Review: OCEAN GROVE - Live in Brisbane

4 Oct

Friday 4th October 2024

Written by: Tom Wilson
Photos by: Tracy McLaughlan
>> SEE PHOTOS <<

Brisbane Enters the ODDWORLD

Local alt-rock four-piece SUNBLEACHED open the proceedings tonight, and vocalist Josh Baker takes to the mic like he’s just smashed a four-pack of Red Bull, goading the audience to step forward. Some do, but for those that don’t, it’s ok, because he’ll come to them, and before the first song is over he’s already standing up on the barrier, sharing the mic with fans in the crowd. They have a softer sound compared to the rest of the bill, but it’s played with such conviction that you barely notice, and it’s hard to believe that the band is barely four years old. They handle a broken string like pros, one of their guitarists racing offstage and emerging in the middle of the next song, tuning on the go and plunging right back into it. Impressive stuff.

Up next are INERTIA, and the Sydney four-piece waste no time plunging into huge melodies and chugging djent riffs. Showcasing several tracks from their debut album Second Shadow, their singer has a soaring voice which is a bit weird coming from a bloke who looks like a bodyguard, but it all works. The band is tight as a drum, and the first pit of the night breaks out towards the end of their set.

The crowd is already primed and ready, but as PALEDUSK emerge to EMINEM’s Lose Yourself and the drummer starts pounding along to the song, the vibe reaches fever pitch. Their guitarist is already doing spin kicks while playing, and I find myself asking the bloke beside me, “Do you remember when you had that much energy?” There are support slots, and then there is PALEDUSK, who lay out such a stunning set of hyperactive Japanese metal fusion that you’d swear they were headlining. After circle pits, walls of death, crowd surfing and booty-shaking dance breaks, we’re absolutely gassed by the time they walk offstage triumphant, and everybody takes a minute to suck down some water, because the main event hasn’t even started yet…

While many seem to bemoan THORNHILL’s transformation from metalcore to goth rock (they’re wrong, but that’s a story for another day), less seem upset by OCEAN GROVE’s transformation into a nű metal behemoth, and when they stride onstage and plunge into Fly Away, you could be forgiven for thinking you’d travelled back in time to 2000. The chorus is enormous, and the pit explodes. It’s refreshing to see a band with no ego. Dale Tanner’s smile never dissipates, and he bonds with crowd surfers coming over the barrier and happily swaps bass duties with Twiggy Hunter. It feels like this is a band with no clear leader. They’re all in this together, and they can’t believe how lucky they are. Ask For the Anthem is a booty-shaking banger, and Superstar makes the Triffid look like it’s bouncing on a pogo stick. At one point Dale is standing side by side on the barrier with PALEDUSK’s vocalist, and the vibe is infectious. Sunny is downright euphoric, the perfect antidote to the troubles of the world, and set closer JUNKIE$ will make you want to backflip a motocross bike over an office building.

This is their time now. Prepare yourself for the Oddworld.