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2 December 2025 – The Brightside, Brisbane – words by Zachen Wiki
Prior to making their Good Things debut this weekend, WARGASM were looking to light up The Brightside in their first ever show on Australian soil. It was long overdue, and, judging by the energetic crowd, long awaited too. The privilege of getting the crowd warmed up fell upon Newcastle synth-punk/hip hop fusion two piece, Poltergeist9000, and right from the get go it was incredibly easy to see why they were chosen for this spot.
Their Triple J bio reads: “P9 is a synth-punk/hip hop/techno punk fusion, coffee shot, electric shock, wake ur ass up-type group” it’s like they took the words right out of my mouth. Their frenetic set played out more like a continuous stream of their catalogue as opposed to a series of performing individual songs. It’s a bold move not a lot of artists can pull off, but members, Jaxon Micallef and Callan Griffiths had charisma and energy in spades – pull it off they did. Chatter between tracks was used incredibly sparingly as a result, so we would mostly have to rely on a change in vocal hook or beat or electronic motif to recognise that we had shifted to a new song. But recognizable singles such as ‘Traks’ and ‘Higher Frequencies’ were included in the setlist. Much to my surprise, the crowd responded incredibly positively to the duo, and that’s not a knock on them but moreso a nod to how difficult it can be for an interstate opener to win over punters, another test they passed with flying colours.
Sufficiently warmed up and ready to go, you could feel the energy in the crowd waiting to be released by witnessing WARGASM for the first time. Despite immediate technical difficulties which resulted in the sound completely cutting out during their intro, everyone was very forgiving and ready to show Rachel Hastings (Milkie Way) and Sam Matlock what Brisbane was all about. Admittedly, the crowd was a little time for the opening track, but it only took a reminder that the group had travelled from London (by way of Germany mind you) and weren’t here to see everyone stand around. Mosh pit, engaged. If I am to be completely honest here, if Brisbane wasn’t ready to start moving with a front loaded set featuring bangers like ‘Venom’, ‘Fukstar’ and ‘Pyro Pyro’, it would have been an embarrassment to the great city I call home. Thankfully, everybody got respectfully rowdy, with slips happening all over the place due to spilled drinks and Sam’s penchant for squirting water from his bottle over a very grateful crowd on the second evening of our QLD summer. Security had to have a gentle chat with a few extra boisterous punters, but they were happy to comply and assist with making this an unforgettable night for everybody.
Back to the setlist, calling it front loaded would be an absolute discredit to the back half, ‘Bang Ya Head’, ‘D.R.I.L.D.O’, ‘Feral’ (for the old fans) and closing out with ‘Do It So Good’ ensured that the Brightside essentially didn’t get a single moment to rest. Whilst it was hot and humid inside, I doubt it’s going to compare to the Good Things heat on Sunday, but WARGASM have absolutely prepared us for the sonic onslaught that this country is blessed to experience for the first time over the next week. They write angry songs for sad people, and boy do they do it so good.
