31 August 2025 – Harvey Road Tavern, Gladstone – words and pictures by Brad Fry
Whispers on the wind found sanctuary in the ears—and collective soul—of Gladstone’s heavy music faithful, as Northlane brought their All Over Australia tour to town and,trailing behind them, was a genre-bending storm of gargantuan scale. As if that wasn’t enough, support from Headwreck, Mirrors, and Ocean Grove ensured the night would be nothing short of a showcase in blistering musical prowess.
Perched on Queensland’s central coast, Gladstone is a city of contrasts—where rust-streaked industry meets calm waterfronts, and the hum of machinery coexists with flickers of cultural fire. As the sun made its slow descent behind the horizon, altocumulus clouds lit up in brilliant colour, casting a surreal glow over the city. The venue (The Harvey Road Tavern) began to stir, a quiet energy building—something electric in the air, waiting to ignite.
Headwreck kicked things off with a set that was anything but introductory. The Brisbane-based outfit launched into their volatile version of chaos with infectious energy. Vocals tore through each track with throat-scraping intensity—jagged, emotionally charged, and unrelenting. Guitar work veered between exquisite precision and pummeling groove, while the rhythm section’s tight blast beats and textures created a disorienting, feral soundscape. It was short, sharp, and violently effective—a sonic gut-punch that left the room elated.
Headwreck – Harvey Road Tavern – photos Brad Fry
Mirrors were next and brought with them a shift in atmosphere. The Gippsland group traded chaos for creeping dread, enveloping the crowd in emotional light and shade, a more deliberate heaviness. Vocals flickered between ethereal cries and full-throated fury. The guitar sculpted dense, dissonant walls of sound that occasionally cracked open into moments of haunting melody, while the bass and drumming was precise, technical, and emotionally resonant. This was a performance carefully engineered to sear from the inside out. When they wrapped, the air felt heavier, as though the crowd had been pulled into a shared emotional undertow.
Mirrors – Harvey Road Tavern – photos Brad Fry
Ocean Grove hit like a bolt of lightning. Bursting onto the stage with wild-eyed energy, they blurred lines between nu-metal, punk and industrial groove forging a sound that was as chaotic as it was calculated. From the first note, they charged through the set with unfiltered charisma, sending the crowd into a frenzy and turning the pit into a spinning, jumping mass of limbs. Tracks like ‘Sunny’, ‘Last Dance’ and ‘Junkies’ were tailor-made for the stage—loud, loose and alive with purpose (but let’s face it, that is every Ocean Grove song).
Ocean Grove – Harvey Road Tavern – photos Brad Fry
The band’s swaggering rhythm section anchored the bedlam, locking into filthy, chugging riffs and breakneck beats that hit like body blows. Their ever-unpredictable and enthusiastic front man, Dale Tanner, covered every inch of the stage (a few times over), commanding the chaos with theatrical flair. Between songs, there was little downtime—just enough to catch a breath before the next sonic gut-punch landed. The set was a riot—pure kinetic release wrapped in distortion and chaos.
With the crowd primed and the air thick with haze, body heat and anticipation, Northlane arrived. The lights dimmed and the first notes hit like a thunderclap. They wasted no time unleashing their signature brand of polyrhythmic, emotionally-charged metal. Vocals soared and screamed in equal measure, effortlessly shifting between gutteral growls and clean melodies that hung in the air like a storm cloud. The guitar work sliced through the mix with angular riffs and ambient textures, giving the set both teeth and atmosphere.
Northlane – Harvey Road Tavern – photos Brad Fry
Tight rhythms rumbled through the venue—dynamic, and layered with finesse. The drumming in particular displayed a precision that elevated the chaos into something almost architectural—dense, technical, but never sterile. The brutal grooves were matched by shimmering layers of ambience giving Northlane’s set an otherworldly, almost cinematic depth.
The guitars carved out sharp, syncopated riffs that hit with both aggression and elegance, while frontman Marcus Bridge moved effortlessly between guttural screams and soaring clean vocals, commanding the stage with a quiet intensity that pulled the crowd in deeper with every word. Songs like ‘Clockwork’ and ‘Talking Heads’ thundered through the room with seismic force.
The interplay between digital and analog, chaos and control, was seamless. Northlane have become masters of contrast, capable of unleashing devastating breakdowns before swerving into delicate, atmospheric passages that hung in the air like smoke. The lighting, perfectly synced with every rhythmic jolt and ambient swell, added to the sensory overload—part concert, part immersive experience. Northlane transformed the space, turning a regional venue into a cathedral of sound, emotion, and raw, pulsing electricity.
Northlane – Harvey Road Tavern – photos Brad Fry
For a few hours, Gladstone wasn’t just an industrial port—it was a sanctuary. A place where chaos, emotion, and artistry collided in brilliant, unforgiving harmony. The All Over Australia tour didn’t just bring heavy music to a regional town—it reminded us that even in quiet corners, the underground roars.
