23 October 2026 – Riverstage, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
The trajectory of Lorna Shore in Australia has been crazy. After To the Hellfire blew up here in 2021, the push for a Lorna tour felt like it was slipping out of reach. Festivals like Good Things and Knotfest went by without a Lorna announcement. Then at Good Things 2024, there were clues that a Lorna tour was impending. Since then, Lorna are back for the third time, in the biggest venues they’ve played in Australia, on a deathcore triple threat I couldn’t have fathomed 3 years ago, with Whitechapel and The Acacia Strain coming along for the ride.
Kicking off the night with a “what’s up Brissy you sick cunts”, The Acacia Strain sent Brisbane into a frenzy. Before a note was even played, the pit was going ballistic, and dug deep into the well with the opening track, ‘Whoa! Shut It Down’. The set was a brilliant mix of old and new, with songs like ‘A CALL BEYOND’, and ‘FRESH BONES’ being mixed in with throwbacks like ‘Dr. Doom’. We even got two songs from my favourite record, Wormwood, as they ripped out tracks like ‘Beast’ and ‘The Hills Have Eyes’.
The Acacia Strain – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
Vocalist Vincent Bennett shouted out coming back to the Riverstage, having played this very stage 18 years ago opening for Parkway Drive, which is a show I was also at. The return to this venue was not lost on the band, who implored Brisbane to see out the dingy, shitty clubs with no air con to find cool new bands to get into. Without those clubs, and those people finding bands like that, there is no scene, and that’s how bands get stages like the ones Bennett and his cohorts were standing on. Closing out on ‘Carbomb’, the crowd was begging for more. Fingers crossed we see The Acacia Strain back on the Riverstage one more time.
Whitechapel’s set was an interesting one. It was almost a story of three parts. The first five songs of the set were all tracks from the band’s latest record, Hymns in Dissonance. Much like the way The Acacia Strain started, the pit was feral for Whitechapel, as bodies flew over the barrier. At one point, vocalist Phil Bozeman told Brisbane how much he hated the barrier, and wanted people to attack it with their bodies. From what I’ve been told, there was about 25 security guards on the barrier just catching bodies, that’s how crazy it was.
As the final song from Hymns in Dissonance, ‘Hate Cult Ritual’ played, Bozeman wore this insane mask onto the stage that was something from a creepypasta story. But man it looked sick. We then got the two oldest songs in the set back to back, with ‘The Somatic Defilement’ and ‘Devirgination Studies’, before the set closer ‘This Is Exile’ played, which is probably the band’s biggest song. Definitely not my favourite Whitechapel set I’ve seen. It was hard to hear them at the top of the hill for most of the set. Curious to know if it was a production snafu, because The Acacia Strain and Lorna both sounded great.
Whitechapel – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
As soon as Whitechapel walked off, the rain that had been holding off finally dropped and got the crowd wet. But Brisbane stayed out in the rain, as a giant fabric banner dropped from the roof of the Riverstage. With a few minutes before showtime, the entire Riverstage sang ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ as the song played in full. After the song finished, the show began, as ‘Oblivion’ kicked in. The banner fell and Brisbane was sent into a frenzy, with some of the filthiest screams and pyro I’ve ever heard grace this stage.
A quick check in from vocalist Will Ramos, he asked Brisbane after the gnarly pyro if they were heating up from the rain. He asked how many people have seen Lorna before, and Ramos talked about his love for Brisbane. He dedicated ‘Unbreakable’ to Brisbane and got the crowd moving and bouncing like crazy. Out of the 12 songs played as part of this set, six of them were from I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me. Due to the sheer amount of new releases I check out every week, I haven’t had a chance to really check the record out, outside of hearing songs like ‘Glenwood’ and ‘Unbreakable’ in my Spotify rotations. But after seeing these tracks live, I need to immediately fix that.
Lorna Shore – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
After Ramos laughed off slipping over during the end of ‘Unbreakable’, brushing it off as the sickest roll anyone has ever seen on stage. He asked for Brisbane’s worst behaviour and told the crowd surfers to throw themselves at security for ‘War Machine’. ‘In Darkness’ also brought out Jerry Grimefeld, who is the new vocalist to Thy Art is Murder, which was a rad surprise. Ramos also shouted out for Brisbane to bang their heads for an old one, as they ripped out ‘Of the Abyss’. Ramos then introduced Lorna Shore to Brisbane, as he introduced ‘Into the Earth’, and even yelled out to the banana men in the pit, and the guy dressed as a hot dog to open the pit up for the track. The way Will said “Banana-Man” has now developed into a vocal stim for me I cannot stop saying.
Lorna Shore – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
After telling Brisbane that this show was a special one, because it was the last show of the tour, Ramos told Brisbane they were going to slow down the set a bit for a song that is really important to him, as ‘Glenwood’ played. My god, this song is beautiful live. Deathcore isn’t known for melody. But holy shit, this song just gave me a swelling feeling inside. Ramos then spoke about dedicating the song to his dad, whose birthday he missed because he was in Australia. He then told Brisbane it was time to pick up again, as it was on “Banana Man” to push the pit back for ‘Prison of Flesh’. And holy shit did the crowd do their job. One of the biggest pits of the night.
Lorna Shore – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
Ramos did an Aussie Aussie Aussie chant, before checking in with Brisbane about the energy levels. He then introduced the next song as a long one that has three parts. And as soon as he said that, the phone screens lit up the Riverstage, as it could only be the ‘Pain Remains’ trilogy up next. “If you know the words, sing the shit out of it” Ramos told Brisbane, as ‘Dancing Like Flames’ kicked off. As is the standard, the bridge was sung loud, as the “But within the expanse, I finally see/A world without you isn’t meant for me” line got the loudest singalong of the night.
As ‘Dancing Like Flames’ ended, it immediately bled into ‘After All I’ve Done, I’ll Disappear’, which rules as a transition live. And before ‘In a Sea of Fire’ played, Ramos asked for phone lights, as he told Brisbane how much of a blessing it is to be here in Brisbane. Ramos then told Brisbane there was no encore, but there is one more song. He mentioned how in 24 months, the band have been here three times, and to see the crowds and venues get bigger every time was so surreal for the band.
Lorna Shore – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
He thanked Brisbane from the bottom of his heart, and to thank Brisbane for the love and support, they played the song that started this crazy rollercoaster of popularity for the band, as they closed the show out with ‘To the Hellfire’. This song just fucking rules live, and that demonic pig squeal at the end is just incredible to hear live. The show wasn’t quite over yet, as the band brought out some of the people that have made touring Australia possible for them, to get their flowers from the Brisbane Lorna fan, before the band took a photo with Brisbane and said farewell.
Lorna Shore – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
