3 March 2025 – The Princess Theatre, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
Within Temptation have very few “firsts” left in their 30 year career. But something they have never done, until last weekend, was play Australia. After playing two shows in Melbourne and Brisbane as part of Knotfest, the band notched another first, with their debut headline show in Australia at the Princess Theatre, and we were incredibly lucky to be part of history for this legendary act.
Opening the show was alt rock Brissy crew, Bad Neighbour. The band was an odd choice for the opener, and even the band mentioned it during the set, which was hilarious. But these guys were so good, that the crowd didn’t care how different they were from the headliner. It was 30 minutes of alternative, bordering on metal adjacent, goodness. Lead singer Cooper Riley was hilarious throughout the set, cracking jokes and having fun with the idea they didn’t belong. The band might have felt like that, but everyone inside the Princess loved them. After they finished, I spoke to a few people who said they’re definitely listening to them in the car on the way home. Let’s hope we can see more of these guys soon. Great band live.
Bad Neighbour – Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
The lights dimmed dead on time, as a video package started up, before ‘We Go to War’ opened the set. ‘Bleed Out’ started up with a massive clap during the intro, and Sharon shouted out the openers, Bad Neighbour, before kicking into ‘Ritual’. We heard a little bit at Knotfest yesterday, but Sharon was actually quite sick on stage, and at times struggled to talk. But the moment it called for it, her vocals ascended into heights that I could only dream of. If she can sing this well, as sick as she sounded, I cannot imagine what Sharon’s vocals at 100% would even sound like.
She told the audience to not pray for her voice, as ‘Don’t Pray for Me’ played, and we also got ‘Wireless’ and ‘The Reckoning’, again with another clapping intro from the audience. There was so much crowd participation during this set. It was so awesome. And there were times where people on the balcony were up dancing, singing, and cheering like crazy. I knew Within Temptation have love in Australia. I didn’t realise how much though.
Within Temptation – Princess Theatre – pictures by Bec Harbour
The bands 2011 record ‘The Unforgiving’ is my favourite Within Temptation record, so finally getting to hear ‘Shot in the Dark’ for the first time was awesome. Sharon struggled a little on the vocals during this song, but given how much of a powerhouse she’d been to this point, it was forgiven, pun intended. Sharon gave her first really big speech of the night about the next song, and how it was written initially as a song against the status quo of Europe pivoting towards the right wing, and that she loves how the song has resonated with those inside the LGBTQIA space, as a message to protect loved ones, which drew another massive response from the crowd, as ‘Stand My Ground’ played. The song ended to a massive ovation, and Sharon spoke about the next song ‘Supernova’ being written for her father, who passed away.
Within Temptation – Princess Theatre – pictures by Bec Harbour
The lights dipped, and immediately, from the opening note of the backing track, I knew what was about to happen. They played my all time favourite track, ‘What Have You Done’. The song was accompanied with a video of Keith Caputo from Life of Agony, who featured on the original song, with footage of him from the music video, singing with Sharon live. Sharon gave a massive “we love you Brisbane” as ‘Faster’ kicked off, and the set closed off with ‘Angels’ (Sharon hit every crazy high note) and ‘Paradise (What About Us)’, again, supported with a video of Tarja Turunen doing co-vocals via backing track.
Within Temptation – Princess Theatre – pictures by Bec Harbour
The encore began with one of Winston Churchill’s famous speeches, before ‘Our Solemn Hour’, and Sharon spoke about her love for Olivia Newton John, as ‘All I Need’ kicked in to another massive ovation. ‘Mother Earth’ closed out the encore, with the crowd singing along to all the massive high notes, as the night wrapped on Within Temptations first ever headline show in Australia. Fingers crossed they don’t leave it 30 more years before returning.
