Written by: Tom Wilson | Saturday 4th November 2023
Photos by: Rashid AlKamraikhi >> VIEW GALLERY

Between Birth and Death - 20th Anniversary Tour

After watching THE SMASHING PUMPKINS play a show with a bassist who looked like he was making a grocery list while onstage – when they were the headliners, no less – I’ve got one requirement for anyone playing their music live: please, play like you give a shit.

So when three guys who looked like roadies took the stage at the Tivoli and opened with “We are RED BEE from the Blue Mountains and we are going to tear your fucking balls off,” I knew we were in for something good. Off-kilter, hard-as-nails rock played with such intensity that the guitarist’s hand started cramping, RED BEE are a sight to behold tonight, on more than one occasion reminding me of seeing HELMET on that same stage earlier this year. You love to see it.

Things are a little different for OCEAN SLEEPER, who come out like a bull out of the gate but all we can hear is the drummer and vocalist. Guitars eventually find their way back into the mix, and their fans shout every word back to them from the growing pit. Aussie metalcore with massive melodies, they mention that they’re playing the Good Things Festival at the end of the year, and with a performance like this, you can see why – singer Karl Spiessl jumping up on the barricade to conduct the chaos.

These have been strange times for SUNK LOTO. After their lauded return to the stage last year, they have had a lot on their plate. On the one hand, they have been writing their first new material in years. On the other, they have parted ways with original guitarist Luke McDonald, and are pushing forward with I BUILT THE SKY guitarist Rohan Stevenson. But is he a good fit? That question is answered about a minute into Five Years of Silence, as the new and improved SUNK LOTO hammer out their 2003 album Between Birth & Death in full.

Darker and more cerebral than the nu metal that brought them fame, Fall Apart and Empty & Alone are as punishing as ever, while quieter tracks like Starved and Everything Everyway unfurl beautifully. With Soul Worn Thin, they close off the album, only to kick things back into gear with new track The Gallows Wait, and the sheer weight of its opening riffs threaten to send us all to the emergency room with neck injuries. Society Anxiety single Vinegar Stroke kicks off, before Sunken Eyes threatens to level the Tivoli. At 6’7”, SENSE is just tall enough to see that the last song on the setlist is only four letters, which is fantastic news, since my all-time favourite SUNK song also happens to have four letters. They close off the night with the utterly volcanic Lift, and as we slink away into the night, sweaty and happy, all I could think about is what they’re going to do next …

View the FULL GALLERY below