14 September 2024 – The Triffid, Brisbane – words by Cody-James Henderson – pictures by Bec Harbour
What happens when you have a history of bad decisions, traumatic experiences you should never have gone through and the burning desire to write songs about… blowjobs? (Am I reading this right?)
Anyway, put all of that together and you get the fastest rising rock band in all of Australia Redhook! This cohesive almost family unit has turned the Australian scene on its head by fighting immensely to make this tough dream that is the music industry, a reality. Having released their debut album only last year, the band is gearing up for album number 2, Mutation set for release on November 22nd but not before setting out on their biggest tour to date.
The ‘Breaking Up With’ tour has been incredibly successful, selling out almost every stop across the entire country. Bring along with them Patient Sixty Seven and a femme tour de force combination of Eat Your Heart Out and The Beautiful Monument, a tour package as big as this is sure enough to bring a variety of fans out in a Saturday night in Brisbane. (well that and it’s the final show of the tour)
So how did this night go? As good as you expect, if not better.
Patient Sixty Seven: One member down as guitarist Rory deals with a family emergency wasn’t going to be enough to stop Perth Metalcore outfit Patient Sixty Seven from making tonights show.
Coming out with a demand to make this room make up for the vacant space stage left, the crowd didn’t hurry into making a mosh happen but the energy amongst dedicated punters in the front row. But after the first song rust wore off, we saw the seas part and bodies begin to move. This soon began an influx of coloured hair swaying back and forth and bodies swaying across the room in a constant state.
Patient 67 – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
Throwing out new songs from their latest EP What if it never gets Better? The band brought up a local friend to fill the void of Aaron Gillespie of Underoath for ‘No Place’ it really showed where Patient Sixty Seven is currently in the world. The ability to bring big names onto their material whilst still being a true local band at heart. An admiral feature to see in a scene that sees a lot of bands not make it out of their home state.
Patient Sixty Seven hold a high standard in audience participation, even sacrificing verses to encourage an ever increasing audience to unleash everything they had for the opening band. And without additional pressure, the crowd made sure to deliver. End of tour can be a trying time for bands trying to make a living in this industry, but this was surely a warm way to end it.
Eat Your Heart Out: So fun fact. When I started venturing into my local music scene in Newcastle after graduating high school, one of the very first bands I saw was a little band called Eat Your Heart Out at a little venue called Drone. That was 2016 and I hadn’t seen them since. I’ve since left Newcastle; but this feels like a bit of home has come to find me. Straight into ‘Carousel’ from the bands debut album that turned 5 this year (holy hell) the band still have that radiating energy that was always synonymous with them back in the local days. And speaking of local days, bringing out Amy Mcintosh (The Beautiful Monument/Vilify) to feature on ‘Conscience’ was the ultimate homesick moment for me. Seeing 2 of Newcastle’s finest tear it up on a stage interstate to a sold out venue, interstate after destroying the rest of Australia? Yeah that’s pretty damn cool.
Eat Your Heart Out – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
The unity the band has, allows no one to stand out above any other member but instead be viewed as a collective talent. The beautiful live mixing keeps it loud but crystal clear which is fantastic for anyone unfamiliar with Eat Your Heart Out. You’re getting a full show where you can explicitly tell what the bands style is. And boy do they do that style well.
As the band tears through a career spanning set, I sit here and wonder. Eat Your Heart Out came up around the same time bands like Yours Truly but sadly never hit the same heights (Zero disrespect to YT). But I don’t understand how band of this ability, this atmosphere, this incredible; hasn’t dominated the country and even the rest of the world. And I promise that’s not just my nostalgic heart yearning for success to come from my home town, anyone who has seen Eat Your Heart Out can testify to the fact their ability live lets them stand out amongst their peers.
The Beautiful Monument: Femme energy is strong here tonight. And if there is a band leading the fatale-ity across Australia, it’s without a doubt The Beautiful Monument. Another Newcastle staple (seriously, this city produces some of Australia’s best I swear) The Beautiful Monument are no strangers to large stages, having supported Evanescence in 2023 for their national arena tour.
Here to “Instil Gay panic into all of us” according to front woman Liz who is back in her hometown, it’s should be no surprise to anyone just as to why The Beautiful Monument deserve all the plaudits they’ve been given. A custom light show set to backing tracks turn this hanger into an arena, something all bands should be aiming for when hitting the stage. If you try to make the venue you’re in feel bigger than what it is, chances are you’ll get the results you’re looking for. If you’re unsure of how to do that, check out a The Beautiful Monument show.
