18 February 2026 – McGuires Hotel, Mackay – words and pictures by Brad Fry
McGuires Hotel is a working pub with a reputation that continues to grow as one of the standout live music venues in North Queensland. Its outdoor beer garden transforms into something far larger than its physical size and consistently punches well above its weight. Hard evidence of this is the fact that tonight McGuires plays host to The Amity Affliction, In Hearts Wake, RedHook and Headwreck, a lineup stacked with intent. All four acts are headliners in their own right and, when combined with a sold out show of 1,000 people, making this their biggest show to date, the stage was set for pure annihilation.
Upon my arrival at McGuires, the soundcheck was well underway and thundered up and down Wood Street. The uninitiated wondered what it was, while the fans showing up for an early VIP meet and greet knew exactly the source of the sound. There was rain in the region and McGuires had catered for this with extra protection. Would The Amity Affliction’s song ‘I Bring the Weather With Me’ be a self fulfilling prophecy? Time would tell but one thing was for sure, this show was going to be unlike anything the venue has witnessed since its establishment in 1882.
Headwreck were handed the keys first and immediately launched into pure domination. There was no warm up and no attempt to ease the crowd in. They came out direct and unapologetic. Thick, abrasive riffs filled the space while the vocals cut hard through the mix with raw intent. This was confrontational music played exactly how the crowd demanded, loud enough to carry and close enough to feel.
Headwreck – McGuires Hotel – photos by Brad Fry
From go to WHOA the set had no filler. No wasted space. Just unrelenting momentum. By the end of their time on stage, the room was already in a frenzy and the night had made its intentions clear.
RedHook shifted the energy without losing intensity. Where Headwreck pushed, RedHook pulled. Hooks landed fast, choruses opened the room up, and the crowd responded instantly. Phones were out, movement changed, and the atmosphere took on a different shape.
Frontwoman Emmy commanded attention without forcing it, moving easily between sharp attitude and genuine connection. The whole set hit with precision, striking a balance between heavy impact and outright accessibility. It was chaotic without being messy, aggressive yet inviting. The McGuires tinderbox leaned into it, every lyric echoing louder than the last.
RedHook – McGuires Hotel – photos by Brad Fry
Then the set expanded beyond the stage. Emmy climbed into the crowd, dissolving whatever invisible line remained between band and audience. A beach ball bounced overhead, bubble jets cut through the lights, and the room tipped from controlled chaos into something looser and more immersive. RedHook had the crowd by the throat and the heart in equal measure and, as always, they knew exactly how to hold both.
When In Hearts Wake took the stage, the tone shifted again. The lights dropped into darkness first, followed by a wash of moody blues and deep shadows before the first note even landed. The room settled into something heavier and more grounded. Their sound filled every corner of the venue, broad and deliberate, with each breakdown landing with real weight rather than just volume.
The atmosphere tightened quickly. Circle pits opened with purpose, spinning wide across the packed floor. Walls of death formed on command, splitting the crowd down the middle before crashing back together in a surge that felt controlled but uncompromising. It was physical, but it never tipped into chaos for the sake of it. There was intent behind every movement, both on stage and in the crowd.
In Hearts Wake – McGuires Hotel – photos by Brad Fry
There is a clear sense of purpose in how In Hearts Wake perform. Their message is tightly woven into their music and it resonates strongly, particularly in a coastal town like Mackay where conversations around environment and responsibility do not feel abstract. Songs carried an urgency that stretched beyond the room itself, turning the set into something communal rather than purely confrontational. The crowd responded fully, voices and bodies moving together, each chorus serving less as a singalong and more as a shared declaration.
The collaboration continued when Emmy from RedHook joined them on stage, blurring the lines between sets and reinforcing the sense that this was a unified bill rather than four separate performances. It added another layer to an already immersive show, pushing the energy higher without breaking the tone they had established.
The Amity Affliction – McGuires Hotel – photos by Brad Fry
By the time it was The Amity Affliction’s turn, the crowd was primed and ready. Red faced fans and shirtless men were everywhere. The venue was muggy and sweat soaked shirts adorned the huge crowd. “Amity! Amity!” came cries across the venue. The Amity Affliction arrived with confidence. They ripped into their first two songs… then the stage lost power. While the techs tried to find the issue, the Mackay crowd stayed put and had a singalong to whatever was played over the venue PA.
When the problem was rectified and The Amity Affliction returned to the stage, they delivered a set that balanced emotional weight with sheer scale. They are a band that understands how to control a room, when to push and when to let the crowd carry the moment. Singalongs were deafening. Pits opened and closed in waves, while quieter moments landed just as hard as the heavy ones. At one stage I, foolishly, went for a walk around the venue. My walk quickly turned into a slow shuffle. The crowd was jammed so tightly there was hardly any room to filter through.
The Amity Affliction – McGuires Hotel – photos by Brad Fry
Seeing The Amity Affliction live is never routine. The connection between band and audience remains the centrepiece, built on honesty rather than theatrics. As the final notes rang out, the sense of joy across McGuires was undeniable.
There was no sense of hierarchy on this lineup, no dip in intensity between sets. Each band added a different weight to the night and the crowd shouldered it all. From the first riff to the final chorus, the energy never flattened out. It evolved, shifted and built on itself. Any juxtapositions between bands served only as glue, holding everything together beautifully.
McGuires continues to prove that it is more than capable of hosting nights like this. The stage may sit in a beer garden behind a working pub, but when the lights go down and the PA kicks in, it becomes something else entirely. On this particular night, it felt like the centre of the heavy music universe, even if only for a few hours.
If this tour pummels its way to your town, it is certainly worth showing up for. It is four incredible bands in one space with no release valve. Exactly how it should be.
P.S. It rained. It rained plenty! However, while the floor was dampened, the night was not. The stage had cover. The punters had music. A good night was had by all. Bravo.
