Review: Jack Price
Photography: JD Garrahy

Love him or hate him, Ronnie Radke is at the very least great for the economy. Great ticket sales across the board for the entire Popular Monstour, additional security at the gate to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, decent merch at… Well… there’s merch. All these extra jobs he’s created. What’s not to like?

Despite the controversy surrounding the opinionated frontman, the Brisbane Entertainment Centre is virtually packed with spare seats few and far between. Being the last leg of the Australian Popular Monstour, Brisbane showed the fuck up! Merch-hunters were doing a quick in and out, shirts and cowboy hats in hand, back to the car for safe keeping.

First to hit the stage are the masked hip-hop rockers Hollywood Undead, unmasked and ready to roll. “What is up my Aussies?!” screamed Funny Man as the 6 band members took to the stage, jumping straight into California Dreaming from 2017’s Five.

CHAOS and Riot are next with added vocals and tambourine provided by the band’s guitar tech, the mystery man adorned with a gold crown and flowing white hair.

“It’s good to be back, it’s been a while” Charlie Scene addressed the crowd, cracking jokes before pulling a fan from the crowd to join them on stage for Coming In Hot, a young man by the name of Hunter (Good on ya, Hunter!).

Despite being the opening act, Hollywood Undead’s performance could have easily taken second place on the bill, sounding bigger than their studio recordings, polished and perfected. The unique swapping of guitars mid-song for the next member to do their part is perfectly executed with precision, never missing a beat the entire set.

The set was a walk through the band’s discography, speckled with comedic quips from the sharp-witted Charlie, a Bon Jovi vocal solo from drummer Special Tony, and a cover of Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline which led into Bullet, the happiest sad song ever written.

Crowd favorites Everywhere I Go and Undead, which was dedicated to the headliners, rounded out the almost too good to be an opening act on such a stellar bill. With their own show the following night at The Tivoli, I hope the Hollywood Undead boys kept some energy for the fans attending. I hope they come back again soon, don’t sleep on Undead if they do!

After a short break, it was time for the next act. True to form, theatrics ensured as Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach echoed throughout the Entertainment Centre amidst the growing cheers from the crowd.

A red glow blanketed the stage as the Black Veil Brides took their places in the gloom. Opening with their classic track Knives and Pens, guitarists Jinxx and Jake Pitts stood back to back dueling, while frontman Andy Biersack smirked between lines of vocals. The prowess and power of the frontman were insane, with such projection making the singer hold the mic a foot from his face.

“We are the Black Veil Brides and we are very happy to be here with you,” stated Andy, in a way that made him sound like an old-timey radio presenter. “We’re going to play a new song called Bleeders and it goes like this.” While it was nice of him to address the punters between tracks, it seemed forced and rehearsed.

He did pay respects to Hollywood Undead and gave praise to Falling In Reverse, advising the crowd it would be “the best show you’re ever gonna see” before delving into Faithless, followed by Coffin.

Biersack performs in the manner of a clergyman conducting a sermon, his flock hanging on his every word and move. The show-stealing stagemanship of the frontman doesn’t take away from his bandmates, with Jinxx and Pitts rocking out with bassist Lonny Eagleton around the frontman and drummer Christian Coma driving the set from the rear of the stage.

“Thank you so much, you’ve been so fucking kind to us” toted the frontman before playing another crowd fav, In The End.

The unmistakable riff of AC/DC’s Highway To Hell erupted from the PA system as a live stream of the band played on the backdrop as they made their way to the stage, the one and only Ronnie Radke leading the charge. On brand for the frontman but unusual for a band of such acclaim, Radke is first to take to the stage, a single blue spotlight illuminating he and the mic stand.

The distinct strumming cello of Prequel began to start the set, Ronnie planted center stage, his band members joining him shortly after. The air was positively electric, and considering how much hate the vocalist receives online, not a single person at this show was there to show anything less than love.

After the first track, Radke had a chance to throw a few Oh Shit’s out in excitement to the crowded center before jumping straight into Zombified, sending the crowd completely mental. Adding fuel to the fire (literally) were the pyrotechnic display across the stage, erupting heat across the crowd. Even the seated area got the warmth!

