Atreyu - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 26th February @ The Zoo, Brisbane QLD
Atreyu
The Zoo, Brisbane QLD
26th February 2020
Supports: Ocean Sleeper, From Crisis To Collapse
US metalcore royalty Atreyu finally announced their long awaited headline Australian tour and we hit the ground running in Brisbane for the first show. As soon as I walked through the doors of Brisbane's The Zoo, the energy was buzzing with excitement, anticipation and sweat (not sure if it was from the city's humidity levels that evening or The Zoo's lack of aircon). However, I did miss the memo about sporting The Amity Affliction merch at tonight's gig because if you didn't know that Atreyu was playing, you might have mistaken the gig for an Amity show. For real, everywhere I turned, there was an Amity Affliction shirt on every five or so people. Proud of those boys, but let's get back to the gig of the week.
Having come straight from work to the show, I did miss out on openers From Crisis To Collapse but made it well ahead of time for Melbourne metalcore act Ocean Sleeper. These guys just released their debut full-length Don't Leave Me This Way late last year, which is an absolute banger of an album and if you haven't heard it, you need to get on that, stat. The Melbourne five-piece got the full house venue hot'n'heavy with their catchy melodic hardcore sound, and it was ever so evident the crowd was enjoying what they had to offer. Two songs in and there was a decent circle pit happening! Scream vocalist Karl Spiessl, alongside Ionei Heckenberg looked to be having a blast on stage getting the crowd excited for the upcoming main event. With songs like 'Light In My Dark', 'Save Me' and 'Breaking Free' being a huge hit with tonight's crowd, it's undeniably easy to see that Ocean Sleeper are one of the big acts to watch in the Australian heavy music scene this year.
In between acts, in that sweat box of a venue and the humidity outside, the only relief was really to just grab a drink at the bar, which only added to the energetic element of the evening. People were keen; it felt like, a night for older music fans who don't get out much to gigs these days to let loose on a Wednesday night. The lights suddenly dimmed and, the Southern Californian legends known as Atreyu stormed the stage opening with 'The Time is Now' followed by fan favourite 'Right Side of the Bed'. It was nonstop energy from the band, with the crowd giving back the same level of enthusiasm to which the guys fed straight off, when bassist Porter McKnight joined in on the circle pit mayhem during 'Ex's And Oh's'.
You could tell the band were fucking stoked to be back in the country for their own headliner though; they play with such technicality and the fans really brought it in during Atreyu's heavy hitting anthems 'Bleeding Mascara' and 'The Crimson', but the mayhem continued and lasted from start to finish. It's so refreshing to see a band who've been at it for 20 years young, still going hard at their rock'n'roll like it was still 2004. The band also took it even further down memory lane with their take on a Bon Jovi classic, and multi-talented drummer/clean vocalist Brandon Saller took the lead mic from frontman Alex Varkatzas for a moment to smash an acoustic rendition of Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up'.
Spirits were indeed high for the whole evening, and it's not hard to see why Atreyu keep getting invited back to play some of the world's biggest music festivals again and again. Atreyu are musical legends that everyone needs to experience at least once in their life, and they're still pushing their own finessed brand of metalcore into the world with a new record expected to drop in the near future. Stay tuned!
Setlist
The Time Is Now
Right Side of the Bed
Doomsday
Ex's And Oh's
In Our Wake
Falling Down
Do You Know Who You Are
The Crimson
The Theft
Bleeding Mascara
You Give Love A Bad Name (Bon Jovi cover)
Becoming the Bull
Anger Left Behind
When Two Become One
House of Gold
Blow
Lip Gloss in Black
Review by Tamara May (@citylightstam)
Revisit our interview with Atreyu's Alex Varkatzas right here
Photo Gallery by Charlyn Cameron. Insta: @chuck_stuff
Please credit Wall of Sound and Charlyn Cameron if you repost photos!
From Crisis To Collapse
Ocean Sleeper
Atreyu
Atreyu – Australian Tour 2020
With Ocean Sleeper
Fri 28 Feb- Melbourne – Max Watt’s
Sat 29 Feb – Perth – Amplifier
Sun 1 Mar – Adelaide – Jive
