GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL – Brisbane, Australia 4th December 2022
It’s been a very long time for Brisbane heavy music fans since a festival with a huge international line-up came to our shores. Good Things Festival in Brisbane was on the brink of selling out with a huge array of international and national metal, hardcore, and punk hitters.
Arriving at the RNA showgrounds and the line to enter the festival was down near the Royal Brisbane Hospital, blocks away from the entrance itself. Punters dressed in a sea of black shirts and fishnets could be seen for miles, eagerly waiting to get inside. As the line quickly started to move, I was soon running through the entrance and bolting for the main stage just in time to see Ukrainian progressive heavyweights Jinjer.
Jinjer have nailed seamless transitions between a blend of heavy metal to progressive metal influenced by reggae. Transitioning between groovy riffs and breakdowns the crowd and the band members did not stop dancing. Vocalist Tatiana Shmailyuk has a raw powerful energy and a diverse vocal range. If you weren’t looking at the stage, you would not believe there are two vocalists. Tatiana fluctuates between soft and sweet vocals, encompassing Jekyll and Hyde she proceeds to blow you away with her heavy gutturals.
The bassist and guitarist dance with her moving along to the melodic heavy sounds emitting from the showground. Tatiana whips her long ponytail around sporting a long black lace two piece whilst the other members dressed more casual in band shirts and jeans. ‘Pisces’ begins slow and melodic with Tatiana’s beautiful angelic singing; she proceeds to jump off the drum stage and kicks into a heavy vocal explosion. The entire band move in sync and Tatiana sensually moves interrupting the groove with a high-pitched scream, showing off her astounding vocal range. The crowd are roaring from excitement and the band are dancing and having the best time of their lives on stage. The fun can’t last forever as their set comes to an end after only 40 minutes.
Running over to the smaller stage for The Gloom In The Corner it was overflowing with people pushing out into the walkways. Expecting to be greeted by heavy deathcore breakdowns, vocalist Mikey Arthur is singing a slower song but they are only warming up. Mikey is dressed in a bulletproof vest and sunglasses like he walked off a battlefield. The other members in white shirts and the bassist standing out in a grey shirt. They erupt into a deathcore breakdown with accompanying heavy growls as the overflowing crowd goes wild. This heavy hitting Melbourne band have heavy breakdowns and alternate between screaming and clean singing. Mikey screams “Fuck Yeah” at the end of the song with a huge grin on his face. The energy on stage is mirrored by the crowd who jump and scream at the band for more.
Bringing in war metal band Sabaton was a stroke of genius as they brought the European festival vibe to Brisbane. Vocalist Joakim Broden also looking like he walked off the battlefield, perhaps he ran into Mikey from Gloom in the Corner backstage. However, Joakim’s battle vest is so iconic along with his sunnies, it is rare for him not to be wearing it on stage. Sabaton’s powerful and catchy songs gelled together with fire blasting off the stage packs the mightiest of punches. As ‘Stormtroopers’ emitted through the speakers, the entire crowd was clapping along with the melodic guitar riffs and power metal vocals. Sabaton may have been a unique addition, but it was very needed to bring a variety of genres into the line-up and Sabaton fought and won this battle of most epic band of the day.
The antics of party band Electric Callboy are legendary and having never seen them live, I was confused to see them smartly dressed in black shirts. The confusion did not last long as Electric Callboy had the most costume changes of any band playing that day. They would disappear offstage and come back out in hoodies and blonde mullet wigs for catchy banger “Hypa Hypa”. The whole crowd knew every word and adorned in crazy costumes too, many fans would have come specifically for this band. Their genre of party dance bangers and screaming vocals are a huge hit with the crowd, as the energy of this band is off the charts.
To prove how diverse this line up really is, next to see was gothic operatic metal band Lacuna Coil. Vocalist Cristina Scabbia has immensely powerful opera vocals sung beautifully over heavy chugging riffs. Assisted by fast solos and growling by accompanying vocalist Andrea Ferro. Lacuna Coil’s fast solos and melodic rhythms with the diverse vocalists smashes you in your face. Then the tone drops as sweet melodies and guitars flow through the speakers, you catch your breath as the heavy guitar overpowers and engulfs you once more. For a melodic band they bring a lot of power and the bouncing contrast between soft and heavy maintains the powerful sound. They wear matching black and white jumpsuits and white face paints aesthetically this Italian band looks fantastic. Ending with “Nothing Stands in Our Way” this band have so much groove and power the crowd go insane for it.
