FESTIVAL REVIEW: Good Things Festival @ Brisbane Showgrounds – 07/12/2025

Words by Samantha Wolstenholme

Photography by Tam Schilling | @tamcamimages_ + Isis Tortora | @isisxamber

It’s early December in Brisbane, the sweat is dripping off our backs, and our Doc Martens have become just that much more unbearable to wear – that means it’s festival season for the metal contingent among us. And today, we’re gearing up for the sixth iteration of the Good Things festival tour, which has come to be the staple alternative music festival event of our annual gig calendars and takes place at RNA Showgrounds once again for the Brisbane leg of the tour. This year, despite multiple last-minute cancellations of drawcard bands on the lineup, the festival promises an extravaganza of heavy music catering to a variety of tastes, headlined by the mystic Tool and featuring everything from pop punk to comedy thrash and face-melting deathcore. Safe to say, there won’t be a dull moment. 

As first cab off the ranks, Sydney metalcore quartet Inertia provide a crushingly heavy start to the day. The live mix is a tad on the boomy side, with feedback somewhat distorting the guitars and partially drowning out frontman Julian Latouche’s searing vocals. However, punters who are eager to get stuck into the mosh remain unperturbed, and before long, Latouche successfully achieves the first wall of death of the day, and it’s barely gone lunchtime. We cycle through the gamut of mosh pits, with circle pits, jump pits and even a disco break that crashes into a djenty breakdown, all fuelled by a punishing setlist featuring tracks from their recent album ‘Second Shadow’ as well as a new track to whet fans’ appetites.

Inertia photos by Tam Schilling

Rising Barbiecore sensation Scene Queen has flown all the way from New York only to be saddled with a short and early set for this tour, but her bombastic, uncompromising yet hilarious performance demonstrates that she should be far further up the bill. In just 30 minutes, she racks up more zingers than I can keep up with – pearler examples include “Who came to this set because you love bad bitches? Well, this track is about three bad bitches in a shower,” – and as she struts up and down the stage, clad in a spangly pink crop top, she is a feminist force to be reckoned with. Opening up the mosh with what she coins as a “twerkle pit” feels oddly inclusive. Scene Queen’s chaotic charisma and her thrashy, bratty, Limp Bizkit meets Poppy sound belies the crucial messages that she imparts with her art – everything from calling out grooming in the pop punk scene, to sexism in music and transphobia. She’s the glitterbomb antithesis to gatekeeping culture that any metal festival lineup, and heavy music in general, needs more of.

Scene Queen photos by Isis Tortora

I hightail it back to the heavy stages to catch Windwaker’s set. No stranger to Aussie heavy festival sets now, the Melburnian dynamos are greeted with a deafening welcome cheer from the considerably larger crowd as they rip right into fan favourite SIRENS, and it’s rage rave mode engage. The mosh starts to get messy during the sonic hurricane that is Fractured State of Mind, and whoever’s in charge of the live mix has noticeably corrected prior issues, as frontman Liam Guinane’s vocals soar above the din of punchy guitars, piercing synths and driving drums. The quintet deliver a high-octane, electrifying performance complete with an epic light show and liberal use of the smoke machine, and there’s a joyful vibe in the mosh as this futuristic heavy disco gets us grooving. It’s easy to see why these guys are appearing on more and more festival lineups, because between the music, the production value and their energetic delivery, it’s party metal for sure.

Aussie early-2010s rock fans rejoice, because Tonight Alive are back from a 5-year hiatus and they are better than ever! Refreshed and renewed after their time away from the stage, the quintet powers through their bright, bubbly brand of pop punk rock with an exuberance that reflects the sunny day outside. Their last show was their appearance at the very first Good Things in 2018, and they are clearly ecstatic to be back. Jenna McDougall proves she’s still very much a powerhouse vocalist, her crystal-clear belts reverberating through the stage area. She remarks on how happy she is to see so many powerful women and Australian bands represented on this festival tour lineup, and I couldn’t agree more. Best-loved hits including World Away, Crack My Heart, and The Fire pack a punch, and for their cover of Mumford and Sons’ Little Lion Man, McDougall calls for the crowd to form a conga line in a “party pit” – an order that is enthusiastically followed. It’s a fantastic comeback set for the Aussie rock legends.

