30 August 2026 – The Princess Theatre, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Isis Totora
After the band’s massively overdue and sold out tour of Australia in 2023, it was only a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if’that Swedish metallers Avatar would be back. And sure enough, with the announcement of their 2025 record Don’t Go In the Forest, it was swiftly confirmed that The Phoenix would be bringing back the gothic theatre band back for another run at the country. Playing bigger rooms than last time, I was anticipating this show to be even better than the last one, and it was one of my favourites of 2023.
Walking into the show tonight, I had absolutely no clue who the opening band Pyrefly was. The only thing I did know, is they were Aussies with a bit of a cult following. But after their six song opening tonight, Brisbane knows exactly who they are now. The band seem like a weird lot of people, in the way that appeals specifically to Avatar fans, which is perfect. The drummer walked on stage doing almost a crab walk, and the other members vibes seemed super fun, before the lead vocalist KJ Risk ran out and peaked the chaos on stage.
The set was high energy, high chaos fun, with encouragement of pit shenanigans, singalongs, and even during the final song, smashing the microphone directly into his head, which feels like something I’d see at a professional wrestling show. The set highlight though was towards the end, where Risk jumped into the pit during ‘Blind’, and encouraged the crowd to run a wall of death directly at him. Brisbane didn’t seem to get the message fully, so Risk had them run it again, and told everyone to target him, which knocked the dude on his ass and as a thank you for doing it, they covered ‘Like a Prayer’ by Madonna. Unreal shit, and I am really excited to see more from this crew.
Pyrefly – Princess Theatre – photos by Isis Totora
Minutes before 9pm, the audio over the speakers moved from music, into whistling winds, rain, and thunder, as the lights on stage slowly changed colours into yellows and blues, signalling that Avatar were close to coming out. Then, at 9pm on the dot, the show began. Cloaked under a massive hooded cape, walking slowly with a lantern, vocalist Johannes Eckerström made his way on with the rest of the band, and as he made his way to the microphone, he sung the opening lines to ‘Captain Goat’. The sea shanty song of the latest record, Don’t Go in the Forest now makes sense to open the show, purely so we could get the spectacle that is how the show opened. Simple, but theatrically effective.
A funny story about Avatar’s last tour that I was reminded of from a friend I was with, is that during the debut tour, there was a woman that at any chance she could, she yelled for Avatar to play ‘Let It Burn’. And on the last tour, they did not. But tonight, ‘Let It Burn’ was song two. I hope that lady was here, and happy tonight she finally got to hear it live. As the song finished, the crowd lost their mind as the band took in for a moment how loud the ovation was. They eventually got the crowd quiet, so the intro to ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ could be played, which is my favourite track. The song had hands waving side to side on the chorus, and the guitarists double backing each other during the intro section, and closed on one of those classic ‘big outros’ where they got the crowd hype. Legitimately, perfect.
Avatar – The Princess – photos by Isis Totora
In his signature rasp, Eckerström asked brisbane what was happening, and shouted out the outcasts, the freaks, the mistakes and the miscarriages, and made it clear to Brisbane. “WE. ARE. AVATAR”. Eckerström spoke about this being their second time in Australia, and once again, they are ending this leg of their tour in Brisbane. He talked about the loyalty to Brisbane that the crowd has, and booing other states because of sport allegiances. Eckerström talked about how the last tour was a dream come true that they couldn’t wake up from, and tonight, is Australia’s last chance to top the 2023 tour. He asked if Brisbane wanted some speed metal, as ‘In the Airwaves’ demolished the pit.
After a quick costume change, Eckerström returned to stage in the iconic black hat, red coat, and cane for ‘Bloody Angel’, and during ‘Death and Glitz’ a roadie walked on stage towards the end, which stopped the song, and ripped a shoey. He was also wearing a helmet on his head, had a small drum symbol attached so that at the end of the shoey, drummer John Alfredsson could bring the band back in to finish the song. It was a funny bit. That had the crowd laughing. And something I need to say is just how understated the comedic chops of this band is. They’re such a funny bunch of dudes. I cannot imagine what they’d be like on a night out.
Eckerström did a check in with Brisbane to see if everyone was having a good time, and if Brisbane was happy. He told Brisbane that Avatar didn’t come to Brisbane to be happy. They came to perform an exorcism. Something to let the evil out of Brisbane, and told everyone to ‘Get in Line’, as of course, ‘Get in Line’ kicked off. They then ripped through songs like ‘Silence in the Age of Apes’, ‘Coloussus’, and ‘Torn Apart’ back to back as the crowd got more restless for every song as it played. The only shenanigans that really happened during these songs, was during ‘Torn Apart’, Eckerström held his arms on his body the way someone does when they hold their suspenders, except he wasn’t wearing any. And he didn’t move once from the spot he was standing.
