4 December 2022 – RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane – words – Lucas Bell – pictures – Bec Harbour
When the announcement that Good Things would be returning to Australia for the first time in three years, I was absolutely ecstatic as a fan. Then the line-up dropped. And what a line up. From names in the initial drop, like Bring Me the Horizon, Deftones, NOFX, TISM, Gojira, Electric Callboy and The Amity Affliction, to even names dropped weeks before like Paledusk, Ocean Grove, and You Am I, this was shaping up to be a true sign that live music was back in a big way for Australia. Less than 48 hours removed, and I’m looking back on this festival in ways it can be improved. I don’t normally like being negative in my articles, and but we need to look at festivals for the whole experience, not just the live music. I’m going to start on the ugly things, before going into the bad things, then end on the Good Things (of which there are plenty). So here first, is the ugly.
Probably the single biggest complaint I’ve both seen, and heard, from everyone, were the lines. Working out the distance, the line to get into the Brisbane Showgrounds was over 2km, doubling over on itself. People that got to the venue after 11am, were still in line when Millencolin were on stage. For reference, they took to the stage at 1:30pm. Having one single point of entry to the Showgrounds for a sold-out music festival is something that should just not happen. Next year, if the setup remains the same, there should be a second entry point near the showgrounds. Maybe under the tent where stage 3 and 4 was in 2019. It’s just as big as the main entry point. Having paying customers wait in the Australian sun at the start of summer over 2 hours should just not happen. I was also hearing reports of people getting major sunburn or dehydration from just waiting in line. There was no shade, or access to water for most of those people, so having to wait to get into the venue before seeking any kind of respite is not a good look.
Another big thing I want to point out is the food vendors. My partner and I went to buy food before Electric Callboy because we wanted to get as close as we could to see them. We waited about 25 or so minutes for our nuggs and fries, but I had to do my job, so I left her to get food so I could catch the band for this review. After the set, I went back to my partner, for her to tell me she threw the food away because the nuggets weren’t cooked, and the chips were “paler than she is”, which is insane because she is practically porcelain. We then lined up for hot dogs, which after 45 minutes in line, and about 10 people from the front of the line, sold out, which meant she had to then get in another line for the kebabs, while I watched the last half of Lacuna Coil, which I couldn’t enjoy, because I was so hungry, only for that stand to sell out of chips for the HSP’s. The food situation as a whole was a disaster. No stall should be selling out of food before 3pm, or half cooking food to push people out of the queue faster. My recommendation for next year – more food stalls.
Now, for the Bad Things. These are things I think aren’t as bad, but still kind of sucked. And I’ve seen a lot of this criticism online, and heard it in person, was the audio on the main stages. Didn’t matter where we were on the day. From the inner circle, to the stands, the audio just straight up sucked. It was hard to hear sometimes what songs were playing, and arguably worse when someone tried to talk.
During NOFX’s set, it was so hard to hear what Fat Mike was saying to the crowd. And there were long sections of that set where Mike talked. But what is probably the biggest complaint I heard about the day, was the audio for Deftones, versus the audio for Bring Me the Horizon. Deftones mix was bad. Really freaking bad. It was just a total mess. Which sucks, because I became a fan of Deftones after seeing them live in 2018. As someone who wasn’t a fan for the longest time, seeing them live changed my entire perspective on the band. Seeing what happened at Good Things to Deftones, was truly sad. Because the best thing about music festivals is being turned on to bands you might normally not listen to. Someone might have been able to have that same experience I had in 2018. And if that was someone’s first experience, they likely came out of it thinking Deftones sucked. Which they don’t. Another small thing to add, was that the audio for Thornhill wasn’t great either. I saw them open for Butterfly Effect a few months ago, and they blew me away there. Unfortunately, they sounded almost unlistenable at the festival, which is a damn shame, because they’re so good.
The thing I want to save for last in this section, has a lining of good in it. This is the perfect point to get what negative things I have to say, and pivot into what made the day awesome. And that, is Electric Callboy. To say this was probably the most anticipated band on the line up, is an understatement. Making small talk with random people at shows since the line-up was announced back in June, I would ask for people to give me their top three most anticipated bands, and it was always a bit of an eclectic mix. But almost everyone I asked, all said Electric Callboy. I knew they would be the big band of the festival, outside the headliners. So, to my surprise, when the timetables dropped a few weeks ago, to see Electric Callboy not on the main stage was a shock. Then I thought “okay, well they’ll be under the big tent where Falling in Reverse played in 2019. Hopefully that’s big enough”. Falling in Reverse kind of infamously packed out the tent to the point that people were spilling out and not able to fit. The tent was massive though, and I don’t think anyone expected for them to pull a crowd as large as they did.
But for Callboy, this was avoidable. I was right in the middle of the crowd for about half the set, and to say that there were moments that genuinely scared me, is an understatement. I’ve seen Slayer and Slipknot live, multiple times, and those pits paled in comparison to some of the things I saw during Electric Callboy. I thought there was at least 3 major moments where they could have been potential crowd crushes, if it was not for quick thinking patrons that put walls up to prevent anyone getting hurt. The space was simply too small for a band as popular as Electric Callboy. Electric Callboy were probably one of the best live acts I’ve ever seen at a festival. They had the crowd eating out of their hands. And the set was hit after hit. From opening on ‘Pump It’, to the insane energy given for ‘Hypa Hypa’, and the big close of ‘We’ve Got the Moves’, the crowd were absolutely loving it. They even dressed in the garbs of the music videos for each of those songs. And the sing-alongs from the crowd were absolutely huge.