Tonight Alive photos by Tam Schilling

Californian post-hardcore luminaries Dayseeker have shot to viral prominence in recent years, and they amass a packed-out crowd to prove it. Legions of devoted fans are rapt from the first word of opening track Pale Moonlight, and after the brightness of Tonight Alive’s set, Dayseeker are determined to immerse us all in delicious, bittersweet midnight with their darkly romantic set of synthy core ballads. This band is the A Day To Remember for Gen Z – hook-driven, poppy sadcore for a new generation of lovers deep in the thrall of complicated emotions. Subdued lighting, a sunset digital backdrop and layers of shimmering synths add finesse and polish to the arresting performance, with curiously anthemic numbers Burial Plot, Crawl Back To My Coffin, and Without Me rousing crowd sing-alongs. It’s a low-key set from the quartet today that gives us a moment to catch our breath before more mayhem ensues.

Scene Queen photos by Isis Tortora

In what is possibly the most bizarre programming decision ever made, the moment Dayseeker wraps up, we now cut to the unhinged degeneracy of Gwar on the neighbouring stage. Launching into crude bestiality jokes right off the bat, the shock rock collective delivers theatrical, costumed comedy thrash chaos that must be seen to be believed. The crowd for Gwar is even more packed than it was for Dayseeker, though this isn’t too surprising, as they provide bloodthirsty wish-fulfilment carnage for everyone who is disillusioned with corrupt institutions (so, pretty much all metalheads). There’s a recurring gag involving a dinosaur and a crack-filled syringe, and there’s the customary (for Gwar standards) violent defilement of certain reviled public figures. Punters near the front almost immediately cop a faceful of the fake blood that is projectile spurting from the obscenities on stage. I feel sorry for any families who have brought underage children along, and sure enough, I spot a few leaving once the desecration of a papier-mache priest begins. Lead guitarist Grodius Maximus blisters through some impressive shreddy solos amidst all the mayhem, and with that horrendous costume, mentally I’m bestowing him the nickname “Shreddy Krueger”.

Gwar photos by Tam Schilling

I cross back to the main stage arena to witness the mighty Machine Head in action, and almost 35 years into their career and one member down, the boys are ripping it up. The band has embarked on this festival tour without guitarist Reece Scruggs, who is currently caring for his ailing father, but the remaining trio are more than doing their music justice with this performance. The mosh is a little tame to begin with, as the live mix is a little unbalanced, with piercing drums blaring and guitars not carrying through. However, soon enough, the sound levels are rectified, and fists are raised en masse in the crowd to bangers such as Ten Ton Hammer and Choke on the Ashes of Your Hate, the latter of which opens up the circle pit even before the first note is struck. Rabid double kicks and shreddy chromatic riffs, combined with a flame video backdrop, are deeply appropriate for a scorching Brisbane summer metal festival. And almost as if the band has read my mind, pyro plumes burst from the stage, heightening the theatricality of the set. The legendary Robb Flynn seems to have a soft spot for Australia, as he remarks that he wrote Outsider when he was previously sojourning here. Punters are kangaroo tailing their shirts in the air, and the circle pit seethes as closing track Davidian rounds out this fiery set from the heavy metal kings.

Maryland emo rockers All Time Low are next up in the main arena, in another jarring change of pace. I’m happy to report that they benefit from a much-improved live mix overall throughout their set, with crunchy guitars and a crisp snare tone rendering their popcorn punk sound much heavier in a live setting. The quintet has decked out the stage like a kids’ playground, with colourful risers and 8-bit video game backdrops, echoing the uplifting vibes of their best-loved catalogue of Millennial emo hits. Frontman Alex Gaskarth compliments the reasonably rowdy crowd that “this is the best show of the 3 so far on this tour”, though I feel the best crowd reactions are to come with what I suspect will be the closing track. Gaskarth bids everyone in the mosh get on their friends’ shoulders for Something’s Gotta Give, and catchy numbers such as Damned if I Do Ya, Damned if I Don’t, Timebomb, and Lost in Stereo have fans woo-girling. But this is nothing to the deafening crowd sing-along for Dear Maria, Count Me In. The emergence of giant inflatable tube men on stage, flapping in the wind, is an amusing touch.

