Dead Of Winter Festival
Fortitude Valley, Brisbane QLD
July 13th, 2019
Brisbane's annual Dead of Winter Festival rolled around again with a plethora of Australian acts gracing The Valley for a huge day of beers, bands and RUNNING BETWEEN VENUES TO CATCH SETS. With so many acts in a short amount of time, we headed out to catch as many as we could and have a time and a half in the process. Here are our thoughts on the festival's best on ground...
#8 - Earth Caller
My day kicked off later than usual but I was bloody stoked to be greeted by Melbourne's Earth Caller who, in my years of seeing them, had their best lineup to date, powering through their set. Frontman Josh Collard's screams filled the Tivoli as those who were keen for an early mosh bounced around the room (some a little too keen/eager than others). At first, I thought it was weird that he kept filming the crowd during his performance, but after going back over his Instagram stories for the day and hearing just how good he sounded while doing it, I can see his purpose: to give us a look at what it was like being on that stage through his eyes. Stand out songs were 'Degenerate' and latest single 'I Am No Good'.
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#7 - 28 Days
Australia's rock royalty from the 90s/early 2000s ripped up the stage towards the end of the event, which also was the last show of their epic 2-month tour alongside Bodyjar (and you could tell they were well and truly spent by this point). The guys played a stack of crowd favs like 'Say What?', 'A General' and 'What's The Deal?' before wrapping it all up with 'Rip It Up'. A bloody good time with a bunch of blokes who know how to have a laugh, especially at their or Damo's expense.
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#6 - Voyager
The Perth prog-rockers always know how to get the Brisbane crowd going (despite the torrential rain they were faced with the last time they played here), opening with 'Hyperventilating' which had guitarist SimoneDow shredding away, something which has become a spectacle at Voyager shows. I only caught a few of the band's songs, but can safely say new single 'Brightstar' sounded much better in a close an intimate festival setting, compared to when I briefly caught the band at Download Festival earlier this year.
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#5 - Bodyjar
Fun Fact: Before today, for some stupid reason, I had NEVER seen Bodyjar live. For whatever reason, I just could never line up with any time they were playing near me so you can imagine my excitement when I finally got to hear 'Not The Same' and 'Hazy Shade of Winter' in a live setting. Much like 28 Days before them (who, as I mentioned earlier, they've been on tour with) the now older blokes (aren't we all) powered through their set with plenty of laughs at their own expense and cameos from other bands. A shocking revelation reminded us all of the struggles bands face in real life as frontman Cameron Baines mentioned after this weekend they've gotta get back to their day jobs on Monday following their two-month tour, which I guess is why they're not as active as they used to be prior to this year (e.g. they're not touring/releasing new music as often as they used to). The set closed with 'One In A Million' and it was like being transported back to my teenage years with plenty of drunken moshing ensuring the guys got the send off from me that they deserved (they did an encore but I had to bail to set up for Crowieoke at Crowbar).
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#4 - Flangipanis
I'll never get sick of seeing homegrown punk heroes Flangipainis in a live setting. The band have become a staple at Dead of Winter for years now and they ALWAYS produce one of the biggest crowds of the day. Opening the set with their cover of Andrew W.K.'s 'PartyHard', the fun didn't end until they left the stage (with many of their inflatable props recirculating during later performances into the night as well). Jodie Lawlor is fierce up front, playing with such professionalism and whatever the punk rock version of poise is! If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, you're seriously missing out. Do it today!
#3 - Bare Bones
YEAH THE BONES! Sydney's BareBones stormed the stage in the late afternoon sun and bashed through a whole stack of classics like 'Thick As Thieves', ‘Deathbed Visions' and 'Dead Man Walking' as well as three new songs including their latest single 'Crawl The Night'. I can confirm those new songs went OFF in a live setting and had those in attendance snapping their necks in appreciation (I've now popped my second dose of panadol to try and counteract the pain I'm feeling, fuck I'm old). Bring on this new album already guys!!!
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#2 - Outright
HOLY FUCK. Outright were on my list under "try to get there for them if you can" and I'm so fucking glad my mate Billerwell convinced me to head up to the Tivoli for their blistering set. These hardcore punks from Melbourne brought their A-Game and sounded so fucking intense, it's no wonder why they were added to the Download Festival roster this year. This band has a message, a purpose and a fucking unstoppable desire to have their voice and music heard, especially with JelenaGoluza up front screaming her way into our lives. Over the past few years, I've discovered incredibly talented heavy bands from Australia with incredible women fronting including High Tension, Pagan and Falcifer... It's safe to say I'm calling it now, Outright are my fav Australian heavy band discovered in 2019 and I can't wait to see them in Brisbane again for Big Sound.
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#1 - Gravemind
There was no stopping the gravy boys from powering through arguably the HEAVIEST set of the day (I missed Disentomb so I can't compare the two) but goddamn they were tight. From the first time I saw them at The Zoo during BigSound, through to UNIFY this year and now Dead of Winter, they have progressively got tighter, are sounding bigger than ever and have this huge force behind them.
They punched through tracks like 'Anaesthesia', ‘The Death of Teyolia’ and set closer 'Lifelike' but, in my opinion, their newer songs 'Volgin' and 'Phantom Pain' definitely packed the biggest hits, much to the approval of those in attendance, especially superfan Darcy Lock who had made the trek north JUST to see the guys perform live. What a dedicated lad that guy is. Their new album Conduit comes out this week and if that's what they do to get us hyped for it, fuck, they're doing this band thing so right.
Shout out to guitarist Michael Petritsch and the lads for swinging by Crowieoke for a scream later in the night alongside fans/friends.
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So that's it. Dead of Winter done for another year and now we hibernate in the "cold" weather until the next music festival hits our city... The Amity Affliction's Heaven and Hell Tour. You know what to do Brisbane, let's get behind that one too!
Words by Browny @brownypaul
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