NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
You’ve probably never heard of them and, yes, their name is a bit of a tongue-twister but Australian rock band Teen Jesus and the Jean Twisters (I’ll refer them as Teen Jesus from here on) are starting to make waves abroad. Formed in 2015 when the original members met in high school, after releasing a few singles and primarily touring in Australia, they were asked to support the Foo Fighters on their Australian tour in 2023. That was their first break and, just this month, they came off a tour supporting Pearl Jam in the United States and are now wrapping up brief headlining stops in New York City, Toronto, and Los Angeles. With just one studio album under their belt (2023’s I Love You and a deluxe version 2024’s I Love You Too), their punkish rock is infectious and they seem poised to make more than just a splash. On Thursday, May 22nd, we were lucky enough to catch one of those headlining shows at the Drake Underground in Toronto.
The opener was Chiara Savasta, a singer/songwriter from Montreal. She reminded the crowd at the Drake several times that her name was Chiara. Often times, singer/songwriters opening a show would show up either solo or with a guitarist or keyboardist accompanying, not the case this evening as she brought a full band along. Did I mention that her name is Chiara? Her adorable stage personality, along with her music, gained her some new fans in the audience. Releasing two EPs in 2024, she seems pretty prolific in her songwriting and we’ll be keeping an eye out for future music and tours. Again. Her name is Chiara.
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As soon as Teen Jesus took the stage, there were already many calls of “I love you!” and “Happy belated birthday Jaida!”. They kicked off their set with 2019’s “I Like That You Like That”, one of their first singles, followed by “Treat Me Better”, probably my favorite track from I Love You. Their riot grrrl roots were obvious although they must be one of the happiest punk bands I’ve ever seen, almost a Go-Go’s vibe but not as poppy. The band’s enthusiasm, led by vocalist Anna Ryan, is infectious and had the whole crowd bopping. For an act that “no one’s heard of”, the packed venue seemed full of fans that were very familiar with the music and were singing along to everything! The lighting was primarily center stage which gave us great views of Ryan and, to a lesser degree, drummer Neve van Boxsel who always seemed to be gracing us with her dazzling smile while pounding away at her drumkit. The recent birthday girl, bassist Jaida Stephenson, spent most of the time in the shadows on stage left except when she briefly joined guitarist Scarlett McKahey to sing some background vocals. Ryan got on her knees several times in front of McKahey, a joke I’m obviously missing. Touring guitarist Meg Holland was even more elusive playing in the dark almost the whole show! Ryan was definitely the life of the party, engaging her bandmates and the audience alike. There was no way she was going to let anyone in the crowd get away with just standing there!
It’s hard to say which songs got the biggest reaction from the fans but I noticed “I Used to be Fun”, “Girl Sports” and “Ahhhh!”. With only one studio album, somehow the Canadian audience was treated to a seventeen song set!! Granted, one of them was “Cayenne Pepper”, a song about an ex (according to Van Boxsel) that lasted all of forty seconds! So funny! All in all, I find it hard to identify a crowd that had more fun at a concert than this one. The only downer was that all of the band’s merch had sold out by their NYC headlining show so we can only hope to see Teen Jesus cross the pond again soon! Fingers crossed!
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