Another band I was genuinely surprised about, was TISM. I only remember them as a fever dream from my childhood. Seeing them live was initially something I didn’t want to do, because they also clashed with Paledusk. But after only watching them for 20 minutes, all the regret of missing Paledusk went away, as I watched what I genuinely believe is one of the most unhinged live performances I’ve ever seen. From the dildo looking balloons tied to the backs of the members, and the back-up dancers being absolute weirdos, to even the stage set up consisting of tradies putting up the back drop throughout the set, and one of the tradies sitting on a toilet pretending to take a shit while reading the paper, this was one of the most chaotically brilliant things I’ve ever seen. I did crack up laughing though when I realized that the tradies messed up the spelling of the band’s name, as they put up a letter at a time for the band over the course of an hour, to show TISN, instead of TISM. Then, to have the band tear down the sign and punt the lettering into the crowd and watch people literally crowd surf the letters was a sight to behold.
Other great moments were seeing Gojira play live. I’d never seen them live before, and it was a real treat. One of my friends, who isn’t really into technical death metal, told me as we drove home that she thought they were fantastic. Hearing tracks like Stranded and L’enfant sauvage live was amazing. And the crowd for these guys was bigger than I anticipated it would be too. Just glad they were on the biggest stage possible. I caught the end of The Amity Affliction before Gojira too. I’ve really fallen off with The Amity Affliction in recent years, but the end of their set was pretty good. The crowd was loud and loving it. Seeing the hometown boys play the main stage, when only 10+ years ago I was watching them grind side stages at Soundwave was a true full circle moment.
Kisschasy were also really great. The crowd was super into it. Hearing United Paper People front to back was a cool experience, and hearing how nuts everyone went over ‘Black Dress’ was beautiful too see, showing Kisschasy that in 2023, there is still a market for them to perform, after no noise from their camp for a number of years. (in an update to this, Kisschasy have announced a 2023 headline reunion tour for May 2023). Another band doing an album in full was NOFX with Punk in Drublic. While punk music is always fun to watch unfold live, knowing I’ve lived a life seeing NOFX before they close shop forever was a cool moment. It’s just a shame that the audio issues on the main stage prevented this from being something truly wonderful. Also, the tiny NOFX backdrop was freaking hilarious.
I’ve already been through the Deftones stuff, but I want to state from the outset that this SHOULD have been one of the best sets of the day. Opening with ‘Genesis’, before busting in classics like ‘Diamond Eyes’, ‘Be Quiet and Drive’, ‘My Own Summer’, ‘Digital Bath’, ‘Swerve City’, ‘Rocket Skates’, ‘Change’, and ‘Bloody Cape’, this was a set that was dangerously beautiful. But being marred with numerous technical issues, including the aforementioned audio issues, as well as the video screens on the stage glitching out at some points, to the point of being totally unwatchable, I feel genuinely bad for the band. It’s a true shame, because this should have been the show that made new fans. Especially with the set list we were treated to. Hell, we were even treated to Max Freaking Cavalera joining the band on stage for the final song, ‘Headup’. And not even Max could save things.
But as soon as Deftones left the stage, and Bring Me the Horizon took to the stage, all those issues throughout the day, seemed to all have but vanished, as Bring Me the Horizon played to near perfect audio, outside some small parts of talking to the crowd where it was a little hard to hear Oli. I’ve notoriously been a big hater of Bring Me the Horizon in the past. While being a kid of the deathcore scene, Bring Me the Horizon were a band I just never “got”. Everything up until Sempiternal for me, is garbage. But around Sempiternal and That’s the Spirit, when they moved away from the deathcore sound, is when I started to appreciate the genius that is Bring Me the Horizon. Being able to see the songs that made me a fan, live, was awesome. The opening of ‘Can You Feel My Heart’ and ‘Happy Song’ absolutely exploded the crowd, before launching into an absolute assault of bangers, including ‘Teardrops’, ‘MANTRA’, ‘Parasite Eve’, and what was probably the biggest sing along of the day, ‘Shadow Moses’.
After blasting through high energy tunes ‘Kingslayer’ and ‘DiE4u’, we were treated to an acoustic performance of ‘Follow You’, which was beautifully sung alone by Brisbane punters. Oli then said they were wrapping up and wanted to perform ‘Drown’ for Brisbane, which drew a MASSIVE ovation, and that brought Bring Me the Horizon’s set to a close. Or so we thought. The live show AI booted back up one more time, to let us know we needed to ‘Obey’, and Bring Me the Horizon returned to the stage, with video of YUNGBLUD on the back screen singing along with the band, which I thought was a nice touch. After thanking everyone for coming out, we were treated to the real show closer, ‘Throne’. Which absolutely popped off live.
Overall, the best thing about the day was the bands. With a line up as tasty as what was announced, it was hard for the music to suck. But I hope 12 months from now, when Good Things 2023 rolls around, management listens to the punter’s experience grievances on social media. Because this festival could truly be the successor to Soundwave and Big Day Out. I believe that 100%.
