Gig Review: Earth Tongue @ San Fran, Wellington – 21/02/2026

Thank the dark spirits, Earth Tongue have returned to Aotearoa! As part of their New Zealand Dungeon Vision tour, which has included two Christchurch shows (one of which sold out), the duo are ending their string of dates with a momentous concert at Whanganui-a-Tara’s hallowed ground – San Fran, a venue no stranger to Earth Tongue. The psychedelic fuzz duo had planned out a brilliant night for Wellington fans complete with a choir and a giant bat backdrop based on their new album’s artwork by Lily Paris West. Friend of the band Abe Hollingsworth designed the giant bat backdrop which showed off some evil, glowing red eyes and smoke emanating from its mouth. It certainly helped establish the aesthetic of B-Movies, 70’s splatter films, dark fantasy and sci-fi that the duo, Gussie Larkin (Mermaidens) and Ezra Simons (Soft Bait), are fans of. Their music videos, directed by the band themselves, are testament to these interests, especially Orbit of A Witch, Dungeon Vision and Ritual (all from their latest album).

The Berlin-based band are now in their tenth year, but things have really begun accelerating for Earth Tongue recently with their third album, Dungeon Vision, available in limited edition gatefold vinyl and selling well across Australasian and European markets. The large crowd was anticipating great things when some decidedly fanciful, medieval folk began to play over the PA before their performance. The audience swelled to the front of the stage to enjoy the spectacle and the show began with Silver Eye, an upbeat song the band has been using as an opener for a while now. The song has some great breaks where the guitar drops out to allow some quick drum fills or complete silence for dramatic pauses. The lines “Dissolve all the darkness you create / The icy grip upon the gate / Swinging open you’re awake” showcases the band’s ability to pummel with riffs as well as sweet harmonies that rely on both members singing. The band then began Demon Cam, another fast song of their latest offering. Similarly, this song’s moment of demonstrating contrast is the “Never enter the castle grounds after dark / It’s demon cam!”, which is sung in a robotic like delivery like earlier releases.

The band were quick to remind the audience that 1. they were glad to be playing Wellington once again, and 2. They are, and will always be, a Wellington band. They then moved onto older songs such as Sit Next To Satan from 2024’s Great Haunting, a crowd favourite for sure proven by the amount of audience members singing along to the iconic chorus. Then they played Astonishing Comet from their first album, 2019’s Floating Being, which has remained as a classic part of their set.

The light show demonstrated how well the operator knew the songs, using colours reminiscent of the album artwork. For establishing darker, moodier parts of the songs, blues and greens dimly lit the barren stage, then for more intense parts, the crowd was blasted with strong beams and the stage was hit with intense reds. The giant bat backdrop, smoke pouring out of the mouth, certainly helped the spirit of the songs.

The band then played three Dungeon Vision tracks in quick succession, (Harvester, 1000 Curses, and Flashlight) before introducing a special song. “This is the first song we ever wrote together”, beamed Gussie proudly, before the memorable drum fill heralded Portable Shrine, an enduring ripper of a song from Floating Being and their EP of the same name.

The next announcement came when a whole choir, donned in hooded capes, were welcomed onto the stage to help the band perform the latest single Ritual, which is also the album closer. The parts for the choir were notated by Chelsea Prastiti from SKILAA, an RnB band from Auckland, and it really added to the song and stage show.

The band finished with Dungeon Vision itself, 2017’s single release Pentagram On The Moon and Bodies Dissolve Tonight!. The audience were thanked and the band quickly left the stage to allow the Flying Nun DJs to take over. I was a little surprised about the lack of Orbit of A Witch which has a great music video, (complete with armour, medieval weaponry and even Ezra dressed in chainmail) but it must be hard to choose a setlist with so many great tracks.

Opener Dateline, the vehicle for bandleader Katie Everingham to express her love of UK rock and indie pop, played a powerful set which prepared the crowd for the pageantry to come. There are a few similarities between the two bands in terms of singing style, but while Earth Tongue’s heaviness originates from the incredible guitar/bass sound of Gussie’s set up, Dateline’s intensity relies on the varied vocals of Everingham who incorporates screams, yelps and gently hushed deliveries to create tension and conclusion in her music.

Earth Tongue continue their tour into Australia, supporting Ty Segall who also produced and mixed Dungeon Vision.