Polaris - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 4th March @ The Triffid, Bris QLD
Polaris - 10 Year Anniversary Tour
The Triffid, Brisbane QLD
March 4, 2023
Supports: Void of Vision and Pridelands
It's hard to fathom it's been 10 years since Polaris first released music that would set them up for a decade of throwdowns and cement the band as one of the greatest metalcore acts to emerge from the Australian scene since the OG Resist Records giants, Parkway Drive before them. Tonight was all about celebrating the past with a heavy taste of what's to come.
The lineup to get into tonight's SOLD OUT Triffid trifecta extended down the road with many punters walking past asking who the fuss was about. There were plenty of conversations about moving the show to a bigger venue, but tonight HAD to be experienced at this iconic location - because it's going to be a show talked about for decades to come.
Pridelands hit the stage shortly after 7:30 and believe it or not, this band's album Light Bends was in my Top 14 list of last year, and I was yet to catch them in a live setting until now. I'm glad I waited because the payoff was well worth the wait. The lads powered through songs such as 'Heavy Tongue' and my personal fav 'Parted Time' with one excited fan beside me screaming for the boys to play 'The Walls' for the duration of their set, to which they wrapped up festivities with as she screamed along. Both frontmen, Joshua Cory (cleans) and Mason Bunt (screams) prowled the stage like two lions circling their prey, feeding off each other's energy and invoking the crowd the join in. Guitarists Liam Fowler and Daniel Lohrey never let up in their shredding as Joe Lipsham bashed away on the kit with a big smile on his face. My only critique of their set was the frontmen needed to work with each other in encouraging the crowd to mosh, as at times one would ask something of them, and the other would immediately do the same not long after. With a bit of fine-tuning this band will be world-class and ready to take on the globe.
When Void of Vision rocked up covered head to toe in leather, I knew we were about to have some fun, and they launched straight into 'INTO THE DARK' with the room almost filled to capacity bouncing along. I said it in my first thoughts of the single and after finally being able to catch it in a live setting, I am still in awe of guitarist James McKendrick's cleans in this offering. Out of nowhere, this bloke has gone from master shredder to adding a completely new level to this band and I am all for their exploration of this in future. Between his additions and frontman Jack Bergin switching from redefined screams and singing, the future of VoV is looking so bright you'll need extra thick polarized glasses to keep watching. The band powered through an electrifying rave-core set, made up of belters from their recent Chronicles EP series with personal standouts being 'Dominatrix' and 'ALTAR'. I even paused at one moment to take time to tweet my thoughts on the band, which I never do at a live show!
https://twitter.com/brownypaul/status/1631965867541159936
With the band firing on all cylinders and Jack confidently owning the stage and crowd like a combination of Judas Priest's Rob Halford meets Nosferatu, it is only a matter of seconds before Void of Vision joins Polaris in their quest for global domination. I've seen this band many times over the years I've been operating Wall of Sound, and I can safely say they are at the pinnacle of their careers and the only place for them to continue going is up.
After what seemed like a literal second of setting up, the lights dimmed and Polaris took to the stage amidst a roaring sea of cheering from Brisbane fans, but tonight was like no other night for the metalcore kings, tonight was a celebration from start to finish of the band's impeccable journey thus far, and it all kicked off with a little song from 2013 titled 'Summit'. Yes, tonight was an actual 10-year celebration of their careers spanning from the first EP Dichotomy all the way to their sophomore album The Death of Me - but let's not get ahead of ourselves yet...
'Aspirations' and 'The Undertow' followed which sent the middle of the mosh into a feral frenzy, with many fans jumping on top of each other in order to scream the words back at the band while Ryan Siew and Rick Schneider slayed the stage. Frontman Jamie Hails addressed the crowd at various times during their 16-song set, throwing back to memories of performing all across Sydney, playing to like 20 or so people, most of which were members of the other bands on the lineups they shared a stage with at the time. He simply uttered the words The Guilt & The Grief before everyone screamed yet again as the boys launched into 'No Rest', 'Unfamiliar', 'Hold You Under' and 'Regress'. Drummer Daniel Furnari mentioned during his interview with our very own Ebony Story backstage Good Things Fest last year - some of their older songs are deceptively hard to play, but tonight each member was tighter than a fish's stinkhole as they powered through their heaviest-hitting anthems while we all screamed the words back at them.
The Mortal Coil section was shortened to simply four banger tracks - including 'Lucid', 'Relapse', 'Consume' and 'The Remedy' with our original album reviewer Michael Parente present, screaming and sweating his way through the entirety of it too - back in 2017 he made the call that this band were going to blow up stating, 'I have no doubt Polaris will be entering the upper echelon of Australian metalcore – and I’m definitely along for the ride.' He was not only right about the band, but he was there lapping up every second of it alongside the sea of fans savouring every moment.
As the night progressed, so did the heat throughout The Triffid (no word of a lie, it was a sweatbox in there) and as 'Hypermania' (feat. Pridelands' Mason Bunt on guesties) and 'Masochist' kicked off TDoM section, the sing-a-longs were deafening and this poor sober old man started to see white - yep, I was passing out from exhaustion - and had to dive for the entrance in order to regain control of my body for a couple of songs. Following a few deep breaths (and a very scattered chat with a merch-slinging Jack Bergin keeping a close eye on me, thanks mate!), all you could hear was the crowd screaming at the top of their lungs, like some sort of cathartic experience within. 'Landmine' and 'All of This Is Fleeting' closed out the night of heavy hitters (with noticeably absent tracks 'Vagabond' and 'Above My Head' sitting this set out), the band thanked the crowd for their energy all night and supporting them along this journey before guitarists Ryan Siew and Rick Schneider, bassist Jake Steinhauser, Jamie and Dan saved the best for last - giving us all a taste of what's to come in the form of a brand new song they call 'Inhumane' - and holy shit - just watch the reactions of the crowd as they gave this track a debut spin in Brisbane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAPe-yds3Rs
What I loved observing about tonight's anniversary show was watching where fans joined in on this band's journey - for example only the true core fans who frothed the Dichotomy era knew the words and heavy parts of their earlier material, and with each release they played, more and more fans joined in the rowdiness. For me, my introduction to the band was during The Guilt & The Grief years before becoming a lifelong fan after the release of The Mortal Coil. Watching this band grow, including conducting various interviews with almost every member along the way (I'm coming for you Ryan hahaha), they have still remained some of the most humble humans and dedicated musicians I have ever met, making it a pleasure to write about them at any given time.
We probably won't get a tour like this from Polaris in a very long time, and it is your civil duty as fans to make sure you catch it in some capacity - because after this year, there is no way in hell they'll be playing venues this size, they're heading for arenas next and they have - without an ounce of doubt - earned it over these past 10 years.
LONG LIVE POLARIS!
Gig Review by Paul ‘Browny’ Brown @brownypaul
Photos by Sean Fabre-Simmonds. Insta: @seanfs_photo
Please credit Wall of Sound and Sean Fabre-Simmonds if you repost photos.
Pridelands
Void of Vision
Polaris
Polaris - 10 Year Anniversary Tour
w/ Void of Vision & Pridelands
