Gig

Alpha Wolf x Justice For The Damned - Gig Review 20th December @ The Brightside, Brisbane QLD

Paul 'Browny' Brown

CEO/Founder and Editor-In-Chief

/10

Dec 21, 2018

7 min read

Alpha Wolf x Justice For The Damned
The Brightside, Brisbane QLD
December 20th, 2018

Woah boy, last night The Brightside turned into a makeshift sauna for heavy metal heads keen as fuck to check out double headliners Alpha Wolf and Justice For The Damned at their Survival Of The Riffest Tour and impressed, well that's an understatement.

I took my brother along (long time Alpha Wolf fan, first time seeing them in show) and the anticipation in the car was insane wondering what they'd sound like live and what songs they'd play from the last album and their already released belters from 2018. Our night started late (really late) to the point we walked in the doors just as JFTD hit the stage urging everyone to move forward and (may I say) for a band that wasn't the last one performing on the night, they pulled a fucking massive crowd of spectators keen to get up close and personal with the band.

These guys are tight as fuck, frontman Bobak Rafiee sounded so fucking loud, akin to that of an early Thy Art Is Murder/CJ McMahon and the way he worked the crowd was as if he'd been in the business for decades. There were plenty of mic-grabs, guest vox (from Stepson and Alpha Wolf) and riffs-a-plenty to keep the crowd of hot and sweaty twenty-somethings moving for the duration. At one point a poor bloke jumped from the stage into the air with no one beneath him, resulting in a dislocated shoulder (fun for the festive season), but the lads soldiered on and so did the punters. Having not followed the boys before hand (despite a press release here and there), I was in awe of their sound and energy. Crowd favourite (and new single) 'No Brother, No Friend' was that good live we had to thrash it on repeat for the majority of the duration of the car ride home. Seriously, these lads are going places in the heavy music world and teamed up with Alpha Wolf, they could be the next Parkway/Amity doubleheader type who will take over the Australia (and worldwide) heavy music scene together.

Next up were the main ticket event Alpha Wolf, who first caught my eye after the release of their debut album MONO, and they wasted no time getting into their set by busting out new single 'No Name', '#104', 'Mono' and 'Failvre' (despite blowing up a power board only a few short minutes into their show). All of which were well received and encouraged by the crowd. Guitarist Sabian Lynch was mesmerising to watch, the way he performed, mask over face, shredding like a true professional of the game with hand gestures and creepy eyes galore. The band's new frontman Lochie Keogh and drummer Mitch Fogarty have fit well into place, Lochie, previously having performed in Earthender knew what he was doing and how to work the crowd to amp them up for the entirety of their show, which by the end of it had body after body diving from the stage into the aggressively awaiting crowd below.

As expect (and absolutely adored), the guys wrapped up with their comeback single 'Black Mamba' which went fucking off, during this song especially, I couldn't help but think these guys need to play bigger stages, and bigger venues because they're well too huge and professional to be playing smaller venues like this. I predict if the guys keep going the way they are, under the guidance of Greyscale Records, they'll be playing with the big boys in no time and that's evident already with their increase in popularity with overseas fans and acquaintances.

It took me a while to finally see these guys live, but the wait was well worth the payoff as Alpha Wolf proved they're showing no signs of slowing down and the world is their oyster, prime for the taking. If you're yet to witness their talent live, go and change that asap.

Review by Browny @brownypaul

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