_{Written by Kayla Hamilton (@kaylazomboid)}

Blessed with the best weather of the three dates, Good Things Festival returned to the Flemington Racecourse for its annual gathering of the heavy and alternative music lovers. While it was hit with a few late withdrawals, Stand Atlantic subbed in for The All-American Rejects while Thornhill got ready in under four hours to jump in for Alpha Wolf, who were in turn replacing Knocked Loose– the day seemingly went off without too much of a hitch.

(Well unless you are talking about beach balls, but as we did not witness THAT turn of events, we won’t be commenting on it)

Kicking off the day with the Bimbocore leader herself, Scene Queen, delighting perhaps one of the best dressed groups of fans at the festival. The early start did not deter the bubbly, pink contingent as Scene Queen inspired an enthusiastic crowd to bounce between shaking their ass and expressing some well-deserved feminine rage. Not to be just a gimmick, Scene Queen once again showed the Melbourne audience that she is a force to be reckoned with. Stage presence, musical prowess and overall crowd engagement, there was nothing to fault. Bravely also using her platform to call out the hypocrisy in the scene and stand up for her beliefs (with the crowd loudly filling in the blanks), our hats came off to the New York native.

After a little wander and a chat to some of the punters, it was time to witness for the first (and most likely the last) time Sweden’s Refused in all their glory. A defining band of the hardcore genre, they were hitting the stage for the final Australian tour, wrapping up a 35-year legacy. The other three decades long career was evident as the quartet did not miss a beat. Frontman Dennis Lyxzén was as charismatic as ever. Swinging the mic around and moving with a precision that came from obvious muscle memory. Opening with ‘The Shape of Punk To Come’, a track that in its day held a prophecy that was oh so fulfilled. Mesmerising and inspiring, the band lived up to their reputation with never shying away from using their platform.

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From the Palestinian Flag draped over the speakers, to Lyxzén’s impassioned addresses to a multigenerational crowd, Refused were everything you wanted them to be and more. I felt the tears forming as they wrapped up their set with a song that changed the trajectory of my life, ‘New Noise’ and I walked away kicking myself that I never got to see them earlier.

Making the trek over to Stage 5, I was able to catch the majority of WARGASM(UK). I came in during ‘Fukstar’ and it seemed like the party was well and truly underway. Sam Matlock was goading the punters into pushing the limit, kicking those who were holding back into action by reminding them just how far the band had travelled to perform this set. While some onlookers were bemused by the spectacle, those who are familiar with the acts’ hyper energy wasted no time giving Matlock what he wanted. The other half of the duo Milkie Way was a captivating presence, her sweet but sultry voice and performance oozing rockstar appeal. Audience participation was ever present, with a chorus of people chanting “Free Lobotomies” and singing along passionately to the gang vocal section in ‘D.R.I.L.D.O’. The energy of WARGASM (UK)’s set was insanely contagious, spurring me on to just soak in the vibes of the day.

The biggest issue of the day was deciding who to see, then getting decision fatigue but one band that was certain was Machine Head and oh boy, I’m so glad that I did not miss this set. From the second ‘Imperium’ kicked in, it felt like a force had overtaken my body. ‘Ten Ton Hammer’ continued the chokehold and had me looking up Rob Flynn’s age because that man had cast a spell. While they were down a member, they did not miss a beat. Their set was a broad spectrum of their career, dipping into older and newer tracks, including ‘Outsider’ which Flynn shared he had actually written on his previous tour of Australia. Their presence was both commanding but healing, delivering that intense heaviness they are known for but uplifting messages throughout the set. Confetti, beach balls and just overall a captivating stage, Machine Head quickly became my highlight of the day. Clearly not just mine, as when the “circle pit from hell” opened, the entire ground was shaking. The most damage my neck took was through this impeccable hour and by the time Flynn asked the bodies strewn before him whether “the felt free?”, I was about ready to bolt to the merch tent to buy a Machine Head shirt. Leaving us wanting more by finishing with the iconic ‘Davidian’ the main thought I had walking away from the stage was:

“They better not leave Adelaide off their next Australian run, because damn, that was incredible.”