Avatar – The Princess – photos by Isis Totora
Next came a rare moment from Eckerström. Almost in a moment I don’t think even he was expecting, he almost broke character as the mad man on stage, fronting Avatar, and became Johannes Eckerström, the man under the paint, and spoke with such heart about how much it means to him, and the band, that they are able to come back. He told Brisbane a simple thank you, before saying “if you’re having a good time, imagine what it feels like to be up here. You make us feel good.” as Brisbane cheered and hollered for them. In a furtherance of the mask slipping a little bit, Eckerström said that the band have no right to expect anyone to be in this room with them tonight, and they care deeply about making music. They could have just quit, and ceased being a band. But if they did that, Brisbane wouldn’t have been able to let him and the band into their lives for a night. He thanked Brisbane for giving Avatar meaning, because Avatar’s music ‘means something to you”, which was a beautiful sentiment.
He said all of this behind a keyboard, and the Avatar frontman returned to the forefront, asking if Brisbane wasn’t to hear a song on “this thing”, before we got ‘Howling at the Waves’. A song from the new record I definitely liked a lot, but since hearing it live, have come to just adore it. If you don’t know much of this band’s music, give this song a listen. Especially after the speech we just got, this song hit on a whole different level. We then got one of the bands most popular songs, in ‘The Dirt I’m Buried In’, which drew massive sing-alongs, and after the song concluded, the sounds of the forest crept into The Princess Theatre, as a red balloon crept across the stage for ‘Don’t Go Into the Forest’.
Avatar – The Princess – photos by Isis Totora
As Don’t Go Into the Forest concluded, Alfredsson was left alone on stage, as he teased walking off. But he didn’t want to. He wanted to play more, and with the encouragement from Brisbane, he played a drum solo to intro the final song of the set, ‘Tonight We Must Be Warriors’. The opening track from 2025’s Don’t Go Into the Forest, sat firmly at the end of the set, works so damn well. This song just rules, and while I thought it would be a killer way to open the set, turns out it does so much more to prep the audience for an encore.
After playing adult peak-a-boo, the band came back out for ‘Crying Fire’, before Eckerström soaked in the adulation and even grinding the mic stand a little. He gave his final speech for the night, stating to Brisbane we have reached the end of the journey. But, we’re not there just yet, as two more songs would be coming. This then quickly devolved into getting side tracked about his love for Crocodile Dundee and Paul Hogan’s knife, He asked for the Avatar veterans, and the Avatar newbies, and welcomes the new gig attendees to the family, telling them when they walked out of their doors to come to this show, they didn’t know they’d be running away with the circus.
Things then randomly got VERY horny, as Eckerström talked about he doesn’t care what people say about him and Brisbane. How we both have something going on, with everyone rubbing their sweaty bodies against each other, and that Avatar and Brisbane belong together. With that signature rasp, we got a simple “We. Will keep. Doing this. Forever” as he cackled. He then sniffed his armpit, and screamed “IT SMELLS LIKE A FREAKSHOW” as ‘Smells Like a Freakshow’ moved the crowd in ways they hadn’t moved all night. It doesn’t need to be said, but I will say it anyways. The effortless charisma Eckerström and the rest of the band has, is so infectious. I couldn’t help but stand on the balcony and move my own body to the final two songs, that’s how much fun I was having.
Avatar – The Princess – photos by Isis Totora
The show closed on the final track, ‘Hail the Apocalypse’, as Eckerström screamed “WE. ARE. AVATAR” once again, telling Brisbane how much he loves the city, and made a promise. Avatar shall return back to Brisbane again soon, which drew the biggest cheer of the night. But Brisbane had to promise to take care of itself for their return. Eckerström talked about how the world outside is so ugly and cruel, but tonight, inside The Princess Theater, there has been nothing but beauty inside these walls. Brisbane got a ‘be kind to yourselves, or I’ll come back just to kick your ass’, another big thank you for the crowd, and a massive ‘Goodnight’, as the band posed for photos, as ‘We’ll Meet Again’ by Vera Lynn played over the speakers. One by one, bassist Henrik Sandelin, guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström, and John Alfredsson passed guitar picks and drum sticks out to the crowd, and left the stage, for Eckerström to give a final bow as he left the stage.
