Pix by Sarah Gilpin Photography
I rocked up to the Tivoli about 15 minutes before doors, and the line was fucking epic. By 20 minutes after doors, they still weren’t letting anyone in, and the line was twice as big. I’d suggest this was due to the tonnes of VIP meet-and-greet guests coming out one by one after meeting their idols, and although it’s a little annoying, it’s great to see artists giving their biggest fans that little extra time of day to have a chat and get a signature. Going by all these people and the early vibes, this is going to be a massive night!
There are no support acts tonight, and Devildriver hit the stage as scheduled to a packed room with some big guitar chugs that led into Clouds Over California. Dez makes the call to open the pit up as they bust into Not All Who Wander Are Lost, and the pit gets fucking wild. This latest lineup of the band is absolutely fucking killing it right now, and they waste no time following up with The Wretched.
Every time you speak my name – well, Dez didn’t speak my name, but apparently, it’s gonna burn away. The band smashed out I Could Care Less to an already psyched out crowd, and shit gets an extra level of mental! Next up is Dig Your Own Grave as the set keeps relentlessly banging on. The body odour coming off the crowd right now is both intense and disgusting.
Song after song, Devildriver smash out bangers including Dead In The Water, Hold Back the Day and My Night Sky. I’d blame it on the ADD baby for the intensity of this crowd and the band, but Sail is the exact medicine needed to calm this crowd down for a couple of minutes. On another note, they need to do something about the merch setup here. The crowd is queued out around the edges of the venue as the peeps wait patiently to get a shirt or two while the rest of the crowd gets Grinfucked!
Dez asks how the crowd is doing and if they are ready for Cradle of Filth, and the crowd lets out a massive roar! Cry For Me Sky is up next, and Dez explains that this is the first song he wrote for their first album. Not sure how he remembers because that was a fucking long time ago and this legend has been smashing it out for many years even before Devildriver! The signal goes up for a circle pit as The Mountain starts and the crowd eagerly participates by skipping around the pit.
Tonight, the end of the line is The End of The Line after Dez quickly thanks Brisbane for coming out. What a banger of a show, but what’s to come next is gonna get real dark and spooky!
As expected, the stage gets real dark, and some spooky noises play. Shortly after, Cradle of Filth unleashes with absolute fury with To Live Deliciously. To be honest, I’ve never really listened to this band, but I kinda know what they are about, so I’m actually really keen to see what this show has to offer. I’m gonna need to get my hands on a set list, though, so I can tell you all the names of some of the songs.
There’s corpse paint everywhere through the pit now, and obviously on the stage as well. Dani’s vocals are intense and evil, very fucking evil. The guitar rings out in harmony over thumping double kicks accompanied by ethereal keys, and I’m not sure if the crowd is a little stunned or just completely enthralled. They smash out a series of bangers, including Demagoguery, Malignant Perfection and Principle.
It’s hard to keep up with what is going on as the brutal riffs just keep on coming, and even harder to catch the names of the songs when Dani is constantly speaking like some kind of gremlin or possessed demon, but luckily, I was able to obtain a sneak peek of the set list. It’s a really fucking intense show, and now that I’ve nabbed the set list, I can let you know they smashed out How Many Times, Nymphetamine, White Hellbore and Bathory Aria. It’s a really fucking intense show, and the crowd is having one hell of a time. Literally!
It seems Dani is also some kind of comedian as he thanks Austria for coming to the show.
Amongst all of the brutality, some sweet female vocals ring out through the mix. Such a sweet voice amongst all the chaos. I heard someone talking up the keyboardist and vocalist earlier on, and they weren’t bloody wrong. I’d tell you the final few songs they played, but I’d be spoiling all the fun, so you’ll need to get out to one of the shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth to find out for yourself.
Well, what more can I say than that it was an experience that I’m glad I didn’t miss. It’s your turn next Sydney, so if ya haven’t got ya ticket yet, I suggest you get yourself some before you miss out on two absolutely killer world-class bands on one big world-class show!
Get to the show with your Horns up and your Corpse Paint on. For tickets to the remainder of the tour hit up thephoenix.au
