On a bustling Saturday NYC night, a sold-out Nightclub 101 welcomed Melbourne-based Radio Free Alice, and Detroit-based Zastava with open arms and an enthusiastic push-pit.

Zastava got the crowd riled up with a powerhouse set of muddy, post-punk fervor. The title track off their 2025 release and debut album Buildings was a highlight, with vocalist Mateja Matic leaning into a cadence resemblant of Squid's, Ollie Judge.

Radio Free Alice came in strong following a sold out show at Union Pool the night before, and a 2pm free performance and record signing at Rough Trade just a few hours earlier. Quite a few fans at the show had made the trek to midtown earlier in the day to get a peek at what to expect.

The band is currently finishing up the U.S. leg of their U.S. + Canada tour, celebrating the release of their Empty Words EP via Double Drummer–the label they’ve been with since their self-titled EP in 2023. This final stretch includes a few gigs opening up for Irish rock band, Inhaler, and a stop at Shaky Knees Fest in Atlanta–which will then be followed by a few one-off shows in the UK, and a set at Music Festival Australia in Meredith.

Radio Free Alice started their Nightclub set with the Empty Words title track, a song whose fuzzy breakdown reverberates and whose choppy chorus retorts “I could kill them with my empty words or I can save them all.”

The second song “Paris is Gone” summoned the pit, knocking the wind out of the crowd, but not so much so that they couldn’t still sing along to “Toyota Camry”—the most recent single off Empty Words, and a song that vocalist and guitarist, Noah Learmonth, said was inspired by the Mark Fischer quote “everyone is bored but nothing is boring.”

Learmonth’s stage presence, as he leans over the first row of the captivated crowd, leaves you no choice but to be drawn in. His voice is reminiscent of Morrissey’s drawl; and the melodic, jangly base of the band’s sound–especially on their earliest work–nods to the 80s while still giving it modern, indie flair. Their live set is where the more angular side of their sound really shines.

Between the extremely danceable “Johnny,” and the singalong favorites “Paris is Gone,” “2010,” and new addition “Toyota Camry,” a Radio Free Alice show is as cathartic as it is evoking of nostalgia.

If you’re in New York and you missed this one, you’re in luck: Radio Free Alice have announced another New York show on Saturday, September 27th at Alphaville in Brooklyn. See you there?

RADIO FREE ALICE SET LIST:

Empty Words
Paris is Gone
Toyota Camry
2010
On The Ground
Chinese Restaurant
Spain
Look What You’ve Done
I Gotta (Fall in Love)
Johnny
Waste of Space

Keep up with Zastava here, and Radio Free Alice here.

PHOTOS BY MADDIE BARKOCY

Madelyn Barkocy

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