The Beautiful Monument – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
“This one goes out to every motherfucking queen that’s here tonight” and that is a literal statement. The Beautiful Monument aren’t your run of the mill ‘heavy band’ and as much as they embrace the beauty and struggles of being a woman, they aren’t just here for you to call them a ‘female’ band. The incorporation of beautiful melodies are driven home by hard hitting drum lines, accompanying screams from bassist Amy Mcintosh that hit like a stab in the dark. In a brief second, you’re taken to heaviest moments into layers of atmospheric groove, leaving you floating in a space of soothing vocals. And if you think I’m just referring to their discography, I’m referring to the intensity and ability of their love performance. But if you need a place to start, the bands latest single ‘Duerme’ is a testament to these foundations.
For the queens they are. And in this kingdom that they’ve built, they stand atop the iron throne that women have fought for continuously. I dare you to try and take that from them. Because you can’t.
Redhook: I couldn’t pick a faster rising Australian band to be appreciating and admiring on a Saturday. Not as many bands can say they’re as hard working and dedicated to making their dream a reality the way Redhook have. And doing this all independently up until now? Even crazier.
An intro skit with a laptop? Only Redhook could pull this off. Remember how I said earlier that if you make the venue feel bigger than what it is you can achieve what you want? Barely a minute of time past and that’s exactly what Redhook have achieved. Even with pyro malfunctioning, it doesn’t throw the band off their game as Emmy serenades us with a hand puppet for ‘Pyromaniac’.
Redhook – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
Playing their biggest headline show in Brisbane to date, the band busts into ‘Off With Your Head’ with guitarist Craig Wilkinson taking the hype to another level, screaming to the crowd to get off their feet. Intimidation seems to work, as the entire floor gets moving before being encouraged to get low. Emmy’s intensity as a front person is something to be admired. To not miss a single beat whilst refusing to stand still is a skill set worth admiring. Fan favourite ’Imposter’ sees the band honour the guests that made this tour possible by being out Liz from TBM to feature, bringing a whole new twist on an already classic Redhook tune. Friendship is a hard thing to find in this industry, but what Redhook has with this tour package is something admirable.
Busting out their like a version cover of ‘Greedy’ by Tate McRae (with special guest, the Redhook Laptop from before playing the horns section) as a punter sexually danced on stage in an inflatable pumpkin costume. That is no joke, it actually happened. A lot of bizarre things can happen at a Redhook show, but damn is it entertaining.
Redhook – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
Craig busts out the saxophone, treating the crowd to ‘Careless Whisper’ and the wrestling theme of John Cena. Again, it doesn’t make sense, but man it’s fun. Emmy sets the crowd up for a wall of death, but instead of quote “fucking kill each other” it was time for a Wall of Hugs for ‘Breaking Up With’. It’s a long set up as the band deals with technical difficulties with the laptop. So an impromptu ‘We Will Rock You’ jam. (Ned if you’re reading this, the brief ‘Some Kind of Monster’ bass piece was amazing, thank you)
Soon enough, we were back on. And as confetti rains from the skies, the wall of hugs goes off without a hitch. Alex treats us to a drum solo with accompanying light show and backing tracks. I’ve never seen anything like it before in my times going to concerts. Again, a testament to Redhook turning a smaller venue into something even bigger.
Appropriately going from ‘Low Budget Horror’ into ‘Dead Walk’ and then ‘Jabberwocky’, the effort Redhook have put into a cohesive, story telling set list cannot be understated here. Back up by a stage owning performance from everyone, it shows the importance of taking time to rehearse more than just your music when it comes to putting on a show. I wish more bands got this.
“It’s really crazy that 2 years ago we were this little baby band and now we’re headlining and you’re all here so thank you”
Redhook – Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
Watching Redhook blow up in real time has been a spectacle to witness. This is a band that loves what they do whilst doing what they love. They play as if this is all they have going for them and it shows. This isn’t a situation being taken for granted.
The special guests continue into the back end of the set, with Tom from Patient Sixty Seven featuring on ‘Kamikaze’, Caitlin from Eat Your Heart Out on ‘Soju’ and Amy from The Beautiful Monument for ‘Cannibal’. The ultimate final night of your finale sees every member of the tour package (and the pumpkin) hit the stage to assist Redhook in ‘Bad Decisions’ with a mosh pit spanning the entirety of the venue, capped off with a pyro display that finally worked!
“We are a band called Redhook. We’re weird, and we fucking know it”
They were completely weird, they played super loud, the computer and pyro hardly worked. Still, there goes the best damned employee… I mean, concert this venue has ever seen.
