Mackenzy Mackay: Debut AUS Tour Review

Yorkshire born and London based singer Mackenzy Mackay recently wrapped up his first ever Australian/New Zealand headline tour. Mackenzy has been in the music scene since 2021 and went from making music and playing shows around London to a very dedicated small following, to garnering international success and playing sold out shows across the world seemingly overnight. He has gained over one million followers across all social media platforms and has over 129 million streams on Spotify as of writing this.

Following the success of his EU/UK tour in June, he released his latest EP titled ‘Life, Love & Upsets’, which delves into his inner thoughts and artistry, exploring themes of emotional angst and wondering where his place is in the world through his relatable and genuine lyricism. This EP is a heartfelt, genuine, and beautiful collection of songs that showcases Mackenzy’s humble beginnings and inner dialogue of his recent success. Later that year in August, Mackenzy announced dates in October 2024 for his debut Australian tour. I was lucky enough to photograph and cover the second show of the tour on October 3rd in Brisbane thanks to Mackenzy’s manager and close friend, Scott Tindale.

Mackenzy Mackay at The Brightside

Photographed by Jazmin Wilkins

Mackenzy’s Brisbane show was opened by ISHAN, a 21 year old singer-songwriter based in Melbourne, Australia. ISHAN has a rich heritage being French born and Australian raised with a mixture of Indian, Swiss and Spanish roots which has heavily influenced the way he writes and composes his music. ISHAN started out as a busker on the streets of Melbourne before the release of his his debut EP titled ‘The Cycle of Codependence’ in 2023. With the release he gained attention in the music industry, but it wasn’t until after the release of his single ‘My Mouth (la la la) that he blew up online with the song gaining over four million plays as of writing this. He performed a half an hour set starting at 8:30pm and completely charmed the audience with his catchy pop tunes and

buttery smooth vocals.

ISHAN performing at The Brightside

Photographed by Jazmin Wilkins

ISHAN gave us an acoustic performance which was kept simple with just a loop station and his guitar. He was very down to earth and performed a mix of unreleased music from his upcoming album ‘Who the hell is Klara?’ as well as his latest releases ‘Olivia Rodrigo’, which he described as his most ‘tongue in cheek’ song he’s ever written, and ‘Her Boyfriend’s House’. ISHAN has to be one of my favourite opening acts I’ve seen, his music and vocal style reminds me a lot of Shawn Mendes but with his own indie-pop twist which I love. My favourite songs of his set were an unreleased song titled ‘Numbers’ and the last song he played ‘Her Boyfriend’s House’ which he alluded to being a true story, but wouldn’t confirm or deny unless asked after the performance which I unfortunately didn’t get around to doing. It’s safe to say that ISHAN’s set was laid back and his music set the vibe for Mackenzy’s upcoming set at 9:30.

When Mackenzy finally approached the stage, the crowd went wild with excitement. He performed his many hit songs to a sold-out show, sporting a huge smile for the entire show and thanked the audience profusely for the support after each song. Mackenzy performed and told the story that inspired his latest single ‘Postcards’, which was definitely a crowd favourite from the night. He explained that while he was on tour, he would pick up a postcard from each city he visited and would write stories about his time on the road and send them back to his

partner so that they could have physical memories of that time of their life, which I thought was extremely sweet and thoughtful. The crowd concurred with my thoughts as everyone simultaneously let out a very loud ‘awww’. During the same song, Mackenzy split the crowd into two and had each side sing seperate parts of the song, before all coming together to sing the chorus. It was a very sweet moment between the artist and the fans, and while other artists have done similar things in getting the audience to sing specific parts of their songs, Mackenzy did this in such a way that made for a very close and intimate between himself and the crowd.

Mackenzy’s set included a mix of instrumental backing tracks that he sang along to, and some tracks where he played his guitar and sang acoustic versions of a few of his songs. He is an extremely humble and at times almost seemed shy, being very soft spoke and thankful for the audience as well as his tight-knit team that come with him on his tours. One of his best songs that night had to be ‘Honeycomb’. It’s one of my favourite songs by Mackenzy, but it was somehow even better live as I believe it showed his voice and talent off nicely. Now, onto the rating!

Venue: ★★★★★

Mackenzy’s show was performed at The Brightside Indoors, which I think was the perfect choice of venue considering his performance style and it being his first time in Brisbane. The venue is small, but can fit quite a number of people in the confined space. Usually I struggle to shoot at this venue, but as the show was extremely laid back and the crowd wasn’t moving around a lot (dancing, jumping, etc), it made it a lot easier for me to find the ideal spot where I ended up taking the majority of my photos. The venue suited the environment well and allowed for an amazing and intimate performance. I stayed up in the back left corner and stood on the seating which gave me great angles and a perfect view of the show without disrupting the experience for other concerts goers. I cannot daily the venue choice here and it was perfect for the crowd and the music that was performed.

Performance: ★★★★

As I’ve mentioned multiple times in this review, Mackenzy’s performance was very relaxed, up close, and intimate. He incorporated a lot of crowd work, encouraging audience members to sing along to the songs, and as I stated above he brought the audience together to perform ‘Postcards’. Mackenzy also took the time to talk to the crowd and explain the story behind each of the songs he performed, which was really lovely and helped to hear the songs he was performing from his point of view rather than being left to interpretation. The songs he performed also transitioned from studio to live tracks seamlessly with no noticeable differences, likely due to the instrumental tracks being played, but his voice sounds just as amazing in person as the recordings do. I did love how there were no live effects on his voice as it really shines through and shows that his talent does not rely on vocal effects and auto tune. He shifted through the vocals extremely well, and I was most impressed with how seamlessly he went from low to high notes, notably in his song ‘The One That You Call’. The only reason I’m giving this four stars instead of five is because I’m someone who definitely prefers shows of higher energy, but that’s just my personal opinion and is absolutely nothing against the way Mackenzy performed, and it was really nice to attend a slower paced and more intimate live show as it’s not something I’ve seen all that often as it’s not a type of show I would generally attend. Mackenzy’s performance was absolutely lovely to attend and his down to earth, humble attitude really added to the appeal.

Overall Experience: ★★★★★

As I’ve mentioned multiple times in this review, Mackenzy’s performance was very relaxed, up close, and intimate. He incorporated a lot of crowd work, encouraging audience members to sing along to the songs, and as I stated above he brought the audience together to perform ‘Postcards’. Mackenzy also took the time to talk to the crowd and explain the story behind each of the songs he performed, which was really lovely and helped to hear the songs he was performing from his point of view rather than being left to interpretation. The only reason I’m giving this four stars instead of five is because I’m someone who definitely prefers shows of higher energy, but that’s just my personal opinion and is absolutely nothing against the way Mackenzy performed, and it was really nice to attend a slower paced and more intimate live show as it’s not something I’ve seen all that often as it’s not a type of show I would generally attend. Mackenzy’s performance was absolutely lovely to attend and his down to earth, humble attitude really added to the appeal as you could tell he was so happy to be there in that moment. If you’re a person who likes live music but aren’t a fan of super high energy concerts, or you’re a couple who wants a night out being serenaded with love songs, I would highly recommend his show. It’s laid back and keeps you in the moment. I would happily photograph and attend Mackenzy’s show again!

Mackenzy Mackay performing live.

Photographed by Jazmin Wilkins

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