Review and gallery: Nate Rose

Some records don’t just soundtrack your youth, they define it. Wake the Dead is one of those records. Twenty years on, Comeback Kid brought it back to life inside a sold-out Crowbar, surrounded by a support lineup of Grid Iron from the USA, Sydney Hardcore Veterans Phantoms and Brisbane’s own No Harm. Tonight’s show proved hardcore isn’t just surviving in Australia, it’s evolving, sharpening its teeth, and refusing to age quietly.

Walking into Crowbar last night felt like stepping into a reunion that never really ended. Old heads who’d been swinging fists since PCYC halls stood shoulder-to-shoulder with kids who have only recently found their place in hardcore. Same sweat. Same intensity. Different eras colliding all for the love of Hardcore.

There’s something special about seeing a local band open a show like this, not as background noise, but as a genuine pillar of the night. No Harm didn’t just warm up the room, they set the tone.

Brisbane hardcore has always thrived on honesty and grit, and No Harm embody that lineage completely. From the jump, their set was tight, confrontational, and grounded in the kind of real-world frustration hardcore was built on. No overproduction. No gimmicks. Just hard riffs, barked vocals, and breakdowns that felt engineered specifically for Crowbar’s sticky floor. Their sound reminiscent of Trapped Under Ice, so it was only fitting when they busted out a TUI cover which the crowd were more than pleased with.

Drummer Harry was a highlight hitting those tubs as hard as anyone i’ve ever seen but what stood out most was how comfortable the whole band looked commanding the room. This wasn’t a band nervously opening for international acts, this was a band who knew exactly what they were doing and trusted their songs to carry them. I’ve watched Brisbane hardcore go through peaks, lulls, and rebirths over the last two decades, No Harm felt like continuity, a reminder that the scene regenerates itself when bands stay rooted in community rather than chasing trends. They earned every nod of respect they got tonight, and I can’t wait to see where they can go in the future.

Sydney has always had a slightly different flavour of hardcore, faster, leaner, more volatile and Phantoms brought that energy in full. Their set was a barrage of velocity and aggression, barely giving the crowd time to breathe between songs. Riffs came thick and fast, drums snapping like they were about to tear themselves apart but still holding groove.

Phantoms attack with intent. For the Sydney HC vets every song felt urgent none more so than ‘Bad Moon Rising’ it hit with such urgency it felt like it needed to exist right then and there. Caed’s vocals cut through with a rawness that felt less like performance and more like release. Guitarist Adrian Kelly’s punishing riff patterns rarely let up, trading frantic chugs with blistering harmonics. Constant Mic grabs from the crowd proved Brisbane was more than ready for what the Phantoms lads had to offer. The pit shifted gears during their set, stepping up the chaos. It was sweaty and completely unhinged in the best possible way. Phantoms don’t ask for crowd participation, they pull it out of people.

Respect is big in the Hardcore scene, with Phantom’s shouting out the likes of Halfman, Scram and Burning Hammer Records just showing the mutual respect between the Sydney and Brisbane scenes. Phantoms have been around a long while now and proved tonight that they can still more than hold their own.

You never quite know how a band is going to land, whether the crowd will “get it,” or whether it’ll take a song or two for things to click. Grid Iron erased any doubt within about ten seconds.

From the moment they hit the stage, Grid Iron carried themselves with the confidence of a band that knows exactly who they are and what they represent. This wasn’t flashy or overthought it was pure, ignorant, pit-fuelled hardcore, delivered with a level of tightness that only comes from years of playing to rooms where hesitation gets you eaten alive.

Sonically, Grid Iron sound similar to the likes of Body Count with rapped vocals over hard as nail riffs. Will Kaelin and Xavier Wilson’s riffs were simple but devastating the kind that don’t need complexity because they’re designed to make bodies move. And move they did. The pit during ‘Tombstone’ ‘Talk Real’ and ‘No Good’ were easily some of the most feral of the night. Chaotic side-to-side action mixed with hard two-stepping, spin kicks flying with full intent.

