02/12/2023 – By Sofia Silvestrini
December 05, 2023
A sea of black tees and denim vests poured into Centennial Park nice and early, sticky from sunscreen and humidity. Punters were keen for moshing, catch ups with gig mates and big singalongs and came armed with ponchos thanks to the storm warning. More on that later…
I caught Sydney’s Stand Atlantic first, who were decked out in green VB tracksuits and had pole dancers dressed in red join them on stage. The combination brought punk rock Xmas vibes. High energy and a range of the band’s big jams made for an excellent start to the day. I then ran over to main stage to catch the end of England’s Enter Shikari, who brought even more energy, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. They closed their set with the powerful one-two punch of ‘Sorry, You’re Not a Winner’ and ‘Live Outside’.
Aus alt-rockers Eskimo Joe were up next and had us all singing along to favourites from their back catalogue – ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’, ‘From the Sea’, and even ‘Sweater’!! Joel jumped behind the kit for that one. Smiles all round. The good vibes and nostalgia kept rolling in with Californians Pennywise, here on their 20th (!) tour of Australia. We love them, and they love us. Frenzal Rhomb’s Lindsay joined the band on stage for ‘Bro Hymn’, we copped their sweet cover of Men at Work’s ‘Down Under’, and the pit didn’t stop moving their whole set. Tight stuff from the legendary punks.
Next up was Melbourne’s Slowly Slowly. Exuding more confidence than ever (perhaps in part thanks to frontman Ben’s fresh hair cut? He is looking goooood), the boys treated us to a lot of tracks off latest LP, ‘Daisy Chain’, their most recent Like a Version (LAV) – Blink 182’s ‘I Miss You’; perfect for the Good Things crowd – and a few other fan faves, including ‘Jellyfish’. Ben didn’t stop moving all set – leaping, bounding, getting amongst the crowd. A delight to watch. Bonnie from Stand Atlantic was brought out on stage for co-singing duties on the LAV and also ‘Safety Switch’. She was a glorious addition to both tracks.
I raced over to Stage 4 for one of the heaviest, sweatiest sets of the day – Brazilian metal kings, Sepultura. Closer ‘Roots Bloody Roots’ was absolutely crushing. How was British metalcore act While She Sleeps gonna follow that?! Aggressively, it turns out; blasting onto the stage with opener ‘Sleeps Society’. Their set had a smattering of Architects and Prodigy vibes, and they were clearly stoked to be here.
Back to main stage for icon Corey motherf**kin’ Taylor, who gave the people what they wanted. We got Slipknot. We got Stone Sour. We clapped along to an INXS cover. CT even had us singing the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song! A great festival set. WA’s Jebediah was up next, opening with new jam ‘Gum Up the Bearings’ which sounded rad live. They then played hit after hit interlaced with quality banter (who was responsible for the lack of backdrop, playing between Sepultura and Boom Crash Opera was not on their 2023 bingo card, etc.). Jebs seem reinvigorated – I can’t wait for new album ‘OIKS’ to be unleashed early next year.
Taking Back Sunday took to the stage looking dapper in matching rust-coloured suits. The New Yorkers played a mix of their emo bangers and newer, stripped-back songs which made for an unusual festie set vibe. Personally – in the words of Regurgitator – I like your old stuff better than your new stuff, TBS. Save it for the sideys.
Didn’t have to wait long for energy levels and hype to soar again though, thanks to Detroit’s I Prevail who brought power and pyrotechnics to the main stage. The circle pits lapped up everything the band launched on them, including ‘Body Bag’, ‘Gasoline’ and a System of a Down cover – ‘Chop Suey!’. More please.
Tassie heroes Luca Brasi walked out to Shania Twain’s ‘Man, I Feel Like a Woman’, and kicked little signed footballs into the crowd. Punters frothed – who doesn’t love free shit? – and with that were ready to sing their hearts out to older jams like ‘Aeroplane’, fresh cuts off new LP ‘The World Don’t Owe You Anything’, and popular LAV ‘How to Make Gravy’. GRAVY!! LB fans are passionate ones, and you sure could feel the love at stage 5. Long live Luca Brasi.
Then it was time for the band that raised the most eyebrows when the Good Things line up was released – Devo. Energy domes on! We were not disappointed – several costume changes, incredible visuals, the big hits and more. A spectacular celebration of the new wavers’ 50 years, and the perfect way to say goodbye.
During Limp Bizkit we got double the ‘Break Stuff’ and double the boobs. Pity it wasn’t double the volume. Lack of noise didn’t stop the heaving pit though; we bounced the entire time to ‘My Generation’, ‘Nookie’, ‘Rollin’’ and you read correctly, ‘Break Stuff’ TWICE. Opening and closing with the same song was an interesting choice. Fred and co. were loads of fun though. I knew I’d be feeling this set in my neck and calves the next day. It was worth it – what a fun, sweary lil trip down memory lane back to the early naughties.
It was time for the last two acts of the night – or so I had planned. Spiderbait and Fall Out Boy were the last two highlighted rectangles on my timetable, with the NSW legends up first. Both acts only got a handful of songs into their set before we were told that due to lightning and an approaching thunderstorm, the festival was over and we needed to exit the venue quickly and calmly. That was it. A disappointing end to a wonderful day; especially for those that travelled far and wide just to catch FOB. Let’s hope the storms stay away next year.