LIVE REVIEW: A Day To Remember, Papa Roach + LANDMVRKS @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Words by Natalie Blacklock

Music has always been a pivotal force in my life; shaping moments, anchoring memories, and intensifying experiences in ways few other things can. For many ‘Millennials’, those connections often date back to formative adolescent years, making a bill like this an absolute must-see in 2026. Hybrid heavies A Day To Remember and nu-metal mainstays Papa Roach alongside French metalcore monsters LANDMVRKS joined forces for the ‘Big Rock Tour’; an epic 6-show run across Australia and New Zealand. There was certainly something in the air for the last night of the Australian leg of the tour, as it landed at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Sunday night with a sea of black t-shirts taking over ‘the swamp’, primed for one hell of a party.

Kicking things off were Marseille quintet, LANDMVRKS; known for their high-energy performances that combine raw intensity, crowd-driven energy, and seamless shifts between crushing heaviness and melodic hooks. Since forming in 2014, they’ve risen to become one of Europe’s most exciting acts in the metalcore scene. Opening with Creature from 2025’s ‘The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been’, the crowd was quickly taken by the five-piece’s sharp showmanship and precision.

Frontman Florent Salfati commanded the crowd to “Open the place up”, inciting a flurry of circle pits and crowdsurfers heading for the barrier for Sulfur. La Valse Du Temps (literal translation: The Waltz Of Time), showcased Frontman Salfati’s effortless transitions from French to English in his vocals, creating a striking juxtaposition that not only highlighted his vocal versatility but also enhanced the song’s emotional depth and dynamic storytelling. Rewinding to 2021’s ‘Lost In The Waves’, the band unleashed a powerful one-two punch with Lost In A Wave and Rainfall, driven by the combined force of Guitarists Nicolas Exposito and Paul Cordebard, alongside Bassist Rudy Purkart. Blood Red opened with softer vocals, as Frontman Florent Salfati, skilfully rapped in his mother-tongue—each syllable punching through in a way English simply could not replicate. Although this song was one of the ‘least heavy’ of the set, Salfati‘s call to “Take. Me. To. The. Darkest. Place. I’ve. Ever. Been.” hit incredibly hard.

Salfati rallied the crowd “You know the fucking words, let’s hear you one last time”, as the band closed their set with Self-Made Black Hole (which features vocals from Resolve’s Anthony Diliberto on record), driven by the raw intensity of Kevin D’Agostino’s thunderous, echoing Drums. Signing off with “Merci Beaucoup. See you all very very soon”, LANDMVRKS wowed the heaving Brisbane Entertainment Centre crowd with a short and sharp metalcore masterclass.

Since emerging in the early 1990’s, Californian nu-metal outfit Papa Roach have come to represent unwavering strength and resilience. Renowned for their dynamic approach to alternative and hard rock, the band have continually reinvented their sound while remaining grounded in their roots, embracing an ‘underdog’ spirit that still resonates on a mainstream scale. As the band opened their set with newer cut Even If It Kills Me, flames and vertical geysers of smoke surged into the rafters, pushing the show firmly into arena-level theatrics. A powerful one-two punch of fan favourites Blood Brothers and Dead Cell from their breakthrough 2000 album ‘Infest’ followed, with the crowd lapping up every second. Frontman Jacoby Shaddix told the screaming masses that “It was good to be back with my rowdy motherfuckers in Brisbane”. Proclaiming that he wanted to see an “Old school circle pit”, before leaving his bandmates to hold court on stage, Shaddix moved along the front barrier, through the moshpit, and up into the stands on both sides of the arena, high-fiving and embracing ecstatic fans without missing a beat of 2006 track…To Be Loved, which samples The Ramones’ iconic Blitzkrieg Bop. With his feet firmly back on Centre Stage, Shaddix declared that rock shows are not the place for demons, ordering the crowd to split down the middle so they can be “exorcised”. He urged fans to open the pit wall-to-wall before launching into Kill The Noise; “We’re gonna take those demons out and smash their fucking faces on this dancefloor… Are you ready?”.

