After a run of poor health during which she thought her days of live performance were done, Jaguar Jonze erased any doubts Saturday with a homecoming headline spot at Brisbane Festival.
Jonze (real name Deena Lynch) performed an hour-long set at University of Queensland, her longest stint on stage since she was diagnosed earlier this year with Functional Neurological Disorder, a neurological condition which affected the singer and songwriter’s ability to use her limbs.
The UQ show was a “huge source of anxiety,” she admitted, a public test of her state of health. “I thought I would never perform again,” Jonze told the audience at the university’s new lakeside amphitheatre.
Opening with “Who Died and Made You King,” the first single from her debut 2022 album Bunny Mode, Jonze hit the stage with the aid of a cane. She immediately ditched it, and didn’t reach for it again until midway through the set when she confessed her “gig fitness” was lacking.
Performing requires “a certain set of muscles and mine have been laying dormant for a long time,” she explained before leaping into “Rabbit Hole.”
“Today was so important for me,” she told the crowd. “I’ve been so anxious about it all. I truly do love performing and doing music.”
Music was sidelined as Jonze found herself at the forefront of the #MeToo movement, and “dealing with my own stuff in the criminal court system,” she explained. “That has just consumed my entire life and is probably what led to my the disorders and diseases that I’m fighting with now. I’m at a really weird, strange point in my life of not knowing what’s best, what’s the right kind of justice.”
In recent years, Jonze has agitated for change in Australia’s music industry, calling for an end to sexual harm and abuses of power, as well as for more recognition and equality for female performers.
Ultimately, she continued, “I just wanted to find clarity. That is always what music and art does for me.”
Jonze’s 14-song set included a cover of “Heart-Shaped Box,” revisiting the Nirvana classic that she covered with Hermitude for triple j’s Like A Version five years ago.
When she reached the finishing line late Saturday afternoon, the artist was overcome with joy. “I did it. Oh my god I did it,” she said with a laugh. “I won the Australian Open.”
Jonze signed with Terry McBride’s Nettwerk Music Group ahead of the release of Bunny Mode, which enjoyed strong international press support.
The multiple award-winning Taiwanese-Australian performer joined forces last year with Japanese poet and rapper Haru Nemuri on “Angry Angry.”
