6 September 2026 – The Triffid, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Clea-marie Thorne
After finally taking out the number one spot on the British Album Charts, Welsh ragga-metal icons Skindred made their way back to Australia, since their Knotfest 2024 shows, and their first headline tour of Australia, after Covid cancelled those plans in 2020. They’re back with a new record, and there is no doubt tonight is going to be a crazy fun night.
Out first were the Brissy five piece, Grizzlyshark. Setting the tone with ‘Animals’ by Nickelback was a bold start. But once the set kicked in, they were a tonne of fun. I couldn’t name a song that was played, except the last one, ‘TMS’. But every track was mad fun. And the lads looked to be having a ball on stage, as did the crowd, with both exchanging some insane energy to start the night out. Vocalist Andrew Taylor broke the circle pits out early for the night, and even got down with a bit of hip shaking towards the end of the set. There was an incredible shout out to Skindred as the set closed down, and these are going to be a crew to keep an eye on.
Grizzlyshark – The Triffid – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
Out next was a band I was just as hyped as Skindred for, Future Static. It’s no secret I’ve shown big love to this five piece since discovering them as one of the openers for Electric Callboy a few years ago. And as they have grown, the live experience just continues to excel. Opening with the 2025 single ‘There’s Nowhere Else to Go’, I’ve convinced myself this needs to be the band’s permanent set opener. I don’t care whatever else they make in their careers, this song is the way to open the show. I am already sold. Vocalist Amariah Cook welcomed Brisbane to the show, as they blitzed through three of my favorite songs from 2023’s Liminality, with ‘Plated Gold’, ‘The Hourglass’, and ‘Chemical Lobotomy’ back to back to back. ‘Plated Gold’ in particular, got a massive ovation from the crowd, as it deserves.
Future Static – The Triffid – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
After dropping news of the new record, out in November, the band played the title track, and most recent single, ‘Ornaments & Memories’, and man, this song hurts more live than it does on the studio recording. Just a beautiful song live. Cook then told Brisbane to let go, for a new one, in ‘State of Mind’, which is a fucking tune. I’m eager to get my ears around the studio version of this because it was fun. Cook then had a bit of a fun outburst on stage about how cool it is to be in a band, and get to perform live, and dedicated their cover of ‘Gasolina’ to Skindred, before we got ‘Venenosa’, ‘Roach Queen’, and a final new song to close out the show, with ‘Swing’. I posted this over on Instagram, and I fully believe it. The time is now for Future Static to be pushed into the headline spot. The grind I’ve been able to witness, and the honing of the stage performances, this band should be headlining places like The Triffid. Hopefully we can see it before years end.
Minutes before it clicked over to 9:30pm, the lights dipped as ‘Thunderstuck’ by AC/DC cranked over the speakers. After a full playthrough, the signature ‘Imperial March’ dubstep remix kicked in, as Arya, Mikey, Tommy, and Benji all took to the stage, with Benji holding flowers to give out to the crowd. As the flowers were handed out, the set immediately kicked into ‘This Is the Sound’. Despite Benji not having a microphone that worked for the first verse and chorus, the crowd did the singing for him as the technical issue got resolved. They then doubled down and went immediately into ‘Set Fazers’, which got another big sing along from the crowd.
Skindred – The Triffid – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
Benji got the crowd to sing the chorus to ‘Gimme That Boom’, before stopping them to call them wankers (a common theme through the night), and he introduced his friend Mikey, as ‘the guy that plays guitar for Skindred’ which got a laugh from the crowd. Webbe asked for the house lights to come up, as he started to scat sing, which bled brilliantly into ‘Ratrace’. At the halfway point of the song, they also cut into a cover of ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ by Queen, before hitting the breakdown. A big part of what I love about this band is how they bleed their influences into their live performance, and this is not the only time something like this will happen.
Next up was probably the biggest surprise for me, because I didn’t think it would get into the set, was ‘Pressure’. Webbe talked about how he knows a butcher that owns a time machine (yes it literally came as out of nowhere as I am suggesting), and when Skindred made it to Brisbane, this time machine would activate and take Brisbane back to 2003, but it only worked if Mikey “played that tune”, which is when ‘Pressure’ started. They even threw in the ‘Back in Black’ riff into the song which ruled. Webbe did more comedic crowd heckling, calling the left side of the room wankers, because they didn’t know how to chant the words ‘whoop whoop’. This led straight into ‘That’s My Jam’, with the crowd split down the middle on some awesome crowd participation.
Skindred – The Triffid – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
If you’ve been to a Skindred show, you know there is a part of the set called ‘Radio 01633’. Basically, it’s a love letter to the songs that paved the way for Skindred to find themselves. And after getting a very r’n’b version of Trouble, and the Jet2 holiday ad, they pumped straight into a cover of ‘Master of Puppets’. After that, was a dub remix of ‘Last Resort’ by Papa Roach, ‘Jump’ by Van Halen, and then ‘Jump Around’ by House of Pain. Words can’t describe how awesome this part was, purely because ‘Trouble’ is my favorite song from the band. So getting a taste of it live, hit the peak meter for me. After a heartfelt thanks for Brisbane spending Sunday night with Skindred, Webbe shouted out Grizzlyshark and Future Static, and told everyone that if they’re making music, to keep going at it. It’s not rocket science. We then got the title track from the new album, ‘You Got This’.
Webbe shouted out bass player Tommy Gleeson, as he, Mikey, and Arya jumped off stage for a drink, as Gleeson played an extended bass intro to ‘Kill the Power’, incorporating the bass lines of tracks like ‘Seven Nation Army’ and ‘Another One Bites the Dust’. Mikey and Arya then came back on, joined in on the intro, and Webbe talked about cutting abuse out of our lives, and to kill it with a fist pump to ‘Kill the Power’. After teasing the crowd with a sing through of the chorus for ‘Nobody’, Webbe hit back on the idea of music making, and how despite their earlier records not doing well or charting, they managed to score chart topping albums, with their last record ‘Smile’ hitting number two on the British charts, and the new one ‘You Got This’ hitting the highest honor, of number one. He then introduced his favorite song from the record, as ‘Can I Get A?’ started up.
Skindred – The Triffid – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
Webbe sent out another heartfelt thank you to the crowd, and spoke about how each song in their discography comes from a journey, and a life experience. He then told Brisbane about another song from way back, that his grandmother used to sing to him when he was a cute little baby, and told Brisbane that song was ‘Nobody’, which got a laugh. Webbe then dedicated ‘Nobody’ to ‘every fucking body’, as the crowd got the most animated it did all night for this one track. Benji then was presented with more flowers, as he handed them out to the crowd, and the band walked off to close out the main set.
After a quick break, a sports announcer type voice over came on the speakers to introduce Tommy, Arya, Mikey, and Benji back to the stage, as Benji led Brisbane into a massive sing along of ‘Boom, Shake the Room’, before ‘Gimme That Boom’ kicked off. Webbe then dedicated the last part of the set to the legend that is Ozzy Osbourne, as Skindred played a dub remix of ‘War Pigs’, and then got the crowd down on the ground for the set closer, ‘Warning’, which even had Future Static vocalist Amariah Cook back on stage to sing the choruses and show Brisbane how to rip a Newport Helicopter. The band thanked Brisbane one final time, with photos with the crowd, and Brisbane having the best Sunday night out in quite a while.
Skindred – The Triffid – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
