Live Review: Hellions @ The Brightside
Coming to the end of the sold out Quality Of Life Tour, we found ourselves at the final Hellions show at Brisbane’s The Brightside. We crammed into the venue, pushing past people to get as close to the front of the already rowdy crowd as the mighty Sydney group made their way onto the stage in a flurry of flashing lights. Making sure their priorities were in order, some incense was lit and they were ready to erupt.
Hellions came out swinging straight from the get-go with every band member bouncing around the stage as they ripped through Ghoul. The crowd’s energy was incredible, as the mosh pit became rather ridiculous just minutes into the set. The room filled with an obscene amount of smoke and the stage was drowned in orange and blue lights resembling the cover of their colossal recent release ‘Opera Oblivia’. Amongst the stench of sweat and beer, the sweet smell of incense somehow stood out.
The madness soon ensued again with the crowd splitting in half before a mini wall-of-death shook the room as Hellions delivered some new material. All we could make out on stage were the silhouettes of the lively hardcore outfit as they delivered an onslaught of brutal riffs and wall-shaking breakdowns. The twin vocal attack of frontman Dre Faivre and guitarist/vocalist Matthew Gravolin led the crowd through some epic choruses and even let the odd punter have a go with the mic.
Midway through the show Faivre announced a cable had snapped, holding up its remains to the amusement of the crowd and band. Everyone seemed quite proud of this destructive, rock’n’roll moment and as the sound team didn’t seem too bothered the show went on!
The rowdiness only increased with crowd surfers, backflips and plenty of beers drunk from shoes and despite the sound being rather muddy, Hellions didn’t let anything impede them. To everyone’s delight, Thresher was announced and for most of the song the crowd was louder than the band themselves!
The crowd may have gotten a bit too boisterous during Nottingham, clutching and clawing at Faivre’s clothes and mic cable but he took it in good stride and delivered He Without Sin with immense gusto as all the epileptics in the room cringed at the strobing lights. Faivre sent some love to Young Lions’ frontman exclaiming, “ Zach Britt you have the best smile in hardcore!” as the crowd clapped and cheered for the night’s stellar support acts.
Taking a little breather, Hellions spent most of the performance of 22 sitting on the stage restoring their energy levels before giving us an incredible performance of the tour title track Quality Of Life. With Faivre now shirtless and giving it everything he got, the energy in the room was insane! The stage turned into a little part and the speakers were rendered useless as the crowd’s chants were overpowering.
Thanking everyone for showing their support the band left the stage but the crowd refused to let the Sydney hardcore titans leave as they cheered for more. To everyone’s delight, Hellions returned and absolutely obliterated us with Hellions. This was an incredible way to end a set with yet more epilepsy-inducing strobes, brutal guitars, and signature aggressive vocals. Hellions made sure not a soul was left standing still.
Overall, Hellions delivered an incredibly tight and passionate performance. Their new material went off just as well as their older collections and that really is an ode to a band putting in the time to create quality music and ensuring their shows are a spectacle, to say the least!
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