Words by Ben Russell
Photos by Sarah Gilpin
Special thank you to The Phoenix AU
It’s been a huge 12 months for Avatar with the band dropping their latest album Don’t Go In The Forest October last year, embarking on multiple tours and festivals… Even finding time to join Pantera, Gojira and Knocked Loose for a run of stadium shows in support of Metallica’s European M72 World Tour but still the band shows no sign of slowing down.
After the glowing reception Avatar received on their debut Australian tour in 2023, it was only a matter of time before the band brought their unique theatrical brand of heavy metal back to our shores. Thankfully the wait wasn’t too long with the Don’t go in the forest 26 tour stopping off at Australia & New Zealand with support from Sydney’s Pyrefly (Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane shows), who clearly must have impressed after filling in as Sydney supports at the last minute on the 2023 Avatar tour. Lastly, they have New Zealand’s Bulletbelt providing the support act for their Auckland show.
Tonight hordes of heavy metal fans descend on Brisbane’s Princess Theatre to catch the last show of the Australian leg of this tour. As the queue begins to form ahead of doors opening it’s truly impressive just how many fans have gotten into the Avatar spirit and applied full dark clown hybrid themed face makeup and matching outfits; a sight to behold from those watching from the hospital precinct directly across the road I’m sure!
PYREFLY kick off the night with a bang, immediately bringing the energy and massive riffs of Foreward, Lost & Numbered, the opening trio of tracks from their Lost & Found album, which launches the crowd into the first of many circle pits for the night. The ‘time to circle pit’ (if TTCP isn’t a standard unit of measurement, it should be), for this evening is crazy fast. Pyrefly don’t let up in the second half of their 30 minute set with Blind keeping the energy going, an absolute banger cover of Madonnas Like A Prayer and closing out with The Void.
At one point vocalist KJ Risk even hopped down into the crowd to set up a wall of death, asking Brisbane to bring their best moshing skills before pausing the song after the attempt and offering a do-over, challenging the pit to bring the violence… He definitely got what he asked for on the second attempt which made the first look like a gentle hug as both sides of the wall come crashing together like a couple of freight trains, taking KJ – and half the pit – to the ground almost immediately, but he impressively brushes it off and continues the song as he gets to his feet.
Pyrefly have set the tone for the evening with a crushingly brutal set that has warmed the crowd up suitably for what’s to come, and I’m sure they have made a lot of new fans tonight.
By the time the lights dimmed the atmosphere inside The Princess Theatre has already reached fever pitch as the room buzzes with excitement and anticipation. After a short dramatic buildup in the darkness, AVATAR finally appeared on stage in long black robes, with frontman Johannes Eckerström lighting the way through the smokey haze with a dimly lit lamp in hand; everyone knew then that we were in for an epic night of spectacle and theatrics. The band open the gates to this dark and strange journey with the melodic shanty intro of Captain Goat that fills the theatre with gloomy ritualistic vibes before shifting into the faster tempo of Let It Burn to really kick the night off. At this point Eckerström drops his hooded cloak revealing his signature makeup, resulting in an eruption of screams from the crowd.
Avatar keep the energy up as the intro to The Eagle Has Landed starts blasting out and as the massive head banger riff dropped every single person in the crowd was moving along with the first of many sing-a-longs of the night with Eckerström asking for a vocal assistance from the audience for this catchy chorus. We are then warned to brace as the pace is about to increase further as they launch into In The Airwaves. The band locked into some mesmerizing synchronised windmilling on stage, immediately prompting the audience to mimic the same move right back at them!
The tone then shifts for one of the highlights of the evening when Avatar leaves the stage momentarily, then we see guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström re-enter the stage one at a time playing the melancholic intro to Bloody Angel before being joined again by the rest of the band. Johannes changed outfits, now in his red circus ring leader attire, and commands the audience to join in for another sing-a-long – which the crowd was more than happy to oblige. The grooves of Death and Glitz follows, clearly is a fan favourite, indicated by seeing the whole room bopping away to the catchy beat. As the song draws to an end, out comes a person sporting a mask and helmet with a small cymbal attached to the top to perform the traditional ‘Aussie shoey‘. Drummer John Alfredsson strikes his cymbal once he has finished to send him on his way then quickly launches into Get In Line.
Silence In The Age Of Apes, Colossus and Torn Apart all maintain that high energy with more hypnotic synchronised hair windmilling from the band, before once again disappearing backstage. A keyboard then appears and the night gets a little intimate with just Johannes on stage treating us to some soothing piano melodies and commentary; sharing his sincere and heartfelt thanks and appreciation to audience members and Avatar fans worldwide. With the keyboard on stage, it makes sense that the next song is the piano-heavy Howling at the Waves; which is delivered with so much emotional energy there’s barely a dry eye left in sight.
The keyboard is taken away and the familiar intro to The Dirt I’m Buried In begins which changes the mood immediately with hands in the air quickly turning into metal horns as the high energy returns before Don’t Go In The Forest and Tonight We Must Be Warriors conclude the main part of the set list.
This tour sees Crying Fire get it’s live debut being the first encore of the night. I imagine this song will be a staple of set lists for many years to come, delivering raw emotion and grooves that resonates with the crowd. Johannes leans fully into his eccentric persona by amping up the audience. Avatar close the night out with crowd favourites Smells Like A Freakshow and Hail The Apocalypse, sending the venue into pure chaos as everybody taps into their reserve tank of energy, joining in for some final sing-a-longs and moshing. By the final note, Avatar have completely turned The Princess Theatre into their own heavy metal dark carnival.
After witnessing this evenings performance, it’s easy to see why Avatar are becoming renowned for their live performances; demonstrating a level of musicianship and expertise rarely seen in touring bands. The pacing of the songs chosen for this set felt perfect, with a seamless blend between the faster energetic songs – to the more melodic pieces with a mix of crowd favourites, newer releases and a handful of deeper cuts ensuring something for absolutely everybody. There was never a moment where the crowd wasn’t headbanging away or swaying their hands in the air.
Throughout the night there was so much personality and theatrics on display from the entire band, especially from frontman Johannes Eckerström whose eccentricities, over the top broadway moves, humorous crowd work and banter in between tracks, along with his charismatic charm allowed him to easily guide the audience on a journey into the unknown, making this truly an experience to remember.
Avatar have one more stop on their Australia/ New Zealand run, playing in Auckland on September 1st and if you haven’t got tickets yet, I implore you to change that as this was one of the best gigs of the year and I know I won’t be missing any future Avatar tours going forward.
AVATAR SET LIST:
Captain Goat
Let It Burn
The Eagle Has Landed
In the Airwaves
Bloody Angel
Death and Glitz
Get in Line
Silence in the Age of Apes
Colossus
Torn Apart
Howling at the Waves
The Dirt I’m Buried In
Don’t Go in the Forest
Tonight We Must Be Warriors
Encore:
Crying Fire
Smells Like a Freakshow
Hail the Apocalypse
PHOTO GALLERY
PYREFLY
AVATAR
