28 June 2026 – Riverstage, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Tracy Mclaughlin
While supporting I Prevail in Brisbane on June 30th, 2022, Motionless in White made a promise they’d be back soon to tour Australia for a proper headline tour of their Scoring the End of the World, which had dropped mere weeks before the tour. And two days away from being four years later, the band fulfilled that promise, in a massive way. With their new record, ‘Decades’ just a couple of weeks away, the Australian East Coast has the band playing the biggest venues they had ever headlined in, in Australia, and have been getting torn up with the ‘Afraid of the Dark Australian Tour’. And tonight, it’s Brisbane’s turn.
Kicking off this absolutely monster night, Connecticut metalcore band Currents were out first. I love these guys so much, and seeing them go from playing the Princess Theater a few years ago with August Burns Red, to the Riverstage, is absolutely insane. For comparison, the Princess Theater holds about 900 or so people. At the Riverstage tonight, there were over eight thousand, all taking in Currents. And a lot of these people, probably for the first time. The band didn’t do a lot of talking, but they maximized their time on stage with the seven song set to blast out some of my favorite tracks.
Currents – Riverstage – photos by Tracy Mclaughlin
Vocalist Brian Wille did mention about halfway through, how he didn’t realise until they got to the venue that it was outside, and how cool it was to play a place this big. He even mentioned people disappearing from sight up the hill. In terms of tracks, they opened with ‘It Only Gets Darker’ and ‘Monsters’, we got ‘Better Days’, which is my favorite Currents song, and was dedicated to Make Them Suffer, and they closed on ‘Remember Me’, where Wille thanked Brisbane for their voices and singing along. As the band left the stage, the crowd were screaming for one more, and I definitely wouldn’t have been opposed to it. Hopefully, this is a sign these guys are ready for a headline tour of Australia soon.
Out next were Perth based metalcore legends, Make Them Suffer. This was very similar to the Currents set, where vocalist Sean Harmanis didn’t talk much to the crowd, but let their nine song set do all the talking. Pulling a lot from their 2024 self-titled release, the first four tracks were all from that record. ‘Ghost of Me’ will always be an absolute slammer live, and an incredible track to open with. ‘Epitaph’ sends the pit into a fury, and ‘Mana God’ being on the setlist was also a sick choice too. That track has been one of my underrated favourites from the record, and to see it in the live rotation is dope as hell.
Make Them Suffer – Riverstage – photos by Tracy McLaughlin
I was lucky to be in the room when ‘Oscillator’ debuted live two years ago, and hearing the track evolve to how it sounded tonight, is so cool to see. Harmanis then spoke to the crowd to get them even more amped, asking for hands to the sky for ‘Ether’, and even getting the crowd to go nuts right at the breakdown, asking for every single body on the hill to move. They smashed out ‘Soul Decay’ and ‘Bones’, before getting a massive circle pit going for ‘Erase Me’, and closed on the mega hit, ‘Doomswitch’. A little sad I didn’t get to see ‘Contraband’, as every show since that song came out, it’s been played. But overall, a wicked set from the band, and it was amazing to see them once again.
As it crept closer to 8pm, you could feel the anticipatory energy in the crowd creeping up. Tonight, was scheduled to be one of the biggest headline shows Motionless in White have played in Australia, and Brisbane was ready for it. And right on 8pm, the lights dropped, as the obligatory ‘OIIA OIIA’ meme song played to bring the crowd into the show. It was a techno remix, and every time I hear it, it rules. As the band loaded out on stage, the crowd went ballistic for vocalist Chris Motionless, who kept screaming Brisbane to the crowd as everyone was getting rowdy as hell, before a note was even played. With a simple utterance of the word ‘go’, ‘Meltdown’ started the set off as Motionless yelled for Brisbane to scream out loud.
Motionless In White – Riverstage – photos by Tracy Mclaughlin
Motionless seemed floored with how hard the crowd was going, even noting after ‘Meltdown’ that Brisbane was here to party with Motionless in White. Motionless even got the crowd to do a wall of death between songs, with no music playing, which is something I’ve never seen before. They then rolled into ‘Sign of Life’, with massive blasts of pyro, and the first appearance of the Cherry Bombs on stage with the band. It’s so cool to see Motionless in White come out with the full stage production, as every time they’ve been here, it’s been on supporting slots in much smaller venues. Tonight though, every single performance is allowed to breathe, and be as big as extravagant as the band wants it to be.
