6 February 2026 – The Tivoli, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
Off the back of their latest record, All Is Beautiful… Because We’re Doomed, the legends that are We Came As Romans (WCAR) make their return to Australia for their first headline shows since 2023. The album is barely six months old, but seeing WCAR return so quickly after the November 2024 tour with Amity, and making Australia a priority to come back to, was super cool to see. And not only was WCAR bringing a new record, so were British rockers, Caskets, who are out here supporting the tour with their new record, The Only Heaven You’ll Know. And to close out an insane tour like this, we got the best openers imaginable, in Brissy lads Headwreck. A band, who I think, are about to take over the world.
I would call Headwreck Brisbane’s best kept secret, but the venue was packed for their performance, right from doors at 7pm. When it hit 7:40pm,though, all bets were off. I’ve become a fan of these lads over the last twelve months, seeing them open for bands like Inertia and Dayseeker, and to see them opening on this tour, right before heading out with Amity, and then to Europe as part of Download Festival 2026 is insane.
Headwreck – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
The set was awesome as always. It featured a lot from Attitude Adjustment, plus featuring tracks like ‘Freefall’, ‘Let It Feel’, and the bonkers ‘In Da Club’ cover. As to be expected, BINGO! popped off live, as did the last two tracks, in ‘Razor’ and ‘Buzzsaw’. ‘Razor’ is my favorite song from the AA EP, and every time I hear it live, I get real obnoxious and sing the chorus as loud as I can, to get the same cathartic energy the lads put out on the track live. Great set, and it’s only a matter of time before they’re on the headline spot.
Leeds lads Caskets were out next, and as vocalist Matt Flood let out a massive scream for Brissy, they dropped straight into the opening track, ‘Make Me A Martyr’. After a quick intro, They blitzed through a great mix of tunes spread across the catalog, including songs like ‘Drowned in Emotion’, ‘Guiding Light’, and the title track from their latest record, The Only Heaven You’ll Know. That last song, specifically, is a stand out from the new record, and if you are unfamiliar with Caskets, this is the song I show people now. It has everything about the band that is their best. Atmosphere, scope, tight instrumentation, and incredible vocals.
Caskets – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
Flood spoke about how if this show is the first of the year for them, what the hell does the rest of the year look like, before launching into ‘Our Remedy’, which is a collaboration song they did with Aussies Make Them Suffer, and is a phenomenal track. I wonder if there is a team up planned for Perth. There were chants for a shoey, to no avail, before the band closed on ‘Glass Heart’, which drew one of the biggest singalongs for the night, as the opening line of the final chorus “Maybe if I take back what you meant to me” was sung so loud, the band let the crowd sing it without any help from the band. Goosebumps inducing moment.
Caskets – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
After a quick break, the lights dimmed for a while, before Michigan based metalcore titans We Came As Romans walked out on stage. As the band ripped the opening track from their latest record, ALL IS BEAUTIFUL…, vocalist Dave Stephens walked out to a thunderous ovation, as he amped the crowd to start the show up with bad luck, which is the song that plays directly after AIB on the latest record.
‘Bad luck’ is such a hype song, especially the intro with the “da da”s at the start. Stephens asked the crowd to open it up for red smoke, before declaring his love for Australia as ‘Cold Like War’ started up. You could tell the band was having so much fun on this show, and it was only four songs in, and Stephens even acknowledged that Brisbane was the perfect place to start this tour, because of how insane the crowd was being.
We Came As Romans – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
We got ‘Wasted Age’ next I think, before the heartbreaker that is ‘where did you go?’ A track that has stuck with me since the first time I heard the record. And hearing it live was even better than the studio version. The atmosphere and quietness of the verses was a dip to the high energy so far, but the moment that chorus came in, the crowd was bouncing as Stephens sang the “where did you go” line on the chorus. They then played ‘Darkbloom’, and halfway through, bassist Andy Glass ripped a shoey on stage while kneeling, before throwing his body around the stage with reckless abandon.
We Came As Romans – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
Stephens then mentioned that despite going through all the legal processes like visas and insurance and everything else, the final hurdle to getting into the country is doing a shoey on stage, as the crowd laughed about it. Stephens then talked about how as a kid in Michigan, he was a pop punk kid. And metal at the time was never his scene, until he was taken to a show where he saw The Bled, and he called up his friends to start a heavy band. I totally did not expect a shout out to The Bled, especially as I seemed to be the only one losing my mind at that kind of name drop. I travelled to New York in 2023 just to see them, and they are one of my favorite bands. So hearing them as a catalyst for WCAR is surreal.
We Came As Romans – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
The rest of the set was filled with a lot of the new record, with ‘one by one’, ‘b2tm’ and ‘no rest for the dream’, then after ‘Black Hole’, Stephens did a quick shout out to Caskets and Headwreck and goodbye before set closer ‘BECAUSE WE’RE DOOMED’ played. The crowd were going ballistic for more, and the band walked out to play ‘culture wound’, which is another one of my favourites from the new record. Stephens did another quick shout out to the support bands, before signalling for the final song, saying that he knows it’s hot, but he wants Brisbane to bring it one more time, as ‘Daggers’ closed off the show. For a start to the tour, Brisbane was white hot, and I hope the rest of the tour is like this for these bands, because this was one hell of a show.
