10 July 2025 – The Triffid, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Tracy Mclaughlin
Having only been in the country last year, iconic of the scene Atreyu have made their way back to Australia, to celebrate what I would consider, one of the greatest pieces of music within metalcore, their 2004 magnum opus, The Curse. This record, was my entry point into discovering just what metal was, and what it could be. The blend of ghoulish vocals to angelic harmonies, brought me into the fandom of this band. And tonight, Brisbane was the first city in the world to celebrate it’s legacy. This tour was co-anchored by the long overdue return of Texas based post hardcore legends, Memphis May Fire. The boys in Memphis haven’t been to Australia since the 2015 Ire tour with Parkway Drive. As much anticipation there was for Atreyu, it was equal to the return of Memphis May Fire.
Up first were the ever brilliant Future Static. The Melbourne quintet are riding a crazy high right now, off the back of supporting slots for Enter Shikari and Electric Callboy, plus a massive European tour, and their headline tour of Australia. I became familiar with them at the Electric Callboy show in 2023 and I’ve been a fan ever since. The performance, like always, was solid. A banging six song set, featuring hits off the bands debut record, Liminality, like ‘Hourglass’ and ‘Waves’, plus the incredible cover of ‘Gasolina’ by Daddy Yankee. Closing out on ‘Roach Queen’, my favorite track from Liminality, set the bar high for a very fun night.
Future Static – The Triffid – photos by Tracy Mclaughlin
After a quick 20 minute break, the lights dimmed as the boys from Memphis May Fire walked out to a massive ovation. Lead singer Matty Mullins got the biggest cheer, as they launched into a massive 16 song set, that was almost half of the bands latest release, Shapeshifter, mixed with older tunes fans know and love. Opening on the title track, they quickly moved into ‘Paralyzed’, before doing a quick welcome, and how happy they were to be back in Australia. After ‘Overdose’, the first big laugh of the set came when some guy from the crowd screamed at Mullins to “have my baby”, which Mullins had to check he heard right. After powering through ‘Misery’, which drew one of the biggest reactions of the night from the crowd in terms of songs, Mullins spoke about how it’s been 10 long years between tours, and while they are jet lagged and tired, they were stoked to be coming back to places that bands dream of touring.
After the deep cut, ‘The Abandoned’, Mullins acknowledged the old heads in the crowd for knowing the back catalog real well. He then did a shout out for those who were experiencing the band for the first time, by welcoming them to the family, before ‘Bleed Me Dry’ played. Infection was up next, and not gonna lie, this was the best song of the set for me. Super fun. Mullins yelled out if Brisbane was still alive, before Mullins screamed out for ‘Necessary Evil’. During the extended introduction for ‘Vices’, the people behind us all of a sudden started losing their minds, and for a second we couldn’t figure out what was going on. Turns out, Queensland was up 20-0 in State of Origin, and half the crowd was both watching the show AND the game at the same time. Such a funny concept to think about.
Memphis May Fire – The Triffid – photos by Tracy Mclaughlin
Mullins spoke about how cool it is to come back to Australia, and songs like what was about to play, are the reason they are even here in Australia, before the other deep cut of the set played, in ‘The Sinner’. The rest of the set featured little to no talking, as they barrelled through some old and new, with ‘Miles Away’, ‘Make Believe’, ‘Chaotic’, and ‘Hell is Empty’ played, with the crowd getting louder for every song. The set closer ‘Blood and Water’ sent the set to an incredible end point, with the crowd giving the big “House of the Serpent” scream on the track. I hope the response to this show alone, convinces Memphis to return sooner rather than later. MMF are a band I’ve always heard of, but never listened to. They made me a massive fan tonight.
Between sets, there seemed to be some technical difficulties, which delayed the start of Atreyu’s entrance to the Triffid stage. But the lights dimmed, as ‘Blood Children’ started to play over the speakers. Dan, Travis, Marc and Brandon made their way onto the stage, to an insane reaction, alongside the bands drummer Kyle Rosa, as they kicked straight into the full run through of the bands universally beloved 2004 record, The Curse. ‘Bleeding Mascara’ kicked the show off, and as to be expected with this show, the choruses of every song were song loudly by the fans in The Triffid. After ‘Right Side of the Bed’, Brandon spoke about how they were only here last year, and how cool it was to come back so soon. He also talked about how beloved The Curse is to the band, and how it was cool to see this tour sell out before they even touched ground, and that Brisbane selling out first means they knew this tour was going to be crazy.
Atreyu – The Triffid – photos by Tracy Mclaughlin
The set was heavily filled with jokes and banter with the crowd, as Atreyu shows normally do. And we got the funniest one of the night after ‘You Eclipsed by Me’, when Brandon talked about how in doing the anniversary tour for this record, Australia was intentionally the first place to do it, because of how much they love coming back. Then they announced the 20+1 anniversary re-record of the record, dropping I believe in August, where the album has been re-recorded from the ground up. I managed to score a copy of the vinyl before the show, not realising it was a re-recording. So if you want to snap up a piece of merch that hasn’t officially dropped yet, grab it on the current tour.
Dan ripped out an “Aussie Aussie Aussie” chant, before Brandon sang the Bluey theme. 100% unseriousness on brand for these guys. But alas, it was time to get back to the serious vampire record. No more jokes, as crowd exploded for career highlight, ‘The Crimson’. Brandon walked the pit during this song, which added cool ambiance to the track. Phone lights came out for ‘The Rememberance Ballad’, before ‘An Interlude’ played to dim lighting. The lights came back up with a stage change, as Brandon was back on drums, with Kyle taking bass duties from Marc, who ran the stage for ‘Corsetting’ and ‘Demonology’ and ‘Heartache’.
The boys returned to the original spots, as Brandon joked about people not knowing he’s a drummer. Brandon and Marc talked about never having done a tour before where every show was sold out, which was a cool little fact to know. Marc also drew a penis on the tour merch designs, which again, fun fact. A big Dan chant broke out, before ‘My Sanity on the Funeral Pyre’ kicked off, literally, with Marc and Brandon doing karate kicks through the track. The hilarious misspelled on the setlist ‘Nevada’s Grace’ played next, which for this tour will be called ‘Nevada’s Grave’, and ‘Five Vicodin Chased with a Shot of Clarity’ closed out the The Curse set of the show.
Atreyu – The Triffid – photos by Tracy Mclaughlin
The band returned to stage for an encore, which was an “oops all bangers” amount of throwbacks, and three of my favorite Atreyu songs in the catalog. Opening the encore was ‘Becoming the Bull’, before the song about “drinking too much played”, ‘Ex’s and Oh’s’. After a quick hello to Justin, who I assume works on the bands road crew, Brandon described about going all the way back to the beginning. Not to 1983 in the delivery room when he was born, but the beginning of the band, as the iconic ‘Lip Gloss and Black’ closed down a nostalgia filled night, with one of my favorite bands in the world.
