14 June 2026 – The Princess Theatre, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
Being such a fan of live music, there are bands that always feel out of reach to ever be able to see live. And so, they sit at the back of the mind and on a bucket list, while you hope one day, they’ll make it to your town. Sunday night saw me cross a band off that list, I never believed would ever make it back to Australia.
On their first tour since October 2009, Florida metalcore OGs Poison the Well made their long overdue return to Australia. After a long period of inactivity between 2010 and 2020, except small one off appearances, the band appear back and in full force, with their new record Peace in Place under their belts. But this tour would be a celebration of their most seminal piece of work, The Opposite of December… A Season of Separation.
But before Poison the Well, we were treated to an awesome triple threat of supporting bands. Opening the show were the locals in Wetwork. A hardcore band on the rise in their own right, with spots under bands like Speed, Harms Way, and Gridiron, this five piece had about 20 minutes of stage time and capitalised on every available second. It was fast and heavy, and super fun to watch.
The pit opened with probably the biggest pit of the night, as the crowd got loose during the set. Vocalist Lucas Stevens even spoke about how Poison the Well was such an influence on him growing up, and the fact they get to open for a band whose records he would mosh to in his bedroom, is a surreal moment. This sentiment would become a recurring theme throughout the night, showing just how powerful the influence of Poison the Well has been.
Wetwork – The Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
Melbourne hardcore showed out next, as Iron Mind took to the stage. These are a group I’ve heard around the scene but never fully checked out yet, and immediately, they blew my face off. After the intro to ‘Test of the Iron Mind’ started, it immediately kicked into ‘More Pain’. The crowd was frenetic, and the bodies were flying just one song in. The set was heavy with songs from 2025’s Test of the Iron Mind, including tracks like ‘How You Get Down’ and ‘Solitary Realm’.
I wasn’t super familiar with most of the set, but this show has convinced me to dive down the rabbit hole for Iron Mind. They had another track called ‘Assume Your Ultimate Form’ that was a pure slammer. Vocalist Sam Octigan shouted out all the bands on the bill, and even gave a big shout out to Burning Hammer records, which is Brisbane’s biggest independent hardcore label. Another shout out to Poison the Well, who Octigan said are a band that laid the groundwork for Iron Mind, as they closed out their set.
Iron Mind – The Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
Next out were Boston hardcore crew, Haywire. This is a band a lot of my American friends have thrown me onto over the past few years, and so when I saw they were coming out for this tour, I was super excited. But I didn’t expect how excited I would be, as lead vocalist Austin Sparkman saluted the crowd, and advised there was no better way to start a show in Australia than with the national anthem, as they kicked immediately into a cover of ‘Am I Ever Going to See Your Face Again?’ by The Angels. The standard sing-along kicked off after the aforementioned question, and Brisbane was electric from the jump. Haywire need to put out a studio cover of this track. It rules live.
Sparkman didn’t do much talking throughout the show, but gave a couple of cool stories, like how he snuck into venues in Boston as a thirteen year old to see hardcore shows, and how his first all-ages show he was able to attend was Poison the Well. So, to be touring with them, 20 years on, halfway around the world, is a crazy full circle moment for him personally. The set was predominantly full of tracks from their 2024 record, ‘Conditioned For Demolition’, as we got tracks like ‘Boston Boot Boys’ (retitled ‘Brisbane Boot Boys’), ‘Poser Disposer’, and ‘Love Song’. There was even another cover thrown in, with ‘Shed’ by Title Fight making the cut. Unreal energy, and apparently, Haywire are also apparently sticking around in Australia for a bit, teasing something for August I think? So keep an ear to the ground for something on that soon hopefully!
Haywire – The Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
As the time got closer for Poison the Well to take to the stage, I started getting really nervous, which at shows, is not something I am used to. Poison the Well have been such an instrumental band in both my musical taste development, and are a fundamental building block to a scene and sound I have loved for 20 years. A band, I never dreamed would come, was moments away from happening live in front of my eyes, and I truly felt the weight and emotion of it. And right on cue, the boys rolled out and opened with ‘Botchla’. You think at times, what will bands open with, and I never thought it would be ‘Botchla’, but I’m so glad it did. ‘Tear From the Red’ is another incredible record, and to not go straight for anything off ‘The Opposite of December’ off rip was a brilliant call.
Poison the Well – The Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
What I didn’t truly expect though, was ‘Zombies Are Good for Your Health’ next. Holy shit. Two for two on unreal songs from the catalogue I’d never thought I’d hear live. This was going to be an insane show. The show didn’t allow much for talking. It was just 75 minutes of Poison creating a cool, fun space for some of the most emotive and emotional songs within the entire metalcore genre. After ‘Slice Paper Wrists’, we got our first taste of the newer material, with ‘Thoroughbreds’ really sending me off like crazy. This song rules from the new record.
Poison the Well – The Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
Vocalist Jeffrey Moreira spoke about how cool it is to finally be back in Australia, and that every show has been better and better, and there was no better place to end the long overdue tour, than Brisbane. He urged the crowd on to sing and mosh as we celebrated tracks like ‘A Wish for Wings That Work’, ‘12/23/93’, and ‘Artist’s Rendering of Me’, while throwing in tracks like ‘Letter Thing’, and ‘Ghostchant’, with newer songs like ‘Wax Mask’ and the beautiful haunting ‘Everything Hurts’. Moreira mentioned how he hates saying goodbye to places, and shouted out Haywire before launching into the final songs of the night, ‘Parks and What You Meant to Me’, ‘My Mirror No Longer Reflects’, and ‘Nerdy’.
Poison the Well – The Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
‘Nerdy’ brought out all the bands on stage, as Haywire vocalist Austin Sparkman joined Moreira on the barricade for a cool moment where they both sang ‘Nerdy’ with Brisbane, as the crowd erupted. Unfortunately, there appeared to be some issues during ‘Nerdy’, where at one point, Moreira stopped the song after a scuffle with security and someone I couldn’t see forced the set to stop for a second. Sparkman brought the band back in and the crowd continued to get gnarly, as even guitarist Ryan Primack got in on the barricade action, as he dropped his guitar on stage to join Sparkman and Moreira in a final show of love to Australia.
