The Riverstage, Brisbane
Friday September 5, 2014 :
What better way to spend a Friday night in Brisbane than going to see Australian Post Hardcore legends, The Amity Affliction, tear it up at their biggest ever headline show, at the sold out Riverstage in front of 8500 screaming fans. Now I have seen many big name heavy bands play this venue over the last few years, Slipknot, Machine Head, Slayer, Megadeth and Motley Crue just to name a few, and I have never seen this venue so packed out as it was this magical Friday evening for this epic show.
Melbourne party hardcore favourites, Deez Nuts, opened proceedings and warmed up the growing crowd whilst still daylight, with a great solid set, with many a fan screaming along to their catchy tunes.
Next up were New York outfit, Stray From The Path, who interestingly enough, are fronted by a vocalist who looks a lot like Justin Bieber. However, this is about as far as similarities go for Drew York who screams with the best of them, and along with the punchy in your face riffs from bearded guitarist Thomas Williams, the band really took things up another notch.
Atlanta 6 piece, Issues, were third on the bill, with their dual vocalsists, and a mix of hardcore meets R&B. Heavy vocalist Michael Bohn, growled and had plenty of attention from the ladies in the crowd. The band have only been together for two years, and whilst they have gained popularity, and have toured with many big name artists, some fine tuning of their sound and their stage show would enhance their appeal. The standout in the band was bassist Skyler Acord, who rocked out hard and played the bass like a grooving demon.
UK hardcore heavy weights, Architects, were up next, and straight from the word go, vocalist Sam Carter was a ball of energy all over the stage, and screaming brilliantly with his raspy vocals. Security had their hands very full, as relentless bodies crowd surfed to the front throughout the set. Crowd favourite tracks included ‘Gravedigger’, ‘Dead Man Talking’ and ‘These Colous Don’t Run’. The band have toured Australia numerous times before, and guessing by the energetic show they put on tonight, and the crowd reaction, they will always be welcome back.
Finally, the moment had come for our Australian icons, The Amity Affliction, to hit the stage for their biggest ever capacity headline gig. What a way to end their Australian tour playing to a massive hometown crowd.
Opening the set with their awesome single off their latest offering, Let The Ocean Take Me, ‘Pittsburgh’ was the perfect song to fire up the already eager crowd, along with plenty of smoke, lights, and a hell of a lot of strobe to add to the electric atmosphere. TAA kept the crowd rocking, moshing and crowd surfing all night long with an arsenal of 15 classic songs in their set from throughout their career. Notable faves were ‘Greens Avenue’, ‘Chasing Ghosts’, ‘Deaths Hand’, ‘Anchors’, ‘Youngbloods’ and ‘Don’t Lean On Me’. However the song that seems to be The Amity Affliction’s anthem, ‘Open Letter’ always gets the loudest roar of approval when it kick’s off, and maximum crowd participation. Tonight was no exception as almost every soul in attendance were singing and screaming along to this epic track.
It was a great night, and a very proud one to see an Australian heavy band sell out such a large capacity venue. The only other Aussie band in the same league is Parkway Drive, and even they have never sold out The Riverstage. The popularity of The Amity Affliction just keeps growing, and with great songs, and a very solid live show, these lads will just get bigger and better.
Reviewer and Photographer: Davey Rintala
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