The biggest metal band on the line up, stage destroyers Gojira have the 4pm set. The French metallers who are normally used to headlining some of the biggest European metal festivals. Gojira’s mosh pit was brutal anarchy with circle pits breaking out in multiple areas of the crowd. The opening riff “Backbone” caused the pit to explode into a sea of sweaty people pushing each other into one another. One fan managed to make it on the stage before security ran after him swiftly taking him down. Guitarist Christian Andreu shreds his guitar while cheekily making faces at the audience. Drummer Mario Duplantier dripping in sweat holds up a sign for a screaming crowd that reads “I can’t hear you”. Then an explosion of confetti covered the crowd as they finished with new song “Amazonia”. Many punters had come to this festival only for Gojra and the chaos they had witnessed was imminent as every crowd member and the band were red and sweaty from enjoying them so much. This band can do no wrong and I recommend everyone to see them at least once.
I knew cult alternative rock band TISM were up next and not because I had looked at the timetable, only because of the giant silver dildo balloons and silver costumes covering the main stage. My suspicions were confirmed as I could hear “You’re a wanker” repeating from the speakers. This was their first tour in 19 years so I was expecting a lot of pent up stage weirdness antics to follow and I was not disappointed. The silver masked members were chest bumping each other like on an episode of the Teletubbies. “I drive a truck” started with a spoken word introduction which erupted into more weirdness. Accompanied by synchronised dance routines it resembled a weird children’s show from the 90’s with added profanity. The dance choreography and costumes were the most eccentric shenanigans of the day and unmissable if you like the weird.
Running to the other stage to see an over packed crowd for Brazilian metallers Soulfly. The heavy and hard hitting band put on an excellent live show and Max Cavelera proves why they can’t be stopped. Dino Cazares on guitar was the icing on the cake and they even pulled out a Fear Factory song Replica which made the crowd go wild.
The crowd had no ambitions to slow down after being in the heat all day. During ‘Refuse, Resist’ the pit was sweaty and testosterone fueled and a fist fight broke out and some were left bleeding. These thrash death metallers fueled the violence and I am shocked the crowd didn’t take out the front barrier. Soulfly know how to crush a stage and being so experienced they don’t have plans to slow down in their future.
Following Soulfly were Australian metalcore band Polaris who were prepared to bring the energy which they delivered. Polaris contrast between very soft and groovy breakdowns, while not a huge contrasting difference, it made no matter to the fans who were screaming every word of ‘Masochist’ almost overpowering vocalist Jamie Hails. Polaris excellently balance their light and dark mix of soft and heavy, and their power never stops from when they get on stage to when they get off.
Australian favourites Amity Affliction brought their catchy hooks and emotional choruses, as they had fans belting out every single word. The crowd never stopped dancing to their rhythmic guitars, and then went wild for the breakdowns. While not the heaviest band on the line up, they are definitely very popular amongst devoted fans and had one of the bigger crowds of the day. Coming from Queensland and playing to their home state, could be why the crowd was so big, and they gave fans exactly what they came for. Combining pop with post hardcore, makes them catchy and loved and a huge hitter for the emo crowd.
Melodic movers Deftones had finally hit the stage, and many had been waiting years for this moment. However due to their late time slot many fans had resorted to sitting in the grandstands. Their time slot never stopped the hardcore fans who showed Deftones how excited they were. It is a long day but this band is melodically slower, but the hard fans still had all the energy for them. Crowd favourite ‘Shove It’ obliterated fans in the pit but those in the grandstand found it hard to hear.Visually Deftones don’t have massive amounts of energy on stage to stand out, but their melodic rhythms are very unique proving why they have a strong fan base. Many fans of all the different genres came together to watch them as they inhibit characteristics of many different genres, they are a universal crowd pleaser.
Headlining band Bring Me The Horizon were the last band to finish off this great day of heavy music. Unfortunately, a lot of the crowd had left but those left were the most eager and had been waiting all day to see hardcore hitters do their thing on stage. The energy from this band is insane and their catchy songs proved why they were the headliners. Vocalist Oli Sykes orchestrating the crowd during “Thrones” and the crowd screaming back every word. He orders the crowd to sit down and then exploding with a jet of confetti the crowd erupts ending the night on a massive high.
Good Things third round was the most successful yet and the diverse line-up made it a very unique festival appealing to many different types of people. Plenty of bars, although limited list of beverages but you wouldn’t go thirsty. There were issues with very long lines for food, I assume many went home hungry as all the lines for food were 2 hours long. The merchandise lines were also very long so additional merchandise and food vendors is needed for next year to make this event more successful.
Most bands on the line-up were hardcore so if you were a hardcore fan you are in luck as many choices and clashes awaited you. However, if you were more into the metal side of the festival your choices for heavy bands diminished after 6pm as all the metal bands were during the day. There were lots of different varieties of bands and lots of unique genres to choose from and those with large music tastes would be in musical heaven.
Good Things could branch into adding death metal and black metal bands for an ever-wider variety of genres and for fans into heavier music. Good Things is continuously growing its success and it could have the potential to be the biggest alternative festival in Australian history.
Reviewer: Nikki Christina
Photographer: Davey Rintala @fastlanephoto