Going from one hard hitting band to another, it was then time for Kublai Khan TX. It is not often I tap out of a mosh pit, but after being caught in a vortex of very large men, I decided it was better for my health to observe Kublai Khan from a distance. A hearty “KHAN IS KING” was proclaimed by the band and fans alike as the pit descended into a mess of push pit mayhem. In a sign of the band’s popularity, the structure was less hardcore and more chaos, but if you didn’t think too much about it and just enjoyed the tunes, it was a pretty sick set. I always appreciate being taken to “squeal city” and sometimes, you just want some beefy breakdowns. Frontman Matt Honeycutt delivered his iconic barks and serenades to the women of Melbourne, while sharing some more heartfelt anecdotes and messages to the ruckus that laid before him. Affectionately proclaiming the band would be called bogans if they lived in Australia, it’s safe to say they more than won over those who had ensured they were in attendance.

After a brief catch my breath, I made the decision to just reside the rest of the festival around Stage 3 & 4, so I could be in a decent position to catch one of my favourite Aussie acts, Make Them Suffer. This band truly is at home on a late festival slot. Setting the tone with the epic opening track ‘Ghost Of Me’, they truly are a sight to behold. Taking full advantage of the pyro, they played absolute banger after banger. It was unrelenting in energy. The juxtaposition between Sean Harmanis’s visceral growls and Alex Reade’s ethereal vocals always gives me chills.

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Jordan Mather’s drumming has this machine gun-like intensity that hits on a cellular level, and every riff delivered by Nick McLernon and Jaya Jeffery takes over your body. Hitting us with all the classics like ‘Epitaph’, ‘Widower’, ‘Hollowed heart’ and ‘Erase Me’, they also delivered some other newer fan favourites like ‘Oscillator’ and ‘Mana God’. Finishing with ‘Doomswitch’ in what can only be described as pyromania as the sun started to set, Make Them Suffer proved why they deserve a late slot on the bill and why they are on Australia’s premier metalcore exports.

From the rave reviews and all the hype that was going around, I knew that writing for a “core music” publication, that I needed to witness the current darlings of deathcore Lorna Shore for myself. I need to apologise first for sleeping on this band, because holy hell. Now I’m going off of setlist.fm for the names of the tracks as I am a new fan, so if they are wrong please blame my source material, because I was way too wrapped up in the spectacle unfolding before me to catch snippets of every song to look up later. There was a sense of theatre that felt reminiscent of some more symphonic metal bands, but it was wrapped in a package of deathcore brutality. Many people after Knocked Loose pulled out said that Lorna Shore should’ve been moved to the main stage, but I disagree. Having them play after the sunset was absolutely the right move, as the lights and fire added even more intensity to the performance.

The hype around Will Ramos is absolutely warranted. The way that man flowed seamlessly between his range of animalistic growls, gutturals and shrieks was downright impressive. For me though, I was blown away by guitarist Adam De Micco. We do not talk enough about the way that man plays (or maybe we do and I missed it). If the wind changed during their set, then the stank face would be permanently etched on my face because it was 98% of the time. The only time it wasn’t was when I made contact with other first time watchers and we shook our heads in disbelief over the spectacle unfolding before us. A much deserved stage headlining spot from a band that will just continue to become bigger and bigger over the next few years.

An hour of brutality that was the icing on the cake of what to me was an ideal festival experience.

I did not purchase alcohol or merchandise, so I cannot speak for those lines but this year felt easier to get food, easier to get water and use the toilets. We were also spoiled with the weather in comparison to the next two days.

Despite my disappointment of not being able to see Knocked Loose, it was overall a great day out.

Already counting down to Good Things 2026.

Stay tuned for more from our time at Good Things Festival 2025. Follow us on our socials to stay updated.

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