There was No forced hype. No scripted banter. Just a band visibly stoked to finally be playing Brisbane, with songs like ‘Army of None’ feeding off the crowd’s reaction and giving it straight back tenfold. Vocalist Matt Karll has this natural swagger which carries over to his smooth vocal delivery as Jake Abbot (bass) and Tyler Mullen (Drums) keep it nice and bouncy.

For those of us who’ve been around long enough to remember when overseas hardcore bands felt untouchable or distant, Grid Iron’s set was a reminder of how global this thing has become and how the ethos still translate perfectly. No matter the accent, hardcore speaks the same language: sweat, respect, and controlled violence.

By the end of their set, Grid Iron had done more than just “play their first Brisbane show.” They’d stamped their authority, the kind that doesn’t come from hype or social media buzz, but from stepping into a room full of strangers and leaving it bruised, breathless, and smiling. If this was their introduction to Brisbane, it was a hell of a first impression and judging by the crowd reaction, it definitely won’t be their last.

There are shows you go to for fun, and then there are shows you go to because they’re part of who you are. Comeback Kid celebrating 20 years of Wake the Dead at Crowbar Brisbane was firmly the latter. I’ve seen Comeback Kid countless times over the years but tonight there is an even more special feeling in the air and Crowbar was the right room for this special celebration. No barricades, no breathing space, no separation between band and crowd. The kind of venue where you can smell the sweat on the walls before the headliner even loads in. If you’ve been around long enough, you know: this is where hardcore belongs.

Comeback Kid didn’t ease into the set. They detonated it.

“False Idols Fall” kicked things off and instantly erased any question of whether these songs still hit. They do, harder, if anything. The pit ignited immediately, not in a sloppy, festival-core way, but with that familiar Crowbar chaos, fast, tight, unpredictable.

Andrew Neufeld paces onstage like a man who has nothing to prove and that confidence radiated. No over-the-top banter, no forced sentimentality. Just intensity, conviction, and that unmistakable presence of someone who’s spent decades screaming into rooms like this and still believes every word. Hearing Wake the Dead songs in 2026 doesn’t feel like nostalgia it feels like validation. These tracks didn’t age because they were never tied to a moment; they were tied to a feeling.

Even though we are here tonight celebrating WTD the setlist was a perfect blend of new and old as body after body flew off the stage through ‘Falling Apart’ “Heavy Steps’ and ‘Talk Is Cheap’ which even seen former member Kevin Call join them on bass. These songs weren’t being dusted off, they were being reaffirmed.

You can feel how much the crowd love this band. Bodies fighting for every inch to grab that mic, flying through the air from the stage and limbs coming at you from every direction in the pit but if someone fell People picked each other up without hesitation. The pit stayed aggressive but aware — the unspoken code and respect intact. That’s how scenes survive.

The band’s chemistry was obvious. Guitarists Stu Ross and Jeremy Hiebert were tight and clinical. Bassist Chase Brenneman holding it down. Drummer Terrance Pettitt is an absolute beast behind the kid I got puffed out just watching him as he belted through the likes of ‘Partners In Crime’ “G.M. Vincent & I’.

By this point of the set, the floor was slick, the air was thick, and the room looked exactly how it should after a show like this.

There was no self-congratulation, no long speeches about legacy. Just brief acknowledgements, quick thank-yous, and then back into it. That restraint mattered. It showed respect for the crowd and for the scene that carried these songs for 20 years. Closing strong with my 2 favourite CBK songs ‘Broadcasting’ and THE Hardcore anthem ‘Wake the Dead’ which had the most stage dives I’ve seen at a show since 50 Lions played Vinnies Dive. As the pinnacle of the song hit there was not a single person not singing along ” We said, we said, we said, This time was gonna be different, Wake up the Dead”

For anyone who’s been around long enough to remember when Wake the Dead first dropped or anyone who found it later and felt like they’d discovered something sacred this show hit deep.Not because it looked back, but because it proved something important:

Hardcore doesn’t belong to a year, a trend, or a generation.
It belongs to the people who keep showing up. And on this night, Crowbar Brisbane showed up hard.

Comeback Kid didn’t just celebrate Wake the Dead.
They reminded us why it still matters.

Fuck I love Hardcore.