Powering through Getting Away With Murder, taken from the 2004 album of the same name, Shaddix rallied the crowd “Put your horns up… now if you like what you hear, bang your heads!” A surprising cover of Tupac’s California Love brings a surge of party energy, giving Shaddix a chance to introduce the band; Jerry Horton (Guitar), Tobin Esperance (Bass), Tony Palermo (Drums) as well as touring member Anthony Esperance (Guitar / Keyboard); while the moshers broke into a spontaneous Macarena flashmob in the middle of the pit. Getting back to business, Frontman Jacoby Shaddix asked the crowd “Are you ready to level the fuck up with Papa Roach?”, as the band launched into Liar from 2022’s ‘Ego Trip’. Before the song was out, he commanded the room to get down low, with the arena crouching down in unison and erupting as one as the track crashed back in. Keeping the energy high, the set rolled straight into the stadium-rock coded Falling Apart, from 2015 record ‘F.E.A.R’. Silence fell over the crowd as a video package of Shaddix played across the big screen, addressing the difficult subject of mental health; urging everyone to look out for one another and seek help when needed. It is also announced that the band will be making a donation to a local suicide prevention charity in the name of the evening’s show. At its conclusion, the band returned, armed with Acoustic Guitars for a stripped-back rendition of Leave A Light On (Talk Away The Dark), as the audience illuminated the arena with phone torches (and even a lighter or two)— “For the ones we’ve lost and for the ones left behind”. Following on with Scars, Shaddix’s vocals drew the crowd deep into the song’s vulnerability. Still widely regarded as one of Papa Roach’s most emotionally charged tracks, the lights softened as the opening Guitar riff cut through, and the whole arena sang together as one. Help from 2017’s ‘Crooked Teeth’ lent itself perfectly to crowd participation with the request to “Help us out singing this one” answered loud and clear. Recent track, Braindead, set to appear on the band’s forthcoming record, leaned into a heavier edge—Cowbell and all—with the recording featuring Toby Morse from New York hardcore punk outfit H2O.

Shaddix urged the crowd to “Turn it up again,” asking, “Can we get this motherfucker bouncing, ya cunts?” before unleashing the in-your-face guitar riffage and slick, neon-toned choruses of Born For Greatness. After briefly leaving the stage to the strains of Hank Williams’ Hey, Good Lookin’, serving as a loose end-of-set transition into the encore, Papa Roach returned for just a few more. Between Angels and Insects hit as the set neared its climax, the aptly named “Nu Metal Time Machine” threatened to steal the show with Papa Roach paying tribute to the genre’s legacy with rapid-fire nods to Korn (Blind), Deftones (My Own Summer (Shove It)), Limp Bizkit (Break Stuff), System Of A Down (Chop Suey)… and, unexpectedly, The Wiggles (Fruit Salad), to rapturous applause from the crowd. The set closed on the band’s explosive, era-defining anthem Last Resort, undeniably eclipsing every scream-along that came before, combining rap-rock aggression with emotionally charged lyrics we’ve come to know and love. Having weathered highs and lows to emerge stronger than ever, Papa Roach delivered a blistering hour-and-fifteen-minute set that felt like an old-fashioned rock show; with commanding stage presence, high-octane theatrics and unrelenting crowd engagement, they left the crowd on a high.

Since forming in the early 2000s, Floridian natives A Day To Remember have formidably expanded the musical landscape, with their signature blend of potent pop-punk and heaving metalcore catapulting them from the underground into international headliner status. As pioneers of pop-mosh and one of the cornerstones of the alternative scene, ADTR have shared the stage with a litany of ‘Millennial’ icons including Bring Me The Horizon, New Found Glory and Yellowcard, as well as homegrown heavyweights Parkway Drive, refining a live show that is second to none. Joined on stage by a handful of fans, plucked from the nosebleeds and their far-from-ideal seats, A Day To Remember received a ‘Heroes Welcome’, soundtracked by the theme from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Wasting no time, the familiar strains of “Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, da-da, da-da” – the ultimate millennial pop-punk “call to arms” – echoed through the crowd as the band launched into 2009’s Downfall Of Us All. Charismatic as ever, Frontman Jeremy McKinnon told the crowd “Brisbane, I don’t know about you but I’m fucking feeling it tonight! Talk is cheap, put your money where your mouth is…” before unleashing ‘Homesick’ era favourite I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?, the title of which comes from an exchange between the Theodore Roosevelt wax figure (played by Robin Williams) and Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) in 2006’s Night At The Museum.

