Review: BIRD’S ROBE The 15th Birthday Tour Night 2 - Live in Brisbane

14 Dec

Bring Out Your Dead!

Thursday 11th December 2025

Written and Photographed by: Rashid AlKamraikhi

We stroll into The Triffid, and it is admittedly a more subdued affair than Night 1. To be fair, it is early on a Thursday night, with steep competition from other big shows that are happening in Brisbane, but if people want to miss out on all the awesomeness that is about to unfold, then we’d say that’s their problem.

THE SEA SHALL NOT HAVE THEM start the night with their epic post-doom compositions. Sprawling tracks filled with turbulence that make you really feel like you're swaying on the high seas, clinging to the railings of a boat, and trying to hold in your stomach contents. The two-piece perform over backing tracks that seep in through the analog elements of the music, like ghosts shifting through temporal planes, enhancing the eeriness of their sound.

The ensemble that is SHANGHAI assemble on stage, shouting out to the audience to come forward, joking not to be intimidated because there are more members in the band than people in the audience. Thankfully, the audience numbers steadily increase throughout their set, though they do tend to still stick to the peripheries of The Triffids’ hanger. This doesn’t phase SHANGHAI at all though, as the brass blasts punch through room, and there’s simply nowhere to hide. Their music is hard to categorise, but one punter eloquently yells out ‘You sound like Mr Bungle on crack!’ which is a fair take, however the band responds that this simply is not true, because they can afford the good stuff.

I have caught SEIMS a number of times, in a number of different configurations, and tonight they are performing as a solid three-piece. In order to make sure that the audience experiences the full aural range that this band manifests, SEIMS mastermind, Simeon, transitions from guitar, to keyboards, to bass throughout their set. They have recently released a new album, V, and they play cuts such as Chaos Within a Construct, and Flowing Upstream, from it, but whether you are familiar with their material or not, it doesn’t matter because all you need to do is lock in with them, and let them take you on a journey that you won’t forget.

Closing the night are a band that I’ve been waiting to see for about as long as their name is, …AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD. The audience size is looking much more respectable, either due to late arrivals, or people coming inside who have been so far hiding out in the beer garden. Regardless, you bought your ticket, you can do what you want, and what they want now is some TRAIL OF DEAD. They launch into the repertoire, and the audience sings along with Connor, Jason, and the gang, happy to have them back after a period of uncertainty where many thought the band themselves had left the trail, and were to be counted amongst the dead.