Review and Photography: Nate Rose

KHAN IS KING.

This has to be one of if not the biggest hardcore tour package of the year. The rise of Kublai Khan Tx in recent years is phenomenal. Their last headline shows on our shores were in small cap rooms to now filling arenas across the country on this run.

Terror, their name speaks for itself, they have been at the top of the Hardcore food chain for decades now, paving the way for the bands who follow.

Guilt Trip are clawing their way to the top at a rapid speed leaving crowds in awe of their live shows making their first trip down under a highly anticipated one.

Steel City’s own Splinter are a rising force to be reckoned with amongst the new generation of Hardcore in this country and make for a great addition to this stacked tour.

With this tour selling out all dates (with this show getting a venue upgrade and then selling that out) as well as Speed’s near sold out tour, which is happening around Australia at the same time, it’s a testament to how healthy the hardcore scene in Australia is right now and it doesn’t look like slowing down anytime soon.

Splinter kick off proceedings tonight to an already near full room. The band recently unleashed their EP ‘The Hill I’ll Die On’ to much fanfare, their spot on this huge bill is more than deserved.

Hailing from Steel City Newcastle the novacastrian’s blast straight into their metallic styled Hardcore getting the pit to open nice and early. Opening a show of this caliber would be a daunting task for some but the four-piece impressed with their aggressive, heavy and relentless sound setting the tone for the night and showing they can more than hold their own with the best of them.

Guilt Trip walk out on stage to fellow Manchester band Oasis’ ‘Morning Glory’ blasting over the P.A

‘Brisbane, open this fucking place up’ Guitarist Jak Madden demands as the band wastes no time setting the place alight with ‘Fallen at my Feet’. The Quartet’s live show is Hardcore at its best and one not to be missed.

Frontman Jay Valentine is a ball of energy running, spinning and kicking all over the stage while holding the crowd in the palm of his hands. It’s like a sauna tonight in the Tivoli but that doesn’t stop the jam-packed crowd from having fun with bodies flying over the crowd throughout the set.

‘Show me what you’re made of Brisbane’ Jay asks as Guilt Trip keep things moving through their highly anticipated set with tracks ‘Severance’ ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ and ‘Thin Ice’ all ensuing circle pits, crowd surfers and plenty of pit action. The wait was well worth it for Guilt Trip’s first outing to Australia but hopefully we don’t have to wait as long next time for their own Headlining tour.

The lights dim as DMX’s ‘Here we go again’ plays over the P.A, LA’s own Terror who are about to grace the stage are the epitome of Hardcore, Modern day Godfathers of the genre and vocalist Scott Vogel is the fucking man. He is the blueprint of a hardcore vocalist and someone who is revered and highly respected among the Hardcore community, from his days fronting Buffalo’s Buried Alive to Terror today.

‘Always against the odds, one with the underdogs’ Vogel opens with, as Terror fly into ‘One with the Underdogs’ and backing it straight up with ‘Spit my Rage’.

This is Hardcore at its finest and Terror are right at the top of their game.

The crowd is in frenzy from the opening chord and making note of the venue tonight Vogel states ‘I hate barricades let’s see the bodies fly over it, security is being really cool but let’s make them work I want to see more bodies in the air’ as they play the hard hitting ‘Always the hard way’.

Through the set it’s made clear of Terror’s disdain for barriers at hardcore shows, the crowd make sure that you wouldn’t even know there was a barrier. The set full of hits from their extensive catalogue ripping through the likes of ‘Pain into Power’ and ‘Overcome’.

‘Everybody at the front bounce with me’ as the band are joined by Destroy All Lines very own Ash Hull on vocals for ‘Keep your mouth shut’ and it’s safe to say Ash more than held his own.

Terror finished the set with their classic ‘Keepers of the faith’ and I just stood there with a smile from ear to ear knowing I just witnessed one of those special sets I will remember for the rest of time.

Now it was time for Kublai Khan Tx.

Having recently been here last September as supports for Polaris it was Kublai’s turn to show what they’ve got as headliners, and they did not disappoint.

‘We didn’t come here to fuck spiders Brisbane. This is Theory of Mind’ proclaimed frontman Matt Honeycutt. The band wasting no time kicking off their set as the whole venue shook with the crowd singing the opening lines ‘Monkey see, monkey do. So who the fuck made you?’

And from there you just knew this set was going to be something else. This was heavy on a whole other level with the band crushing through favourites ‘Low Tech’ ‘Self Destruct’ and ‘Taipan’.

The crowd jam packed into the venue like a can of sardines but that didn’t stop them from going absolutely H.A.M from start to finish. I don’t know how they did it after what they gave Terror, I was ready for bed from just watching them but they still had plenty left in the tank to give to Kublai. Kudos.

The band delivered one of the heaviest shows I have witnessed in recent times. Guitarist Nick Adams held it down with his aggressive riffs and powerful breakdowns and Matt’s pit calls were aplenty with his thick Texan accent I could have closed my eyes and thought I was listening to Stone Cold Steve Austin when he said things like ‘Where are my head banging bitches at?’ ‘A bit of Texas style baby’ and ‘This one goes out to Terror and all the ladies in the house’ as they were joined by Scott Vogel for Swan Song.

Rounding out the set with the brutal ‘The Hammer’ ‘Antpile’ and as promised if they sold out the upgraded venue ‘Antpile 2’ off their upcoming album ‘Exhibition of Prowess’ which is out September 20th via Rise Records.

Tonight, Kublai proved why they are one of the best heavy bands on the planet and overall, this show will go down as one of the contenders for Show of the Year. KHAN IS DEFINITELY KING.