Words by Belinda Quick
Photos by Missy Smiley
Special thanks to Destroy All Lines
‘I asked my son what he thought life was all about, and he said, “We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is.” I think that says it best… There are all kinds of ways we can help each other get through today. Musicians really do it for me; they help us get through a couple hours’ – Kurt Vonnegut, The Last Interview
There isn’t another band quite like OCEAN GROVE. Unabashedly dedicated to the ‘the rhythm, the sound’ of nu-metal, the OG Collective have earned their stellar reputation in the industry as revered revivalists and modern visionaries of the genre through successive decades and releases.
Equally (or, perhaps, more importantly for the band), there is no warmer place than in the hearts of every member of the extended ODDWORLD family. United in a shared belief, “social connection and death of the ego”, outlined in Ocean Grove’s own manifesto, is the ethos that defines their uniqueness.
Personified by an embracement of “fun and passion, perhaps lost along the way”, and in “an experience like no other, an all-accepting culture and outlet one can immerse themselves in”, 2026’s highly anticipated headline tour coming to fruition almost two years after the titular record’s release, reinforced the specialness of OG’s “not so odd world…”
Releasing their debut EP on Tuesday, Adelaide’s BLINDER embodies the record’s low-res title. Against an analogously monikered backlight, the front of house members disappear in and out of shadows of chrome and cobalt lighting. Intentionally anonymous online and onstage, members secret stares behind sunglasses, while co-vocalists combine hurting harmonies. An extra layer of disguise added to the band’s most enigmatic figure, the lead-guitarist raises his instrument in recognition of the set’s consistent heartbeat, their drummer, in closing.
Even in soundcheck, DEFICIT shifts the atmosphere. Vocalist Nathan Newman screaming “Everyone outside, get the fuck inside now!”, Sydney’s DEATHSTYLE Trailblazers proceed to pulverise The Gov with a vicious fusion of nu-metalcore, hardcore and groove metal. Mac Ryan vociferously snarls, “We’re about to play our heaviest track right now. Don’t be fucking cowards, move!” ONLY GOD KNOWS how, the successive FYA is another STEP UP toward the FINAL BOSS; with Nothing Left to Lose, Deficit challenge us to “turn this fucking place into a warzone! Until next time, Adelaide…”
Amplifying the aesthetics, a gothic vision of Louisianan swamp ever so often bursts through thick smoke and dense soundscape of CANE HILL. The New Orleans self-described Sad Metal Finding Euphoria, vocalist Elijah Witt conducts the crowd. Driven by the Power of the High in the moment, the sophomore visitors prepare us: “Things are about to get slutty”, Drowning Therapy cascading in time with a waterfall of purple light.
Guitarist Elijah Barnett’s harmonies Fade exquisitely into the frontman’s, all the while shredding with a Smile at memories from 2016’s last tour. The contrast of bassist Ryan Henriquez’s darkened and Doomed silhouette dominating the final “three and a half minutes” is stark. To the metronome of Devin Clark’s drumclick, his slick hair spirals and stray tendrils flare in emulation, The Midnight Sun eclipses the apricot haze of Cane Hill’s sensational sundowning moment.
Twilight gleaming gives way to a lightning storm; the OG Collective arrive as one. The first fan favourite, JUNKIE$, sees Dale Tanner convulse across the stage, as Superstar Twiggy Hunter nonchalantly counterbalances the founding frontman’s overt behaviour. Almost invisible, multi-instrumentalist Running Touch’s scratch slices through the smog. An action enforced by the precision of Sam Bassal on drums, Rhapsody takes over offstage for the iconic Mr Centipede; on stage, Intimate Alien and guitarist, Zak Thom, lashes his ‘rat of nine tails’.
Resetting the atmosphere, ODDWORLD’s infamously ominous intro segues into CELL DIVISION, as Tanner addresses the audience:
“We’ve been to Adelaide more times than we can count, and you’ve always welcomed us with open arms. It’s why we keep coming back and why you keep coming back. We’re family, all part of the OG Collective, whether it’s your first, fifth, tenth or twentieth time. All you ever have to do is Ask For The Anthem, and we’ll be there!”
Beers flowing and dispositions Sunny, Running Touch grabs a guitar, Bassal stands to pound the kit, as traveling videographer, Tom Drizners, Tanner & Hunter take turns leaning out over the mosh with recording devices and mic stands, the two lead vocalists ending the movement simultaneously with fists raised to the sky.
Fittingly matched, green beams and conniption inducing strobes power Lights on Kind of Lover. Palpitations precipitated by Raindrops, Hunter assumes poll position for the performance of 2026’s ARIA award winning single, as his bandmates frenzy in the celebratory moment. With time to breathe, Tanner turns sentimental as the Adeladian chapter of the ODDWORLD tour waltzes towards its Last Dance.
“We wrote this song about taking every opportunity to hold close the people in your life. Tell them how much you love them everyday, because you never know if it might be the last time. Do something for me, turn to the person next to you and hug them right now; that’s what being part of the OG Collective, our family, is all about.”
The truest meaning of life, wrapped up in and “beyond the music”, the beautiful sentiment ‘says it best’. Here tonight to ‘help us get through a couple of hours’, this kind of Stratosphere Love will never FLY AWAY; it’s ‘OG forever, forever, forever’.
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PHOTO GALLERY
BLINDER
DEFICIT
CANE HILL
OCEAN GROVE