All Time Low photos by Tam Schilling

It’s now time for Garbage to take the stage, a hotly anticipated event for a multitude of reasons currently. Given the recent beach ball-induced controversy, I’m intrigued to see how, or even if, the iconic Shirley Manson will address this in tonight’s performance. And I must give kudos to her chutzpah and unshakeable confidence, built over decades of hard work dismantling the patriarchy in music. She marches on stage and addresses it from her first breath, altering the opening line of There’s No Future In Optimism to “If you’re ready for balls”. It’s admirable how she’s owning it, as more beach balls than I have ever seen at any music festival are suddenly launched into the air, and many are even flung directly onto the stage. But Manson and the band are unfazed as they power through a set of their greatest hits. Manson’s vocals are on point during Hold, her soaring highs contrasting with warm lows. She announces that the band are dedicating tonight’s set to a superfan of 30 years who sadly passed away yesterday. I think that fan would have been proud, and certainly stoked with the set choices – Stupid Girl and Cherry Lips take me right back to my childhood, and with neon light sequences, it’s a proper 90s industrial nighttime vibe.

Garbage photos by Tam Schilling

Back at the heavy stages, Make Them Suffer begin their aural assault, opening with Ghost of Me to an absolutely raucous mosh. The Perth metalcore juggernauts deliver a truly electrifying, exhilarating set, as I have come to expect from them. In terms of production value, stagecraft and sheer performance energy, they are remarkably consistent. It’s like a bomb has gone off in this room, as strobe effects and futuristic neon video backdrops bolster the vitality and aggression of their seemingly endless breakdowns. Gargantuan guitar chugs, blistering drums and feral screams fuel the mayhem in the mosh, with unholy circle pits breaking out left, right, and centre to belters such as Bones, Mana God and Epitaph. After a giant wall of death surges, Erase Me features a surprise cameo from none other than Lorna Shore’s Will Ramos to cover the harsh vocal parts originally supplied by Courtney LaPlante, and his searing pig squeals will remain burned into my memory. Rounding out the set with Doomswitch, the crowd surfers come out in full force, and all I can say is, Make Them Suffer, you’ve done it again.

Make Them Suffer’s set has paved the way very nicely indeed for the headlining set of the heavy stages – the inimitable Lorna Shore. If I could only pick one word to describe the deathcore titans’ sound in a live setting, it would be “cataclysm”. The quintet whips up a merciless hurricane from the first blast beat, and I stand completely in awe of the technical proficiency of every member of this band. Will Ramos deservedly receives widespread praise and spotlight, as he is arguably the best extreme vocalist in the world right now – certainly the most technically accomplished and versatile. This is very much on display tonight as he darts from earsplitting pig squeals to inhumanly deep growls faster than you can blink. Guitarists Adam De Micco and Andrew O’Connor and bassist Michael Yager showcase blindingly blistering shredding chops, often in tandem, and Austin Archey’s relentless blast beats are a wonder to behold. Everyone in the crowd forgets to mosh at first, so transfixed are they by the earth-shattering sound, but soon enough, there’s a colossal crowd split for a room-wide wall of death and abundant crowd surfers during Sun//Eater.

Lorna Shore photos by Isis Tortora

Regrettably, I can’t be in two places at once, so I have to leave Lorna Shore early to catch a decent amount of Tool’s set. It’s strikingly different vibes here, but captivating nonetheless as I walk into a spectacle of psychedelic neon visuals and meandering progressive guitar chugs, with Maynard’s silky vocals dancing through the arena. The effect is hypnotising, imparting an almost preternatural, primordial mood; the earthy quality of the music has a way of taking us back to where it all began. However, the addition of frequent laser lights imbues a layer of grandeur in the performance, and I’m reminded of how Maynard has remarked in the past that he intends for a Tool live set to be more of a performance art experience. Crowd favourite, Pneuma, rouses cheers and features a guitar synth pedal effect that sounds curiously like a theremin. For Prison Sex, Maynard asks everyone in the crowd who is 23 or under to raise their hands, commenting that “the last time we performed this on tour, you weren’t even sperm yet”. Hitting us with Vicarious gives the ‘10,000 Days’ fans the fix we needed.

Good Things really was filled with good things for Brisbane’s heavy music lovers this year, bringing us a diverse array of fresh, up-and-coming talent and beloved, enduring favourites. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year – long may this festival reign!

Tool photos by Tam Schilling

Thanks to Dallas Does PR + Destroy All Lines