As Brisbane chanted for the band, Motionless stood for a second, taking in all the noise. You could tell this show already felt meaningful for him. Later, we would exactly find out why, but with a simple “Is this real? Are you real Brisbane?”, Brisbane made sure to let Motionless know he was not living in a dream. Motionless then led an Aussie Aussie Aussie chant, before hilariously playing ‘America’. We got even more pyro for ‘Thoughts and Prayers’, and ‘Voices’ got one of the biggest sing-alongs of the night, where the crowd was singing the first chorus so loud, Motionless let Brisbane finish the final line of it, to the loudest noise I think I’ve ever heard a crowd sing at this venue.
Motionless In White – Riverstage – photos by Tracy Mclaughlin
‘Where do I even begin?’, Motionless started to say, as he seemed utterly lost for words on what was happening right now. “I need you guys to understand what we are seeing. We cannot even see where the people end” he said, before mentioning how special this show tonight was for the band. “We’ve been a band for twenty years, toured all over the world, been to Australia multiple times, and tonight, there are eight thousand people here to see us? What the fuck” Motionless expressed, as the crowd exploded with chants and noise for the band. He mentioned how over three shows across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, they’ve played to 17 thousand people, which is a massive achievement for them. For a band that hasn’t headlined Australia in nine years, this was something they were not expecting.
Motionless said tonight, will forever live as a part of the history of Motionless in White, and dedicated ‘Afraid of the Dark’ to Brisbane for making tonight incredibly special for the band. Motionless even held his hand over his heart, as he thanked Brisbane for singing along to the song. ‘Are you ready to kick it back to Halloween with us?’ was yelled, right before ‘Werewolf’, as the music video for the track played on the back screens, and Motionless asked for the deep cut fans to show out for ‘Hollow Points’, which is a bonus track from the last record, Scoring the End of the World. Motionless indicated he wanted everyone to ‘break ther fucking necks’ for ‘Nessecary Evil’, as the Cherry Bombs joined the band back on stage for more dancing. I love seeing the Cherry Bombs, and metal needs more back up dancers and saxophone. There was no sax here, but it’s something I have said for years.
Motionless In White – Riverstage – photos by Tracy Mclaughlin
Anyways, back to the show. Motionless again spoke about how monumental tonight was for the band. After a quick pulse check with the crowd to make sure no one had fallen asleep, he also asked if Brisbane was having fun, to which Brisbane responded that they definitely were. Motionless spoke about how he needs to express his gratitude for Australia, this tour, and this show tonight specifically. He mentioned the eight thousand attendance number again, and then dropped the bomb on the crowd, that this show is one of the top five, from an attendance perspective, Motionless have ever played. Brisbane, now sits in the lore of Motionless in White, for the most people they’ve headlined to. Motionless even said it could be top three but he needs to check the stats.
After quickly teaching Brisbane one lyric, the band launched into ‘Slaughterhouse’ as Sean Harmanis from Make Them Suffer came back out to do the parts of the track Bryan Garris from Knocked Loose does, as Brisbane hit the ‘one mutilation under god’ line HARD. Perhaps sensing the time was creeping up where songs might have to start getting cut, they slammed through ‘Rats’, ‘Disguise’, a version of their track with ILLENIUM, called ‘Nothing Ever After’, and ‘Scoring the End of the World’, before we got their latest track, ‘Playing God’. The inevitable chant for a shoey broke out, and after scrambling to find a beer and a shoe, lead guitarist Ryan Sitkowski downed the concoction, as Motionless said “we’ve been almost everywhere on this planet, and that is still the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen” as Brisbane laughed about it.
Motionless In White – Riverstage – photos by Tracy Mclaughlin
Motionless yelled for the Creatures as ‘City Lights’ played, which was the oldest track in the setlist, ‘Not My Type’ Dead as Fuck 2’ was up next, before screaming “you’re mine motherfuckers” over and over to Brisbane as ‘Soft started up. Motionless asked for mobile phone lights for ‘Another Life’, as the Riverstage was absolutely lit up from the lights. Motionless gave a final speech before the last track of the night, saying how tonight in Brisbane, it was a magical evening for the band. With a big ‘thank you for everything’, and a promise to not leave it another nine years for a headline tour, and a plug for ‘Decades’ which drops in a few weeks,
Chris Motionless then stated to the crowd “We are Motionless in White, and we are Eternally Yours” as ‘Eternally Yours’ started up, and Brisbane turned feral. The Cherry Bombs made one last appearance, as Chris Motionless stood on stage and handed roses out to the people on the barrier during the track, and sparkler pyro was going nuts on the elevated platform where drummer Vinny Mauro had been all night. Motionless gave thanks to their brothers in Currents and their brothers and sister in Make Them Suffer, and a very heartfelt final thank you to Brisbane, as the band walked off stage to ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ played over the speakers.
