HEAVENSGATE: BRISBANE CONCERT REVIEW

Oct 28

6 min read

Walking up to The Brightside in Brisbane on October 22nd, despite the rainy weather, we were greeted by a long line of eager concert go-ers

filling the street, to open Heavensgate's 'The Angel Hymns Tour'. I have to add a caveat that I had a family emergency and had to leave before Heavensgate performed, so I will be reporting on what performances I was able to witness. Heavensgate is touring with heavy hitters Mélancolia and Irken Armada, with local supports Courbé, Elison, slowburn, Kin, Pincer+ and Shattered.

First off for our cross genre roller coaster of the evening was the debut performance of Sunshine Coast Alt-Rock lband, Courbé. Courbé hit the stage with the energy of seasoned professionals, clear sound and well practised band connectivity, that had me genuinely surprised when they

announced this set was their first. With sprinklings of introductions between tracks the band kept the energy moving for the crowd, as they swayed to the music and cheered along. "This next one, doesn't really have a name, so we have been calling it hot dad. It's an unreleased one." "This next song, we released a music video for, you can check it out on YouTube. So basically it is about taking owns for your own mental health, and if you can't fucking do that, then do it for the people you love. This song is called Roses and it goes out to my beautiful Wife Kat." "Honestly it means the fucking world to us that you would wait in the rain to come and see us early. This is our first show and it is just an incredible feeling.

We appreciate every single one of you that came out. Thank you so much. This next song will be our next single. We wrote it for a movie. It's called All I have." "This next song is the first song we ever released and it goes out to the boys at Heavensgate. It's called Sucker." "Oh yeah Brissy, you look fucking beautiful out there." The guitarist used their quadrant of the stage, stepping up to the ever growing crowd where possible. Vocalist Mickey has an effortlessly clean vocal sound with beautiful vibrato and theatrical vocal slides. To the back left corner Coubré's drummer anchored the performance with casual efficiency and flare. Courbé left the stage to ruckus applause, handing the space over to Sydney's Irken Armada.

One of my favourite things in the live performance universe is to see how band members alter their personalities from the merch stand and/or DMs

to the stage for the performance, and I think I have found my most drastic change so far, in the form of Irken Armada Vocalist Blake. Sorry Blake, but I am going to do you semi-dirty here, he switches from a funny, gentle and quietly spoken person to an absolute behemoth as he started the set with a commanding "Get up the fucking front... Move your fucking shit, this is an easy one," inciting the first circle pit of the night. "Let's get it fucking moving. It's a Thursday Night. Let's

get it fucking ridiculous for a Thursday." The band filled the room with feral energy as their music washed over the crowd. "Brisbane we are Irken Armada from Sydney. It is fucking crazy out there. It's so wet. You guys could be at home but you're here and that's sick. We really appreciate it... I just want to say if you are with anyone, or you are here by yourself, please make sure you get home safe, make sure you see your friend in an Uber, make sure you send the text, just do whatever. Be responsible." Blake jumping around the stage, standing on boxes and the stages edge to get closer to the crowd, the guitarist power-stancing, headbanging and moving around to the rhythm as Kristian's hands moved like a wizard "Brisbane, I know it's a school night" said Mitch, "But let's get a

little movement here. I saw some before, but I need ten times more. Open this shit up." "This is the nail in the coffin, if you want to cut sick, this is the time to do it." Throughout the set Irken performed Hospital Road, A sign to kill, Nail in the coffin and Love Soaked Wound. "Circle pit. I want to see a fucking tornado to blow the roof off brightside. Keep fucking moving. Spin this room. Spin this fucking room. Faster. Faster." The band drew out the moshers for the night,

encouraging circle pits, walls of death, fight pits, push pits, aggressive head banging and two-stepping from the floor crowd members. "This is a break down. Fucking do it." With an urge to the crowd to stay safe in the wild weather, and a thank you to the venue, staff and bands, Irken finished on House of No Tomorrow, the crowd giving it one last go at a circle pit and a wall of death.

My final set for the night, and next up, Mélancolia from Melbourne. Starting with a Fire Starter by The Prodigy club mix and a blue room, the

band entered the stage to ruckus cheers, before immediately jumping straight into Litha. "Brisbane open it up... Two-step. Two-Step." While the band is a member short for the tour, this did allow more space for Vocalist Alex to prowl around the stage. Leading the crowd into a clap-a-long and the instruction of "You cunts at the back, move forward now," Mélancolia moved into Picking Scabs; Josh throwing his lengthy hair around as the beat dropped. "Brisbane, open it. Wake the fuck up. Where you at? Move," encouraging the crowd to open a push pit. "Brisbane how the fuck are we doing? We are Mélancolia from Melbourne, Australia and we will be your Goths for this evening. Make some noise Brisbane. We released an Album last year called random.access.misery and this song is taken from

that. This is a song about a girl in a box. This is Spit." Being met with cheers, the crowd opened the pit again, the remainder of the crowd swaying to the music. "Brisbane straight edge, open the pit up and start fucking each other up," the crowd answering the call with a wall of death. From where I stood on the raised standing zone, I had the perfect view of the crowd and stage to see Drummer Mason, flying through the set with expert hands and fast feet. "Brisbane, do you want some more? That was piss, you gotta do better. I said do you want some fucking more? We've going to take you

back, all the way to the beginning. I have one question for you all, do you believe in God? This song is called Gods Tongue. If you know the words I need you right fucking here." With the room turning more aggressive, the pit moved to a push pit, the crowd seeming to head bang as one, Alex dropping low into a menacing squat as the tone lowered. "Make a whole and fill it with fucking bodies." "Follow Me, Rise, Rise, Rise." The energy lifting once more, Mélancolia moved into Random.

Acess.Misery, the crowd moving as one the unsettling tones pulsating from the stage. "You mean the world to us. Thank you for being here tonight. Right now I need to hear your fucking voices. On my signal..." "Rise! Rise! Rise!" the crowd chanted. "Brisbane, we've got two songs left for you. This next song goes out to Coubré, Irken Armada and our boys in Heavensgate. Make some fucking noise." The dulcet tones of HissThroughRottenTeeth had Alex proclaiming "Stop looking at me and fucking move. Spin That Shit." "We've got one song left. You all mean the world to us. Thank you for being here tonight. This song goes out to our boy Toby who's not with us tonight. ALL_IS_RUST." The crowd going wild, "Brisbane, I need you to open a pit. If someone falls, you pick them back up. If you want to Mosh,

get the fuck in there. We'll see you really soon." The guitarists spun around one final time to face the crowd as the pit crashed into one another, the tension building as the song reached it's peak; Alex throwing his whole body into the song, while Josh windmilled his hair. "Brisbane, this is your last chance. I don't want to see you stop moving for the last thirty seconds. We'll see you soon" Alex finished before dropping into a filthy pig squeal. "Love us. Hate us. You will fucking remember us." The set finished on a return to the club mix as the band exited the stage.