Architects - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 11th December @ Festival Hall, Melb VIC

Architects
Festival Hall, Melbourne VIC
December 11, 2025
Supports: House Of Protection and President

I would’ve been introduced to Architects around the end of 2007 or perhaps early 2008. A friend of mine sent me ‘Buried At Sea’ on MySpace and I was hooked immediately. Since then, I think I’ve seen the band live no less than a dozen times and have witnessed every era as they’ve evolved over the years. After not really connecting with the last few albums in the catalogue, I really enjoyed The Sky, The Earth & All Between, and was excited to see them live for the first time in a few years.

On paper, I should really like openers President. I’m a massive Fightstar fan and have avidly followed Charlie Simpson’s musical output for a long time, but damn, these guys just did absolutely nothing for me. Between the Sleep Token mystery schtick, the president mask that United Nations did a long ass time ago and the exceedingly bland and lifeless performance, I was very unimpressed. I had hoped that seeing the band in a live setting would help me click with it, but it honestly did the opposite.

Thankfully, House Of Protection came out and completely shifted the energy in a huge way. From the moment this powerful duo hit the stage, they provided this vibrant and excited energy that lit up the room. Guitarist/Vocalist Stephen Harrison jumped into the crowd with his guitar and mic stand for the second song and immediately lost his mic to the crowd, yet the band took it in their stride and just laughed it off. There’s something to be said about a band not taking themselves too seriously and just having a lot of fun with it. High octane tracks like ‘Learn To Forget’, ‘Godspeed’ and ‘It’s Supposed To Hurt’ absolutely crushed, and the slower more moody tracks like ‘Being One’ and ‘Better Off’ made for huge singalongs. This is the second time House Of Protection have been on Australian shores this year to support bands in big rooms. Really hoping 2026 sees them returning for a headliner in more intimate venues because that’s bound to be super special.

‍Architects have come a very long way from the band I first saw opening for Parkway Drive and August Burns Red many years ago. They’re an entirely different machine in 2025 and it’s something to behold. The level of production they bring to their shows now is mighty impressive and the addition of two more members in the live setting does them a ton of favours as both contribute to backing vocals, allowing Sam Carter fleeting moments of reprieve in songs that are just a barrage of line after crushing line.

Out of the gate, the opening run of ‘Elegy’, ‘Whiplash’, ‘when we were young’, ‘Black Lungs’ and ‘Curse’ was hit after immense hit. Sadly, the guitars were buried in the mix for most of the set, completely and utterly drowned out the drums, which made it quite the jarring listen.

It made me chuckle to hear Carter dedicate ‘Gravedigger’ to the old school listeners, considering that song is from 2014 and they have four excellent albums before that. It was nice to hear one song from that era though, as well as the Australian live debut of 'Red Hypergiant' from Lost Forever // Lost Together. Aric and Stephen from House Of Protection jumped up for ‘Brain Dead’, which lifted the energy back up after the live debut of ‘Broken Mirror’, getting the crowd riled up.

A brief glimpse of ‘Gone With The Wind’ straight into ‘Doomsday’ and ‘Black Hole’ made for a huge ending to the main set. It was very clear that Carter was battling some semblance of illness, but huge kudos to the man for pushing through and never letting the energy to drop. Delivering over an hour of vocals like that is hard enough when you’re feeling 100%, so pushing through when you’re under the weather is a hard feat.

I’ll be the first to admit that ‘Seeing Red’ didn’t do a thing for me when they released it as a single last year, but damn, it absolutely went off to open the encore. The entire Festival Hall screaming along was a sight to behold. Naturally, the band closed out the evening with ‘Animals’ to outrageous crowd support. It’s such a simple song, but they’re always the most impactful and this is a prime example of that.

Look, it was far from the best Architects show I’ve seen, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that they’re an incredible live band, and that Sam Carter is a world class vocalist. Again, I give so much credit to anyone who is unwell for getting onstage and giving it everything they possibly can. Regardless, the bands longstanding love affair with Australia continues and no doubt we’ll be seeing them again very soon.

Review by Nicholas Simonsen @blackechomusic

Setlist

Elegy
Whiplash
when we were young
Black Lungs
Curse
A Match Made in Heaven
deep fake
Impermanence
Red Hypergiant (Australian live debut)
Gravedigger
Broken Mirror (live debut)
Brain Dead (with House of Protection)
Meteor  
Everything Ends
Gone With the Wind (Snippet)
Doomsday
Blackhole

Encore

Seeing Red
Animals

Photo Gallery by Ophelia Symons @opheliavictoria. Please Credit Wall Of Sound and Ophelia Symons if you repost photos