8 December 2024 – RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane – words by Cody-James Henderson – pictures by Bec Harbour and Marty Schmidt
It’s December Time, do you know what that means? No, no, please turn the Christmas music off. I’m talking about GOOD THINGS! The 5th instalment of the annual touring festival has finally arrived bringing with it some pioneers of respective genres.
The top of the order sees Nu Metal Giants Korn return to Australia to celebrate 30 years. Sum 41 were set to bring their ‘Tour of the Setting Sum’ to Good Things but due to vocalist Deryck Whibley coming down with a case of pneumonia, the band were unable to perform. Stepping up were German Party Freaks Electric Callboy and the classic sounds of Violent Femmes headed up a very homegrown heavy line up.
Returning names like The Butterfly Effect, Sleeping With Sirens and Northlane add to a plethora of new faces including Bowling For Soup, Kerry King (Slayer), JET, Billy Corgan, From Ashes to New and Reliqa to name a few. As the sun rose across Brisbane this fine Sunday morning, the only certainty is best quoted by the thousands in attendance, “Fucking Hot.” So would the heat play a detracting part in Australia’s fragile festival scene, or would it add to Good Things ever growing popularity? Here’s a recap of some of the acts that were part of the biggest Good Things Festival yet.
Check out our photo gallery here
Artist onsite LIVE interviews here
AVIVA: Aviva gets the day underway over on stage 4. Equipped with nothing more than high energy stage presence and a drummer, this Sydney born artist has found a calling here at Good Things. A blend of Pop Punk moodiness and soothing pop synth melodies, Aviva was captivating and had the audience following her with every move she made.
With little time to breathe between each song, AVIVA made the most of the opening 30 minutes of Good Things Brisbane, and had it not have been for the scorching weather outside, I would say the crowd was more than warmed up for the occasion.
L-R AVIVA – Martin Schmidt – LOATHE – Bec Harbour – Good Things 2024 Brisbane
LOATHE: Pre-Faced by an ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ (and a rather bizarre country music themed playlist) it was time for the main stages to be opened. In the blistering sun, LOATHE stepped up to brave the sunshine. No bother though, what better way to start the day than with a Wall of Death?
The English Metalcore outfit has become adopted by Australian audiences as of late, proven by steady crowd building into its thousands. Vocalist ‘Kadeem France’ has more energy than anyone I’ve ever seen this early into a festival, especially after 3 continual days of shows but it’s a sight to behold on a day like today. Engaging, invigorating, masterful; a terrific way to open the main stages to mayhem, LOATHE are not an act to associate with their name, but instead LOVE.
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT: In a trying age where Australian festivals are either thriving or dying, sometimes the best place to look fill out line ups are in our own backyard. A testament to this can be the always magnificent The Butterfly Effect. After triumphantly tracking the country in early 2024 with the Begins Here anniversary tour, the band cap off the year by hitting Good Things stages once again.
With a setlist decided on earlier in the week via a fan voting system, the band covered all the bases with hits like ‘One Second of Insanity’ much to a roaring ovation whilst also touching on the new sounds of ‘Nil By Mouth’ from IV. Vocalist Clint Boge thrives on stage in a tracksuit outfit that has me sweating even more than I already am, but that could also be the energy radiating from the Brisbane locals. Nevertheless, you know when you see The Butterfly Effect that you’re going to set where the boundaries of 100% are pushed to the limit, and that’s EXACTLY what TBE brought to Stage 3.
L-R The Butterfly Effect & Alpha Wolf – Martin Schmidt – Good Things 2024 Brisbane
| Alpha Wolf Alpha Wolf were up on Stage Four and opened probably the craziest mosh set I saw all day, with Haunter. This is the song they debuted at Cvltfest earlier in the year, and seeing it go from a song nobody knew, to THE song the pit opens for, is so amazing to see. The set was heavy on songs from their 2024 release, Half Living Things, with the only non HLT songs being ‘Sub-Zero’, and set closer ‘Akumdama’. ‘Pretty Boy’ is such a sick song to see live, as were the singles ‘Bring Back the Noise’, and ‘Sucks 2 Suck’. This is my sixth time seeing Alpha Wolf now, and getting some new surpises, like ‘A Terrible Day for Rain’ and the albums title track, ‘Half Living Things’ in the set proved popular under the big tent. The heat stopped no one though, as the movement never stopped. Alpha Wolf are on a different level now. One of the best live acts in the country. – Lucas Bell |
NORTHLANE: Good Things alumni Northlane were a part of the very first festival back in 2018. The band has reached new heights after 2 highly successful albums and 2024’s Mirrors Edge EP. The band kickstarted their return to the main stages back tackling ‘Carbonized’ and ‘4D’ fully immersed in LED screens and equipped with guitarist Josh Smith at the helm of backing vocals.