Radke’s stage presence and performance were outstanding, the rest of the band were absolutely flawless with backing vocals from bassist Tyler Burgess, not only providing extra layers to the performance but showing his practiced and just as polished vocal abilities alongside the frontman.

Not one to shy away from his past, Ronnie wasn’t afraid to have fun with older tracks like I’m Not A Vampire complete with dressing room mirror-style lights surrounding the massive screens on both sides of the stage, The Drug In Me Is You, and Just Like You, providing an opportunity for the frontman to get his sillies out before heavier and more serious tracks such as Loosing My Mind, Voices In My Head, and Popular Monster which Radke told the crowd was to release all the PTSD and depressive thoughts bottled up inside, stating “We’re letting all that out together. You ready?”

Feeling the love in the room, the blunt but comedic frontman gave the seated punters some grief saying with a smile, “Don’t sit here, in these seats. It’s fuckin stupid. Well come back, a bigger venue, okay?” The band then retreated from the stage, Ronnie joking that it took longer for the punters to get here than they performed. The camera followed a ginger roadie around, making grunts and vocalizations which the crowd echoed back as he made his way to the sound desk.

This spectacle had been a diversion to get the band to the same secure area as the camera panned around to Burgess for NO FEAR which they performed as they walked through the crowd and back to the stage, punters stretching to get past the security guards to get a little touch of the frontman.

Say what you want about his views and pseudo-arrogance, there were two honest and heartfelt moments in the set that showed a real part of Ronnie Radke. The first was an off-the-cuff speech thanking his crew, his bandmates, and the fans, his eyes noticeably welling up as the cameras followed him across the stage. The second moment was him shutting down the crowd’s request for him to remove his shirt. Ronnie refused, stating “Scuse me, bitch? We don’t like that shit. There are kids here, don’t be gross,” as he moved the focus onto the younger fans and waving to them directly, emphasizing the fact that there is a time and place, and this was neither.

After donning his signature black cowboy hat, Radke announced “Oh, what’s this? A cowboy hat? You guys are going to see the most American thing an Emo band has ever done” as All My Life started up. The crowd pleaser had the entire Entertainment Centre singing along, with little to no encouragement from the band.

Obviously stoked with the quality of the crowd, Ronnie addressed them saying, “I’m all about the energy. I’m no fucking hippy but you guys are giving me something real special right now.” Getting back into what Ronnie absolutely does best, the satirical Bad Guy was up next before the frontman reminisced about the last time he performed in Australia at Soundwave.

A black leather platform boot appeared on stage as the crowd egged him on to do a shoey. “Fuck that, I’m not drinking from that fucking thing. I don’t give a fuck about your culture,” joked Radke as the crowd chanted. “I don’t do what you say, you do what I fucking say.”

The set was huge with its stacked setlist, pyrotechnics, theatrical display of music videos that were perfectly timed with the band’s performance, Radke’s onstage display, and crowd interaction. Arguably their heaviest track, Ronald (with recorded vocals from Tech N9ne and Alex Terrible) and critically acclaimed Watch The World Burn closed off the set. The vocalist gave a passionate speech, stating that Falling In Reverse had only just started and they were “not going to fucking stop.

We’re sick of mediocrity, aren’t we? We need bangers and that’s exactly what I’m gonna fucking do for you motherfuckers! Can we take a picture?” Radke said in typical form, swapping from aggressive positivity (which I believe is the reason he gets so much hate due to it being misconstrued as arrogance) to polite and happy. After grabbing their snap with the audience’s phone lights illuminating the room, he wished everyone a good night and safe travels home.

In the words of Falling In Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke, Rock and Roll is alive and well. Tonight’s show demonstrated exactly that. With its roots stemming from blues and progressively spawning the plethora of genres we all define our tastes on, it makes sense that the blending of musical styles comes together as shown by Hollywood Undead with their metal-infused hip-hop, the gothic rock of Black Veil Brides, and the blurred, unidentifiable constructs of the beast that is Falling In Reverse. Welcome to the Cult Of Radke, Brisbane!