first day back, mouseatouille, and desire path @ smith st hotel

First Day Back (USA)
Mouseatouille
desire path

On a Wednesday night in Collingwood, Californian second-wave emo revival five-piece First Day Back joined Naarm’s Mouseatouille and desire path to play a sold-out show at Smith St Hotel, marking the third performance of their Australian tour. It was an eventful and exciting night, which did not fall short of everyone’s collectively high expectations.

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My friends and I left for the city following a morning band practice, our party slowly growing larger as we travelled to Southern Cross, then Footscray, then eventually to Smith Street in Collingwood. It was a warm and humid afternoon, but the setting sun saw our spirits rise.

Reaching the venue just before 7:30pm, we were greeted with a long queue also waiting to be admitted inside. We made conversation while shuffling forward gradually towards the doors, discussing many topics (notably Asher’s penchant for promiscuity) and greeting people we knew as they came past to join the line.

I got let into the venue just in time to catch the final minutes of desire path’s opening set. This was my second time watching them play, having seen them once before at Spit last year. Though I only caught the end of their performance, their fluid dynamic transitions and natural, emotive blend of slowcore, shoegaze, and noise rock carried moments of surprising intensity and left me wanting (desiring!! lol) more.

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After desire path’s set ended and I got a chance to navigate Smith St Hotel’s very disorienting bathrooms, I watched from the balcony as Mouseatouille filled the stage with their impressive nine-member lineup. Though I had not seen them play in person before, I was very excited to hear them perform. Their sound blended gentle indie-folk and abrasive slacker rock with a great variety of articulation and texture, married together with the inclusion of orchestral brass and string instrumentation.

Mouseatouille’s act was intimate and often vulnerably tender, with warm keys and vocal harmonies evoking memories of childhood and inviting reflection. I found one of their gentlest, sweetest-sounding songs, ‘My DJ Set’, to be a particularly moving standout from their setlist, with its sparse sound and storytelling lyrics building towards a very abrupt cut-off ending. This band was incredible in every single way, the type of music that makes you want to create so much more.

As soon as they left the stage, Zi and I resolutely made our way downstairs to secure a spot somewhere near the front of the crowd to see First Day Back. We waited for a while, putting up with strange drips coming from the balcony above as the mass of people grew bigger and bigger. It was a very tight fit, but we managed to make space for the band’s five members as they pushed through onto the stage. In no time, they were playing, beginning with their album-opening ‘Sure, Ok’. The band room was densely packed, and as the audience pushed and jumped along to the music, people were going in every direction trying to stay upright.

Their front-man, Maggie, noticed this chaotic activity on the floor, and with safety in mind requested (several times throughout the night) that the crowd take “one”, “two”, even “five big steps back”. The audience’s energy meant that I didn’t last the whole time at the very front, moving further and further back to avoid being pulled in each direction as often.

Alongside many beloved songs off their 2025 debut ‘Forward’, the band played several new pieces which Maggie announced would feature on their upcoming album! These songs sounded GREAT, very fun, upbeat, and rhythmically interesting - and carried the same nostalgic second-wave warmth which First Day Back captured in their first record. Hearing these new tunes, as well as other old and familiar ones (my favourite being ‘Us’!), was very surreal. I love First Day Back’s sound, and Maggie’s vocal delivery, as well as sporadic violin and harmonica performances, was amazing to see in front of me.

Partway through the band’s set, the rest of the band informed the crowd that it was actually Maggie’s birthday, and invited everyone to join them in singing/playing ‘Happy Birthday’ to wish her well. Very cute!

The final song that they performed was ‘Twelve Mile Train Tracks’, a fitting conclusion to an incredible performance. The tempo and texture gradually reduced in a slow ‘goodbye’ to the crowd, and a fond sense of tangible, bittersweet enjoyment filled the room. The set’s end was met with unanimous cries for an encore, but these were sadly shut down by Maggie announcing that they “didn’t have any more songs left to play”.

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Although the show itself finished quite early, just before 10:30pm, the journey back to Geelong took us well into the early hours of October. It was a bizarre trip, which included an encounter with Jordan Daniels (Gil Cerrone’s drummer), a missed train at Town Hall Station, a very late V/Line out of Footscray, and sighting a group of deer next to a road in Armstrong Creek.

Thank you soooo so much to Zi for giving me a place to sleep for the night and driving me around, and the hospitality of her family :) After many hours without food, the peanut butter, cinnamon, bread crust, and 100s & 1000s monstrosity I created hit BEAUTIFULLY.

This was SUCH an amazing show. Thankyouuu to all of these amazing bands for performing this evening, and to everyone who came along and created such a nice atmosphere! First Day Back, please come here again soon :)

Also thankyou to the ever-reliable @cohen.salnitro, who recorded this video montage of First Day Back’s set from the evening!

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