This addition of live vocals took Northlane to a new level of performance, garnering hype as Smith yells “WORLDEATER” as the band breaks into a medley of classic Northlane tunes sending bodies into absolute mayhem in the peak of Brisbanes heat. Souls found themselves surfing together over the barricades for ‘Afterimage’ led by a man in an inflatable pikachu costume. The multiple calls of “keep them up” and “support their necks” from the crowd truly showed how much we look for each other out there.
Northlane – Bec Harbour – Good Things 2024 Brisbane
Touching across 15 years of material in a prime afternoon spot, Northlane proved why they deserve to be on display to the biggest crowds Australia has to offer. As their music continues to evolve, so do their levels of performance to leave a lasting impression. 15 times is a lot of times to see one band, but I can safely say; this was the best I’ve seen the band.
| Frank Turner I had to run back for more interviews about 15 minutes into Frank Turners set, but I couldn’t miss the guy. This is my second time seeing him live, and he was just as incredible as the first time. I had a couple of friends stick around after Alpha Wolf too, and they all enjoyed what they saw. Franks crowd involvement and energy was only outshone by Electric Callboy later in the day, and despite the smaller crowd for Turner, he maximised the space and everyone was having a blast. I did hear after I left, that Jaret from Bowling for Soup came out and did a song with him, which I’m crazy jealous about not seeing. They’ve been hanging out all festival, so it makes sense the last day together they did something special.– Lucas Bell |
L-R Frank Turner – Martin Schmidt – Jet – Bec Harbour – Good Things 2024 Brisbane
JET: My first (and to this point only) JET concert came 15 years ago supporting Green Day in 2009. The performance left me so amazed and I couldn’t wait to see them again. Little did I know that would be one of the bands last proper tours for 15 years, but thankfully; Good Things came knocking.
With a catalogue of hits to choose from, it was going to be hard to appease to everyone but in a 45 minute space, JET crammed as many as they could in. From ‘She’s a Genius’ to ‘Rollover DJ’ and even slowing it down for ‘Look What You’ve Done’ you would almost forget that this is a band that’s only ever released 3 albums. The ovation for ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ was a incredible as you think it would be, but there was equal cheers for Living End frontman Chris Cheney who joined the band for the bands latest song ‘Hurry Hurry’.
For a band that’s has been on and off away from the world for over a decade, the energy and proficiency that JET bought to the Good Things stages cannot be understated. The bar for Aus-Rock was set extremely high, and they have shown us they can still hit those heights.
| Violent Femmes After much whinging on the interwebs about how Violent Femmes being another Devo pick, they led some of the hugest sing-alongs on the day. Kicking off with ‘Blister in the Sun’ (a very apt song on the surface of things for the day but you know it’s not about actual sunlight right?) from their debut self-titled album. As it is the 40th anniversary of this album we were treated to a run through of the whole album (which doesn’t take long, they are acoustic punks after all). The hugest response from the crowd was for ‘Add it Up’ which the singing almost drowned out the band. The remainder of the set was peppered with singles such as ‘Gone Daddy Gone’ and ‘American Music’. I wish they had done more than one side show as this is their best setting (and you can’t please everyone at a festival). – Bec Harbour |
L-R Violent Femmes – Bec Harbour – Good Things 2024 Brisbane
RELIQA: It’s one thing to see a band you find very early on into their career reach heights like this. It’s even more incredible when you can call them friends. Reliqa are a band I’ve always believed were destined for big things, which leads us to Good Things appropriately. At a time where the contingency of Brisbane was preparing for Electric Callboy/Sleeping With Sirens or even Kerry King, Reliqa had a mission; to make those who missed out regret it.
Off the back of their debut studio album Secrets of the Future the band brings an energy and structured tightness that exceeds many bands their senior. Vocalist Monique times every step and movement to the accompanying music as if it’s a part of their soul. Take that as no exaggeration as the commitment to perform something that’s not been done before is at the forefront of their creativity. And as the set continues, the crowd continues to grow steadily, turning this echoing amphitheatre into a proper festival setting. And it couldn’t happen to a better bunch of people.
