Tonight is a party. Following two failed attempts to represent Australia at Eurovision – with 2020’s Runaway and 2022’s Dreamer – Voyager were selected in February with the song Promise. It means, singer Danny Estrin explains at one point, that should they make it to the final, their bombastic progressive metal will be broadcast to 180 million people. But first, the quintet have 250 people to attend to, and they’re not about to short-change them. A tech-flecked Hyperventilating is followed by a hypersoaring Colours as they run through a set that spans the last 16 years of their career, peppered with many heartfelt expressions of gratitude and silly Aussie jokes about barbecues. When it comes to Promise, the whole room bounces throughout – achallenge for many who are also trying to capture the moment on their phones. For the finale, resplendent in a vintage Type O Negative t-shirt and a houndstooth-patterned ‘skort’, Danny coaches us on the lyrics to Lost (it’s a difficult ‘I’m Lost’), before the band launch into their riotous, meme-y, synth-and-keytar-fuelled cover of Darude’s 2000 chart hit, Sandstorm. Voyager are fun enough on a normal day, but riding high on achievement and possibility, they’re unstoppable.
ELEANOR GOODMAN