Review: Alison Gustavson
Photography: Nate Rose

After 12 years as a band, Friday night was Brisbane’s chance to say goodbye to Aussie metal royalty Void Of Vision on the What I’ll Leave Behind tour. Putting together a stacked lineup with Knosis, UNITYTX, and Gideon, it was a bittersweet night with plenty of moshing, two-stepping, and crowdsurfing.

Although this tour is their first time in Australia, most of the crowd was already familiar with Knosis from frontman Ryo Kinoshita’s days in Crystal Lake. It’s no surprise the band got one hell of a warm Aussie welcome. With a circle pit opening up within the first handful of songs, even those at the back of the room were violently banging their heads. From the band’s performance to the sound and the lighting, nothing about their time on stage felt like an opening band – in fact it felt like a headline show in itself.

Next up was UNITYTX and if I thought that Knosis raised those energy levels through the roof, then these guys took the roof off entirely. Their mix of bouncy riffs and rapped vocals had the audience bouncing for as far as the eye could see, and even their so-called Hip-Hop track earned them a range of stank-faces throughout the crowd. Hearing the studio recordings, I was excited to see how this band translated live and I was not disappointed.

As the night progressed, we all knew what was coming next and we didn’t need to see the infamous cowboy hat to know that it was time for the one and only Gideon. Opening with No Love/No One, it instantly became clear how many people were there to see these Alabamian legends. I’ve followed these guys for a few years and have watched countless videos of them live, but none of them do justice to the amount of fun, energy, and professionalism this band brings to their live performances.

From drummer Jake Smelley somehow sounding even tighter than on the records themselves to bassist Caleb DeRusha and guitarist Tyler Riley making those riffs hit like a freight train, you couldn’t help but move. This must have been unanimous amongst the crowd since Gideon earned the biggest circle pit of the night, opening up from the barrier to the sound desk. Daniel McWhorter’s beastly vocals only seemed to inspire the crowd to grow louder with each song, and it wasn’t hard to see how much Brisbane loves this band and their cowboy boots.

I don’t think any of us were ready to say goodbye to a band that means so much to so many, but it was finally time to see our boys in Void Of Vision perform for one last time. Donning the same headpiece as on the album cover, vocalist Jack Bergin kicked things off with the live debut of Beautiful Things.

This was one of many songs throughout the night which highlighted just how far Bergin’s vocals have progressed over the years, and it is nothing short of inspirational. With the rest of the band joining him onstage for Oblivion, there was no stopping the crowd. Everyone was off either off their feet or headbanging the moment that iconic intro began, and despite it being 100 degrees in the venue, there was no way that was going to slow us metalheads down.

Keeping things going with another track off What I’ll Leave Behind, Blood For Blood was up next. If it was humanly possible, the mosh only seemed to get rowdier for this one. Being up against the barricade, I looked up to see a handful of kids on the balcony having the time of their lives and it was incredibly special to see the range of young and old metalheads alike saying farewell to such an amazing band.

Turning back the clock, Void took us on a journey through the band’s history with tracks like BERGHAIN, Decay, and a snippet of Kill All My Friends. For the first time in 7 years, we got to hear Sunrise and one of the first-ever Void songs: Nightmare. Speeding it up a little, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one grinning nonstop throughout the Broken // Bones banger. The crowd only became even more alive with these oldies, and it was easy to see how many of us have been along for the journey since the early days.

Hearing Ghost In The Machine and Angel of Darkness live one last time, it was amazing to witness how far this band has come over the years. From seeing them live as an opening support in 2018 at The Amity Affliction’s Heaven And Hell Festival to headlining their final tour at The Tivoli, their ability to consistently put on enjoyable shows and connect with their audience will leave them sorely missed.

Closing the set with ‘the heaviest song [they’ve] ever written’, THE LONELY PEOPLE, and Empty, old and new Void fans came together to give them a fitting send-off. From a room full of people jumping and headbanging for the 3 minutes of THE LONELY PEOPLE to 1500 people overpowering Bergin’s vocals in Empty and no doubt exceeding the decibel limit on the venue, everyone left with a smile on their face.

After the show, Bergin stayed back to say goodbye to the fans and it wasn’t difficult to see how much he means to so many. With a line that extended from the merch table to almost out the door of The Tivoli, he stayed back to meet each and every person. The mark that he and Void have left on the metal community and the industry is undoubtable, and we look forward to following his journey on Triple J’s Core.

Be sure to catch Void Of Vision, Gideon, UNITYTX, and Knosis on this killer tour – it’s one that you don’t want to sleep on!

 – GALLERY –