A vast majority of people here tonight are seeing Reliqa for the first time. But judging by the reactions we saw tonight, this will not be their last.
| Electric Callboy As the Femmes finished up, there was a bit of a delay in Callboy starting up. The crowd started getting a bit restless, before the familiar sound of a train station kicked in, and we all were onboard the Tekkno Train. Tekkno Train is such a banger to start out, and I’m glad they’ve pivoted to it as an opener. MC Thunder II was up next, and the crowd started dancing like ninjas. Singers Nico Sallach and Kevin Ratajczak spoke briefly about the cancellation of Sum 41, and taking on their spot, before introducing Frank Zummo from Sum 41, who was replacing Callboy’s drummer David-Karl Friedrich, after his own health scare. The fact Zummo figured out the entire Callboy set, in one day, is truly a testament to just how incredible of a musician he is. The boys blitz back through songs like Spaceman (Ratajczak on the rapping section was sick), Hate/Love, and their cover of Everytime We Touch, which went gangbusters. After Castrop X Spandau, which is a song in German and we wouldn’t know the words to” according to Ratajczak, the boys came back on stage in full costume for Hypa Hypa. It’s so fun seeing them still embracing the insane of this video. Another costume change, as the boys came back in normal clothes, but wearing the disco ball helmets for their BABYMETAL collab RATATATA. Unfortuntely, BABYMETAL didn’t come out. But having their parts as backing tracks made sense. After another acknowledgement that Sum 41 could not make the show, they did reveal they did learn some of one song as they launched into the opening verse of Still Waiting. Even though Sum 41 couldn’t make it, the spirt of the band was in Brisbane with us all. Lots of love to Deryck Whibley, who fingers crossed is better before the final Canadian tour. The set closed out with MC Thunder, full costumes for Pump It, and Mindreader, before the familiar beat of We Got the Moves kicked in. The boys returned in full We Got the Moves costumes again, as the crowd döp-dödödö-döp, döp-dödödö-döp’d the night away. The band did their traditional band photo with the crowd, as Ratajczak promised a bigger and better return next time, with a new stage production and new material for the next trek back. – Lucas Bell |
L-R Electric Callboy – Bec Harbour – Good Things 2024 Brisbane
KORN: I would argue that there hasn’t a Good Things headliner as in demand as Korn has been for the last few years. With the exception of a one off headline slot for the inaugural Download Australia festival in 2018, the band hasn’t been down under since Soundwave 2014 so to say an appearance from the Nu Metal icons was anticipated would be an understatement.
Perfectly suited ‘Here to Stay’ opened the set and within seconds, a decades worth of anticipation exploded across the Showgrounds. Fans packed both stages to witness the celebration of 30 years, and just like 30 years ago the sound was so loud that I’m surprised the speakers could hold on. The setlist saw the likes of ‘Got The Life’ ‘A.D.I.D.A.S’ sprinkled with some slightly deeper cuts like ‘Hey Daddy’ and ‘Good God’ really making up for the time lost over the last few years.
L-R Korn – Bec Harbour – Good Things 2024 Brisbane
‘Blind’ hit the middle of the set, and as Ray Luizer controlled the crowd with the simplistic but effective ride cymbal intro, Jonathan Davis took a moment to apologise for how long it has been since the band has been back to the country. The time lost was an experience to gain and celebrate 3 decades of greatness for one final show for 2024. Taking us through the influential self titled album with ‘Ball Tongue’ ‘Clown’ and ‘Shoots & Ladders’ seeing the band tap into its darkest days was equally fascinating but you could still the wear of the depressing topics hitting the band.
The energy however for a band that hasn’t stopped for decades was unmatched. Between the constant headbanging from guitarist tandem Head and Munky, JD refusing to stand still and giving it everything he could and Luizer playing the heaviest hitting drum set I’ve ever heard, there is no denying that the band is still at the very top of their game.
L-R Korn – Bec Harbour – Good Things 2024 Brisbane
A classic encore of ‘Falling away From Me’ ‘Oildale’ preceded the iconic ‘Freak On a Leash’ wrapping up the bands Australian Tour, the 30 year anniversary tour and of course, Good Things Festival overall. Another successful weekend capped off by one of the most deserving and iconic bands when it comes to all things heavy.
Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait until the bands 40th anniversary to see them again.
