Good Things Festival 2022 brought Bring Me The Horizon and Deftones headlining alongside NOFX and the long-awaited reunion of TISM to Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on Friday, December 2.
At last! After years of not being able to attend Good Things due to scheduling conflicts I finally got the chance to head along to this year’s edition, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Although, with its jaw-dropping lineup featuring some of the biggest names and highest calibre live acts in the world of heavy music, how could it ever disappoint?
I mean, what other festival in Australia can you see like Bring Me The Horizon, Deftones and Gojira all on the same day? The answer is none. Making this year’s lineup feel like an absolute fever dream for most of the attendees.
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But before I get into reviewing the acts, there is a pretty large elephant in the room that needs to be addressed, the sound. Now I can only speak on behalf of the Melbourne event, and I acknowledge that the organisers copped some absolutely BS council-imposed noise limits, but the audio was excessively quiet, which was undoubtedly a damper on the day, but considering it was council-imposed, it was also fairly unavoidable.
Now to the juicy write-up on the acts. Unfortunately underestimated travel delays led to me missing both Thornhill and To The Grave, two upcomers that I’ve been keeping a close eye on over the past couple of years. Having seen both acts within the last few months you’d think that they would be two acts that I wouldn’t mind missing. Wrong. If anything, Thornhill’s set at 170 Russell and To The Grave’s blistering appearance at CVLTFest let me know exactly what I would be in store for, so to say that I was shattered about missing them would be a statement.
Due to a half hour delay (the length of their set) to Ocean Grove’s set time I had to leave right as they entered the stage, which was pretty upsetting, but in the spirit of one day festivals it seemed like an apt choice to leave and get a good spot for Gojira. It also meant that I got to catch the majority of The Amity Affliction’s set, which to my surprise, really impressed me.
Having grown up as an absolute Amity fanboy, the last time I saw them, which was also the 11th I had seen them perform, really disappointed me. Maybe they were just having an off day at the time, but when the metalcore icons played in Geelong a few years back, it really felt like the band didn’t care about their performance, instead playing as if it was an obligation. Their set on the weekend was the complete opposite, with the band seemingly having a new lease on playing live. Joel’s stage presence was phenomenal; Ahren’s vocals sounded pitch perfect and the group’s breakdowns absolutely tore through the crowd, giving way to the most receptive mosh of the day. Favourites such as Chasing Ghosts and Shine On both made appearances, as did the live debut of the group’s brutal new single Show Me Your God, which stood out as a defining moment due to its blistering blast beats and allround heavier output.
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Admittedly, Gojira are a group that I have never really invested the time in looking that deep into but given their long running popularity and high praise from festival goers, I knew it would be a set that I wouldn’t want to miss out on. As predicted, it was one for the history books. From the opening marching band snare patterns of opener Born For One Thing, the group immediately commandeered my attention. With impressive djent riffs, groove laden basslines and a whopping tone coming out of Mario Duplantier’s double bass drums, Gojira owned the stage as if they were headlining, with the live renditions of crowd favourites like Stranded and Amazonia being absolutely unforgettable.
Polaris pulled an insanely large crowd, irregardless of their booking on a smaller stage. Opening with Landmine and Vagabond, the Sydneysiders wasted no time in getting into their set, a decision which clearly excited the crowd. Consume, The Remedy and Masochist all made notable appearances, as did Lucid, which gave way to the most brutal breakdown of the day.
Deftones were easily one of the most anticipated acts of the day for many punters and after seeing their set, it was pretty easy to see why. Opening with Genesis, Deftones absolutely blew me away, with their unique brand of shoegaze inspired nü metal being absolutely mesmerising to watch in a live setting. Performing a mixture of old and new hits Deftones tore through hits like Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away), Diamond Eyes and My Own Summer before finishing with the manically psychedelic Back to School (Mini Maggit), which provided for an incredibly powerful vocal performance from Chino Moreno in its final moments.
Rounding out the night was Sheffield metallers Bring Me The Horizon, an act who are arguably one of the most consistent live acts in the metal scene. Having seen the group on every Australian tour so far (minus the IKTPQ ‘Say Goodbye’ shows), I was really eager to see how their newer poppier sound would translate in a live setting, unsurprisingly, it was magnificent, with eye watering visuals, enigmatic interludes lead by Jordan Fish’s synth and a theatrical presence from Oli Sykes making it hard to look away. Can You Feel My Heart and Happy Song provided for a pretty gutsy opening, whilst newer songs like Teardrops veered more into melodic singalongs (which the crowd was definitely feeding off).
Mantra’s energetic riffs kicked the mosh into gear, as did the blistering Dear Diary off the group’s 2020 EP Post Human: Survival Horror. Considering it was a single that I deemed as forgettable upon its release, Parasite Eve really impressed, with its catchy hooks and anthemic chorus seemingly being stuck in my head for the week since the event; as did the stripped back acoustic rendition of Follow You.
Rounding it out with Obey and Throne, the English based outfit proved yet again why they are so deserving of the praise sent their way, with their performance at this year’s Good Things showcasing how incredibly tight and meticulous their live sets have become. A perfect round out to a downright terrific day.
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