26 March 2024 – The Triffid, Brisbane – words and pictures by Maxine Thomas
Guns N’ Roses influenced metalcore band Asking Alexandria blessed Brisbane with a bonus sideshow after their weekend of Knotfest festival performances. Boasting over 1.4 billion combined streams, it’s no wonder fans flocked to The Triffid to hear the Dubai originated band. Hyping up the crowd to begin the evening were Melbourne, metal quartet The Gloom In The Corner and the relentless, genre-evolving Wage War.
Labeling themselves as a “Non-Christian” band, The Gloom In The Corner bring together a mix of harmonious vocals and elements of alternative metal. ‘Gloom’ are well known for their concept song writing, basing majority of their recent releases around their own fictional character Sherlock Bones, similar to that of Black Veil Brides. It’s always such an infatuation for the fans to have to keep them captivated in something more than just the music.
Vocalist Mikey Arthur made a hell of an impression waking up the crowd from their Tuesday work-day blues showcasing his impeccable vocal range. You never knew what was coming next with Arthur, whether it was guttural screams or modulated, mellifluous melodies. Both guitarist Jesse Abdurazak and bassist Paul Musolino kept the high energy going throughout the set with their backup vocals and headbanging along to the music.
The Gloom in the Corner – Triffid – photos by Maxine Thomas
Originally known as the band Empires, Wage War are a patented hybrid of hardcore, mosh pit-stirring technicality and boisterous, stupefying melodies. Wage War one hundred percent took the title for heaviest band of the evening whilst still following the recurring theme of playing some of their heaviest material and then bringing it back to a more chiller, ‘time to catch your breath,’ sort of vibe. The Ocala, Florida troupe played an array of hits old and new such as ‘Alive’ from their 2018 album Blueprints and their newest release Magnetic which hit streaming services on March 21st. Trust me when I say this song is a MUST listen to. Perfectly describing the difficulty of leaving someone you once loved so dearly in the past and to fight the extreme urges of running back to them. You can really hear the emotion in Briton Bond’s voice every time he sings and how much care goes into the band’s music and passion into the performance.
Wage War – Triffid – photos by Maxine Thomas
Lately targeting the darker themes of life in their music, Asking Alexandria showcases yet again what is truly the lifeblood of this English rock band with their artist-audience connection. A beautiful display of the appreciation fans have towards this band as an audience member at barrier designed a banner stating “Without your music, I wouldn’t be celebrating my b’day today! Thank You.” These small actions speak so much volume towards how much music helps people today and Asking Alexandria are one of the many bands worldwide having huge impacts on people’s daily lives.
Asking Alexandria – Triffid – photos by Maxine Thomas
The energy between the 4-piece ensemble is fun, lively and enables fans to be distracted from the outside world and fully immersed in the experience. Singer Danny Worsnop gave fans no choice but to get the mosh pit going and diverted any peer pressured shoeys towards guitarist Cameron Liddel “or he’s out of the band.” The setlist for the show was for sure a roller coaster with the band opening with classic ‘Closure,’ introducing their newer hits with ‘Dark Void’ before slowing the mood down with an acoustic reprise of ‘Someone, Somewhere’ and finishing the evening with ‘Alone in A Room.’ To say all bases of their discography was covered in a singular setlist would be an understatement.
Asking Alexandria – Triffid – photos by Maxine Thomas
In summary, Asking Alexandria absolutely killed it at The Triffid with a stacked line up of talented individuals. The three bands really brought together an array of their musical hits, connecting with an array of fans who had come for old, new, loud and chiller vibes. If you weren’t there on Tuesday night, then you missed out. Asking Alexandria make their way to the US to continue their All My Friends Tour alongside Memphis May Fire, The Word Alive and Nerv. One things is for sure, Australia cannot wait for the metalcore band to return.
