Words by Neil Vance
Pix by Richie Black Photography
So, Good Things Melbourne 2024, round 5! What a fucking cracking day it was. Tons of great bands, crowd, food and of course beers. The weather was as perfect as we could have possibly imagined, with a minor annoyance of brief rain later in the day. My day started just after the gates opened at the spritely hour of midday on my lonesome and prepped for a considerable day of basking in the sun, so Metal V bathed in sunscreen and then bought bevvies.
At Knotfest earlier this year I overstretched myself in the tiring task of catching at least every single band on the bill, which I felt was doable with only three stages, but it was too much on my ageing body and exhausting – both factoring arguments I had to have with myself going into Good Things. I hung at main stages 1 & 2, seeing the bands I wanted, with a jaunt over to stages 3 & 4 to catch The Butterfly Effect and Alpha Wolf.
First band on the list was Loathe on stage two. They were pretty good, had me moving, and I enjoyed moving mildly along to their brand of metal-core. This kind of style to me is becoming somewhat generic and “meh” but that in no way detracts from enjoying the music being blasted in my direction.
Following Loathe were Bowling For Soup, and look, I know that there is an enormous market for this ‘90’s punk, but it is so far removed from what I listen to that I just can’t enjoy it. But having said that from an outsider’s perspective, Bowling For Soup were entertaining.
Preceding them was the first blast from my university days was 311. Honestly, they were great! I couldn’t tell you the name of any of their songs, but I knew a large portion of their setlist like I’d only listened to ‘em on campus through Sony discman yesterday. (How the fuck I could afford one of them on my meagre Austudy payment is beyond me, LOL!).
I left stage 2 prior to 311 finishing because I wanted to see one of my favorite bands in The Butterfly Effect. But was sorely disappointed as due to Sum 41 pulling out of the Good Things lineup completely, the running order was switched around, but due to me not checking the apps updated set times and relying on a screenshot, I saw half of TBE last song… Oh well, at least I got to see the magnificent Alpha Wolf. I’ve seen these blokes a bunch of times, and they never ever disappoint. They have perfected their metal-core craft thanks to relentless local and overseas touring. Their enormity and brilliance can not be overstated. Alpha Wolf fucking slayed and were easily one of my best on ground.
The end of the Alpha Wolf set was my cue to get some rest and food and await the mighty Mastodon.
Now here we have a band who are one of the most creative and ever evolving metal bands in the world and have been for a very long time. They answer to no one, and we are better fans for it. Mastodon with each new release constantly shifts our perception of expecting what not to expect. And their live set reflects that. This was my fourth time seeing Mastodon and I think Black Tongue, Steambreather and Blood & Thunder were the only songs I’d seen live previously. And once again, just sheer magnificence emanating from stage 1 courtesy of the brilliant Mastodon.
After watching both Mastodon and Northlane I again tended to weary old man legs and back, grabbed some beers and chilled wanting to catch Violent Femmes without any judgement or real motivation. But the second that unmistakable opening bassline for Blister In The Sun the whole crowd was moving in blissful enjoyment. The moment they started I was whisked back to Year 11 in high school art and design class being blurted to by things I didn’t know anything about shit I didn’t understand nor care about. But still because it was a constant by my artistic peers in the classroom, I soon unwittingly learned all the lyrics to the self titled Femmes album, and yesterday found myself smiling and reconnecting with my younger self. A great and fun set.
Now…onto stage two and my best on ground award for Good Things – Melbourne 2024 was Electric Callboy! A perfect blend of core, techno, metal-pop, fun and tongue in cheeky goodness. If you know you know, and if you don’t – well then you should! The entire Flemington crowd was refusing to sit still, the EC’s brand of hypa energetic “make the crowd move” ethos is hard not to be addicted to. Electric Callboy fucking ruled.
And now to the band it would seem we were all there to see – KORN. There is nothing to be written or said about the truly wonderful experience we witnessed in front of us last night. A band renowned as being the instigators and forefathers of nu-metal. This 30th anniversary run of shows was graciously overwhelming and mesmerising. Jonathan, Head, Munkey, Ray and Fieldy still shine today, with little extra age and weight showing, as they did when the near perfect debut self-titled album came out. Their set-list, sound, stage presence, experience and gratitude was a magical intimate embrace amongst those five legends and twenty or so odd thousand close friends.
Well done again to the organisers of Good Things – Round #5 Australia in 2024. You are to be commended for continuously one upping yourselves yearly giving us a heavy, rock, punk metal festival that we so crave.
See you all in the pit next year
