Review: Joshua Hobbins
Photography: Nate Rose
Brisbane’s metal faithful packed The Tivoli on Thursday night for a pairing that perfectly balanced groove-laden aggression with gothic theatricality. With DevilDriver making their long-awaited return to Australian stages alongside the ever-enigmatic Cradle of Filth, fans were treated to two veteran acts proving that experience has only sharpened their live performances.
Some bands slow down with age. DevilDriver seem determined to do the exact opposite.
Opening with the unmistakable intro of Clouds Over California, Dez Fafara and company hit the stage at full throttle and simply never took their foot off the accelerator. Every member looked completely locked in, feeding off each other’s energy as the Brisbane crowd responded in kind.
Early set highlights The Wretched, I Could Care Less and Dig Your Own Grave turned the pit into absolute chaos. The Wretched was an early standout, the whole band visibly feeding off one another as the pit erupted. Before launching into I Could Care Less, Dez joked that the long flight to Australia had been worth it just to play that song. Judging by the crowd reaction, nobody was arguing.
The groove-heavy Grinfucked swaggered with crushing confidence, while Cry For Me Sky, introduced by Dez as the first song he ever wrote for DevilDriver, was arguably the tightest performance of the set.
The night’s most heartwarming moment arrived during the band’s excellent take on AWOLNATION’s Sail, when a fan in a wheelchair was crowd-surfed to the front barrier, earning a fist bump and heartfelt “I love you, brother” from Dez before disappearing back into the sea of raised hands.
By the time The Mountain arrived, complete with its devastating breakdown that hasn’t been heard live for years, the room had one final explosion left before End of the Line brought a blistering set to a fitting close. Three decades into his career, Dez Fafara remains one of metal’s great frontmen, his unmistakable roar sounding every bit as powerful as ever.
Following that would never be easy, but if anyone could manage it, it was Cradle of Filth.
Dani Filth wasted little time reminding everyone why he remains one of extreme metal’s most distinctive performers, greeting the Brisbane crowd with his trademark sarcasm (“Greetings, Austria!”) before unleashing a barrage of impossibly high shrieks that somehow still sound as inhuman as ever.
Opening with To Live Deliciously, the band effortlessly balanced newer material like Demagoguery, Malignant Perfection and White Hellebore alongside revered classics from throughout their career. The twin guitar attack was razor sharp all night, while keyboardist and vocalist Kelsey Peters added an ethereal counterpoint to Dani’s theatrical vocal assault.
For longtime fans, the older material landed with the greatest impact. Nocturnal Supremacy and the crushing The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, still utterly savage more than three decades after it was written, felt particularly electrifying, while the sprawling Bathory Aria demonstrated exactly why Cradle of Filth remain in a league of their own when it comes to combining gothic grandeur with extreme metal.
The encore delivered one final knockout combination. Gilded Cunt, Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids and the immortal Her Ghost in the Fog sent Brisbane home with smiles, sore necks and ringing ears.
DevilDriver brought the groove, Cradle of Filth brought the gothic spectacle, and Brisbane was treated to an evening celebrating two bands that continue to defy time. As if to put the perfect Australian full stop on the night, Cradle of Filth’s setlist featured little Bunnings-style sausage sandwich graphics with one final message beneath the closing song: “GET ON THE BEERS.”
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