BADA RELEASE SHOW

Event poster by @DODOFRENZY

May 26th, 2023

Dear Diary,

We headlined our first show *ever* at the Wine Cellar, and, get this—it was SOLD OUT. I don’t know what kind of spell we cast or if we got lucky with a high Charisma roll, but the place was packed. Like, wall-to-wall with the coolest, most supportive folks you could ask for. It felt like every non-binary elf, bard, and rogue in Auckland came out to cheer us on.

The night was a *triple launch*, with our single *BADA* making its debut alongside Pink Plates’ new single *Big Man*, and SPECK dropping the third issue of their comic zine. The energy was wild from the get-go.

Pink Plates went on at 9 PM and absolutely wrecked the place (in the best possible way). Their set was all fast riffs and defiance—like someone cast *Enthrall* over the whole crowd. People were moshing like they’d failed their Strength checks. I still can’t believe they call themselves skate punks when they’ve got all the grace of a drunken dwarf on a board… but damn, they know how to work a crowd.

By the time we hit the stage at 10 PM, I could barely breathe. I mean, sure, we’d rehearsed and prepped, but nothing could’ve prepared us for seeing that many faces in the audience—all of them ready for *us*. We launched into *BADA*, and suddenly it was like all the nerves disappeared. Hearing people sing along (I don’t even know how they already knew the words?!) made my heart feel like it was on fire.

And Bubbles? Totally stole the show with a surprise solo—full barbarian mode. No one knew it was coming, and the whole room erupted in cheers like someone had landed a critical hit in a boss fight. Absolutely legendary.

SPECK’s new zine was a massive hit, too. People swarmed the merch table to grab their copies—so much so that we ran out before the night was over. The special Club Ruby edition sold out in minutes. I spotted so many people flipping through their issues between sets, geeking out over the art and comics. Felt like our worlds had come together in the best possible way.

Now that it’s all over, I’m sitting here trying to wrap my head around what just happened. I think we really did something big tonight. Bigger than just a show. It felt like we’d found our party—a group of people who get what we’re about, who understand the weirdness and the vulnerability of it all, and want to go on this adventure with us.

I don’t know what’s next, but I do know this: We made our mark tonight. I can’t wait to see where we go from here.

Ngā mihi,