17 May 2023 – Mo’s Desert Clubhouse, Gold Coast – review by Lucas Bell – pictures by Justin Gittins
Marking their first Australian tour since Soundwave Festival 2015 (yeah, it’s been THAT long), North Carolina metallers He Is Legend have once again graced our shores. Not only were they out touring songs from their 2022 critically acclaimed record Endless Hallway, but this would be the first Australian tour we’d hear songs from my favourite HIL record, 2019’s White Bat. I only really got into these guys a few weeks ago before even knowing about this tour, so when I found out they were hitting Australia, I had to get myself in the door to check them out.
First up were Gold Coast locals, The Final Fall. Blending a mix of punk rock and progressive-ish metal, these guys belted up a storm of body moving and head bopping songs. They had the crowd moving and all three members at some point during the set got on the mic to talk to the crowd and even crack some jokes. This would be the tone setter I didn’t expect for the show, because all three bands were super funny throughout a show of solid metal.
After a quick changeover, and with the venue a little more filled out, Lucas Stone from Hammers took to the stage, to tear up an awesome solo to start the show. The band quickly then joined him on stage, and then the show kicked into overdrive. Again, another band with a lot of banter and jokes. But as good as the comedy was, the live set was tight. This was my first listen of these guys, but I definitely felt a hybrid mix of huge vocals like Tyler Connolly from Theory of a Deadman in the vocals crossed with the instrumentation of Rage Against the Machine. There was funk and bounce, but there was also mean faced heavy freaking metal. Hammers have a genre blend that feels both all over the place (in the best way), while also using those genres to make their own style, that when you hear it, makes you think “why has no one done this before”.
Another quick changeover, and it’s time for the main event. Walking straight onto stage, with no messing around, they dropped straight into ‘White Bat’. The crowd was going nuts. There was even a little sing along to the “They call me White Bat. I kind of like that” line from where I was standing near the bar. Without even giving us time to breathe, they then blasted through songs like ‘Burn All Your Rock Records’ and ‘The Seduction’. ‘The Seduction’ I actually popped off to very hard, because it is the first song that I actually heard of these guys a few weeks ago. I remember hearing it, and thinking “Oh my god, are these guys going to be my replacement for one of my all-time favourite bands, Every Time I Die, as they broke up in 2022. Seeing them live, and seeing the energy that exudes from He Is Legend, yeah. These guys are definitely going to be a nice replacement for my loss of ETID.
The middle of the set was cool. As he gaped his mouth open and touched his teeth while the bass lead intro started, lead vocalist Schuylar Croom signalled we were about to get my other favourite song, ‘Everyone I Know Has Fangs’. The chorus to this live, is way better than I anticipated. I couldn’t help myself screaming the lyrics myself. I probably annoyed some people around me with how loud I was, but I honestly didn’t care. The groove to this song, plus the way the chorus flows, is so infectious. We also got ‘Eye Teeth’ from White Bat, and then Schuylar has someone in the front row give us the opening line to the chorus of ‘Boogiewoman’, before they played it.
The “main set” was closed off with ‘The Prowler’ from their latest album, Endless Hallway, and ‘That’s Nasty’. After a brief chat about how they don’t do walk offs, and that they’re just going to kick straight into the encore, we got a song that I think caught everyone off guard, which was a cover of ‘Zero’ by The Smashing Pumpkins. I’m not a big fan of Smashing Pumpkins, but the crowd were into it, and I really enjoyed the cover. The show closed off with the customary playing of ‘I Am Hollywood’, as the crowd went nuts in appreciation for both playing the Gold Coast, which is a scene that feels starved for major metal talent in favour of the capital cities but also making the Gold Coast the first stop on what should be an incredible Australian tour.
