Words by Coco Le Sex Bomb
Pix by Kaotic Images
Another year, another run of good things festivals to excite and enamour the insatiable masses. The line-up never disappoints with Good Things, but we had a few curveballs thrown in this year from Devo to Short Stack to Fall Out Boy, with the people behind Good Things reminding us that it’s not all heavy all the time sometimes we want to embrace our scene/emo formative years or even maybe, just maybe take a little time out of our day to whip it…
I, of course, started my day with a delicious beverage while being scared away from the merch tents with their giant conga line that seemed to have no end and had a quick mosey on down to see The Plot In You, a band that until said time I hadn’t had the pleasure of hearing. I tell you what folks the pleasure was all mine, they took to the stage as if it was a headlining slot and the crowd filled the tent accordingly there was an army of people crowd-surfing while vape clouds enveloped us as if it were a Smokey Peach, Strawberry Cheesecake and Banana scented battlefield. I couldn’t think of a better set to get the day started.
The next stage over was Stand Atlantic a name I was more familiar with but also had no idea what to expect live. The band came out laden proudly in their VB jumpsuits and jump they did while I’m still waking up on what would usually be my lazy Sunday these rapscallions spent more time with both feet in the air than planted, the energy was inspiring, and the performance left nothing to be desired, if the sets keep going like this we are all in for an amazing day.
It was at this time I realized both who was on next and that my cup was empty. Queue mad dash to the bar and back as I try to beat the crowd and secure a prime spot for the very highly anticipated Slaughter To Prevail.
It’s funny, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect with Slaughter To Prevail, but you’re equally not ready, the nightmare fuel that comes out of Alex’s face is diabolical, and the band sounds huge. It’s truly an experience not to be missed, and after that I need to go and sit down for a minute.
Powwow over, it’s time for Pennywise, a band that needs no introduction especially since they have toured Australia half a million times in decades past, and they still bring the goods. Goods aside, it was also a pleasure to see Lindsay “The Doctor” McDougall jump up for half the set which added a fun alive element as old friends re-united. And the music was rad as fuck. Pennywise kick ass.
After having a little adventure to the merch tent that was much more attainable at this point and running into friends far and wide, I loaded up a few beverages and made my way to see the one, the only, Corey Taylor. He came onto the stage with all the energy and charisma we all know and love and as I was expecting a CMFT set I was delightfully surprised to find it was more of a Corey Taylor playlist, he did songs from CMFT, Slipknot, Stone Sour and even threw in a couple covers, one in particular be about a porous square yellow fella that shows signs of swinging.
Not a beat was skipped after Corey left the stage as the neighbouring stage erupted with the unmistakable harmonized riffs that could only be Bullet For My Valentine. These guys hold a special spot in my heart due to me being in high school for The Poison and Scream Aim Fire albums. They were the soundtrack of my formative years and look at me, I turned out great. Song after song, hit after hit, these guys sounded huge and were about as tight as a band can physically be.
We then went and explored the vast array of food options on offer and with how great all the bands have been and how much fun the day was, the real kicker is how good the food is! This is a festival it’s supposed to be overpriced shit, and you love it because it’s a festival and that’s what we do but no we have around thirty stalls of delicious food choices. It’s madness.
We catch the last half of I Prevail, and it’s a delicious salad of operatic synths, blistering guttural screaming, angelic singing and rapping dressed with angst vinaigrette and seasoned with pyrotechnic insanity. Sorry about the salad analogy, but did I tell you about how good the food was?
Talking about food, after I Prevail came a very spritely old dude with a funny hat calling the crowd spuds. At this point I realize this is the Devo portion of the evening and strap in for a set I have no idea what to expect. What I got was almost like a circus performance as we had costume changes, jumping and dancing, instrument swapping and a crazy light show. It really was a spectacle, and I could not have expected quite that much fun in a 50-minute slot.
Now there is always at least one instance of clashing bands and in my case it was Limp Bizkit and Frenzal Rhomb. I split the sets in half and as amazing as Limp Bizkit was – and they were amazing – I personally enjoyed Frenzal more. From the literal sea of human beings at the main stage to a couple of hundred people Frenzal came out as they always do and killed it. The energy was huge, fun and it felt super engaging.
Don’t get me wrong, Limp Bizkit fucking delivered the goods, and literally thousands of people can attest to that, but for me at least Frenzal’s set takes the cake. That’s the last food analogy, I promise.
Being a huge day turned school night unfortunately that’s where I called it quits but with the likes of Short Stack, Spiderbait and Fall Out Boy to end the night those stronger-willed had only good things to look forward to.
Another year done and another twenty thousand smiling faces as Good Things wraps up. See you all next year!
Full photo gallery to come….