2nd Sucks from 2010 record ‘What Separates Me From You’ highlights the band’s heavier side. Frontman McKinnon told the crowd he wanted “To see as many people crowdsurfing as possible” for 2013’s Right Back At It Again – the first song released by the band after their triumphant lawsuit with former label, Victory Records. The crowd delivered with plenty of eager crowdsurfers and even a couple of ‘human surfboards’ emerging through the flurry of confetti raining down across the pit. The full stadium spectacle erupted for Bad Blood, with massive screens unleashing volcanic waves of blood and gore over the ADTR logo. McKinnon confidently told the crowd that that we “Needed to see the biggest circle pit that Brisvegas is gonna see all year”, with the crowd giving nothing less for the hard and fast Paranoia, from 2013’s ‘Bad Vibrations’. ADTR’s latest record ‘Big Ole Album Vol. 1’ joined the chat, with Miracle, quickly followed up with All My Friends – a song labelled as “the perfect crossover song”, when McKinnon asked the crowd who came to the show with their mates, and who just came to drink. The song had everything, Super Mario on stage firing a t-shirt cannon into the crowd, another explosion of confetti and red solo cups doing the rounds on stage.

Have Faith In Me was dedicated to the ladies, who were encouraged to get up on someone’s shoulders and sing along if they knew the words. Flowers, a newer cut from 2025’s ‘Big Ole Album Vol. 1’, was a slower and sentimental moment with Frontman Jeremy McKinnon telling the crowd that this was the band’s chance to say “thank you” as he reminisced on ADTR’s rich history in Australia since the very beginning, noting that they “Don’t take this for granted”, highlighting the importance of “Appreciating shit before it’s too late”. Heading back to 2009’s ‘Homesick’ record, it was time to wake up and DISRESPECT OUR SURROUNDINGS with Mr. Highway’s Thinking About the End, expertly led by Alex Shelnutt’s ferocity on the Drums. Keeping the energy high, McKinnon and co. orchestrated a moshpit basketball competition, pitting Stage Left and Stage Right against each other for LeBron, featuring two basketball hoops, basketball-themed beach balls and even custom ADTR post-pads. Ultimately, the legends of Stage Left were labelled the victors, with slightly better aim than their Stage Right compatriots. A personal highlight for this reviewer was All I Want from 2010’s ‘What Separates Me From You’. Seeing it again in full flight brought back memories of Soundwave Festival 2014, when ADTR hit Stage 2 at 4pm on a scorching Brisbane afternoon. The already packed Main Stage ‘D’ (ask your parents, if you don’t remember!) only added to the chaos. I still remember jumping the fence that separated the ‘D’ from the general crowd as they launched into All I Want – and 12 years later, I’d still do it all over again for this track… 10/10, no notes!

Monument, was dedicated to the lads from LANDMVRKS (who had to leave early from the Sydney show and missed its tour debut) and The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle from 2007’s ‘For Those Who Have Heart’ got the crowd on their feet once again. McKinnon armed with an acoustic guitar, accompanied by Lead Guitarist Kevin Skaff, kicked off the ‘encore’ portion of the set, exclaiming “Fuck encores. We’re just gonna play 3 more songs for ya”, riffing on the ever-polarising Photograph by Nickelback, before breaking the seal wide open on the crowd’s emotions with If It Means A Lot To You, narrating McKinnon‘s experience while he is away touring and cannot be with his loved ones. The pummelling breakdown and anthemic chorus of Resentment took hold, giving the crowd one last chance to get heavy and sweaty. Rounding out their epic set, ADTR end on All Signs Point to Lauderdale, a top-of-your-lungs screamer exploring hometown frustration and the desire to escape… something that I’m sure a lot of Brisbanites can draw parallels with; “I hate this town, it’s so washed up // And all my friends don’t give a fuck // Don’t tell me that it’s just bad luck // When will I find where I fit in?, as the crew and support acts alike got in on “teepeeing” the stage with toilet paper and green and white streamers exploded into the crowd – dripping from the lighting rigs above. Not one to leave without one last word, McKinnon announced that ‘Big Ole Album Vol. 2’ will be released before the year is out. Another album surely means another excuse to bring the chaos back Down Under, and rest assured, we’ll be right there waiting for it!

Destroy All Lines Presents

A DAY TO REMEMBER & PAPA ROACH
‘BIG ROCK TOUR’
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS LANDMVRKS

General tickets on sale via www.destroyalllines.com

~~SATURDAY 4 APRIL – RAC ARENA, PERTH~~
~~MONDAY 6 APRIL – AEC ARENA, ADELAIDE~~
~~WEDNESDAY 8 APRIL – ROD LAVER ARENA, MELBOURNE~~
~~FRIDAY 10 APRIL – QUDOS BANK ARENA, SYDNEY~~
~~SUNDAY 12 APRIL – BRISBANE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, BRISBANE~~
WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL – SPARK ARENA, AUCKLAND