Words: Simon Russell-White & Jimmy Glinster
Pix by Mark Bodna
Did someone say, Matinée Show? Yes indeed, a matinée show featuring Southern Massachusetts metalcore godfathers, Killswitch Engage, and local ‘lows the go’ lads from Brisbane Descent.
As my dear Mum would say “Well, I never!” To be clear, my Mum wasn’t at the show, as cool as that would have been.
Anyway….
As both of us missed Descent at Necrosonic 2024 late last month, it was paramount for Jimmy and I to get to the amazing Miami Marketta, Gold Coast (Google this venue, it’s incredible) early to catch these fellas, on what very well may be their biggest show to date.
Thankfully, it was a shared enthusiasm, perhaps the gigs start time (4pm) was a factor, perhaps that wasn’t a factor at all, either way the openers were treated to a full-fledged jam-packed venue, a venue that was best described by the singer “this venue has a fairly standard girth but is veryyyyy long” as he gestured appropriately to describe said dimensions of the venue.
I’ll stop and leave the rest to your imaginations.
Descent has a distinct sound, though there’s a thrash element as far as speed goes with all things riffage, being the opener’s sound was quite muddy coupled with the actual overall tone did make for a loss in definition guitars wise during the set.
This is not a gripe, not by any stretch as said sound also set the mood for downright throwdown warmups in the pit as the overall rhythm of Descent’s music pays respect to the deathcore Gods and Goddesses alike, an ideal ingredient for said previously mentioned “warmup”.
Certain band members demand your attention, with said attention being paid to the singer and drummer, both providing pure energy and conviction throughout their blistering set. If you’re looking for clean melodic vocals then keep walking, but, if an absolute firing range of fry and scream vocals is more to your liking then look no further!
A solid and ripping set by the opener for what is already shaping up to be an unforgettable late afternoon/ night of music.
For 25 years Killswitch Engage have entertained us with their original brand of metalcore, a genre they basically put on the musical genre map, yes, feel free to argue that statement, but we all know it’s bloody true!
Instead of quarrelling over the above, let us take moment to embrace what this extremely seasoned/well-travelled band gave us tonight, a band that’s currently supporting the almighty Iron Maiden on their The Future Past Australian Tour, a tour that has seen the most loyal and sizable crowds imaginable on Australian soil.
Killswitch Engage could settle in on playing those massive Arena shows every second night and put their feet up on their days off, but instead, the band gifts us this show, at a venue they could sell out 3 times over.
Now, there were a lot of plusses during this near one hour and a half set, but even at the beginning of the show, I noticed two guitar cabs sitting on each side of the stage, pointing directly across from each other respectfully. What was this all about?
As the band launched into the opening track My Curse the setup and sound all made complete sense, with the crowd turning into a frenzy soup, the crowd surge was unrelenting with this 40+ year old bailing off to the side during the second song, talk about hectic.
Sound wise, in the venue in which we gathered, it was up there, as in up there for the ages for me personally, Adam Dutkiewicz (guitar/backing vocals) & Joel Stroetzel (guitar/backing vocals) were simply blistering from beginning to end, from the definition to the cutting sound up front to the back, it was simply electric!
The involvement and interactions from singer Jesse Leach are like no other, he is simply a professional at his craft. To add to his awesome demeanour, a humble and down to earth moment was shared with the crowd on why they chose to play such a side show. “This is who we are, us and you guys are not that different”, with Dutkiewicz adding “we’re just a bunch of middle-aged drunks who play metal for you guys”, need I say more? Nope.
As the set rolled on, it was very apparent that some classic songs were on their ways, and after 25 odd minutes, A Bid Farewell launched this already mentioned surging crowd into a cyclone, that and the singing back to the band made it somewhat hard to hear Jesse at all. To add to the ensuing madness were classic and iconic tracks Signal Fire and my favourite, Unleashed.
Keeping this ship that had hit very rough seas with a forecast of punters streaming over the barriers was the solid and unassuming rhythm section, being long time and other founding members Mike D’Antonio (bass) and Justin Foley (drums).
After so much on point performance it was apparent that Killswitch Engage have not skipped a beat, as far as songwriting and how they deliver it live and most importantly, the dudes they are. With every fibre, I say with confidence that this band (still) lives and breathes for playing live. With that, and with having experienced near deafening singing from the crowd, enter Rose to Sharyn, this track being famous for a lot of reasons, as it is the anthem to metalcore, through and through.
I will never forget how loud the crowd singing was for that song.
If you know Killswitch Engage, you know they pay ultimate respect to their fallen Fathers, and just before we say goodbye to this quintet (for now) the band gave us a treat worth waiting for, the almighty Ronnie James Dio track Holy Diver.
It being the perfect night cap to what was a gig for the memory bank, one that’ll sit in my head for a long time.
In time, when discussions are had, it’ll come into conversation, in the form of “were you at that avo GC Killswitch show?”
That’s how bloody good it was, simply memorable.
