – review and photos

October 25, 2026

La Dispute brought their renowned intensity for their No One Was Driving The Car tour to Sydney with Aussie supports Our Mutual Friend and Special Features getting the chance to win over some new fans and warm the crowd up for the main event.

All ages shows have a way of showing you who a band’s audience really is, and this show was a great example. The range in age, style and scene scattered through the crowd was vast, the kind of room where you could stand next to someone who’d been listening for fifteen years and someone who’d found the band last month, and neither would feel out of place.

Our Mutual Friend opened to a room that was already pretty full, which isn’t a given for an opener. Their midwest emo with a distinctly Aussie twang was fun and energetic for a young band who clearly had fans in the crowd who knew the songs and what they’d bring. It made for a warm start, people already moving and on side.

Special Features have the job of supporting La Dispute on the full tour, and as another young band they didn’t hide where they’re coming from, paying homage to La Dispute and citing them as an inspiration. They came across as huge fans, and a band with strong politics and real views on injustice, which makes them a fitting pairing for a headliner who’s always stood up for minorities and the persecuted. They also had their own people in the room, fans who knew what they were in for, so the set felt like the crowd and the band were meeting each other halfway.

Then La Dispute, bringing the energy and intensity fans have come to expect from them. Jordan Dreyer’s introspective thoughts between songs drew a raucous response each time, the room hanging on what he had to say before the next song kicked in. They moved through a mix of songs from across most of their catalogue, and King Park made its appearance, lifting the crowd to another level. Bands like this make music that means a lot to the people who listen, and you could see it on their faces as the stage lights lit them up.

You come away from shows like this with a sense of collective healing from a band that’s welcoming to all walks of life. Couples holding hands, kids crowd surfing, groups of mates singing together, people from completely different scenes sharing the same room. It helps to forget the division of the world outside the venue, and for me, that is the mark of great art.