Karnivool - Gig Review 2nd August @ PICA, Melbourne VIC

Karnivool
PICA, Melbourne (Naarm), VIC
August 2, 2025
‍Support: Big Noter

‍I’d never heard of this venue, prior to this gig being announced, let alone ever been here. It’s an interesting one – it’s like an enormous, modern barn, roofed but still open to outside temperatures. It would be fantastic in summer, but an odd choice in the absolute depths of a Melbourne winter. Still, with probably somewhere in the region of 4,000 Voolheads packed in there, the body heat and the joyous, celebratory vibe of the crowd lifts the climate inside to an acceptable level. 

Adding beautifully to the vibe of celebration is opener Big Noter. An all-new project for iconic indigenous hip-hop artist Briggs, this band draws heavy musical and attitudinal influence from the likes of RATM and Body Count. A strong departure from his signature sound, no doubt, but his distinctive vocals and message still ring true. It’s just that they do so over the top of slamming guitar riffs and propulsive rhythms rather than hip-hop beats. 

Tonight, his stripped-back band, which features three seasoned but exuberant professionals on guitar, bass and drums, lays down a rock-solid, highly energetic foundation, while Briggs stalks the stage and belts out his lyrics about unity and staying true to yourself with debut single 'Identity'. While many of the songs are unfamiliar to much of the crowd (the band have only released a couple of tracks into the digital world, although apparently a full debut album is on the way), it doesn’t matter, the band’s energy, raw musicianship and good-natured anger cross barriers, and their 40-minute set reaches and speaks to the mind and viscera of the vast majority of Karnivool’s generally very open-minder punters in the venue this night.

The brand new band big notes themselves very nicely tonight.

What can one say about the mighty Karnivool? They’ve been around since the late nineties, but they’ve only released three full-length albums in that entire time, the last one being a full twelve years ago (at one point in the set, guitarist Mark ‘Hoss’ Hosking reveals that a fourth, only previously hinted at, is most definitely on the way, and should be released later this year, another cause for excited celebration), and yet fans still flock to their shows in their absolute droves. This is only testament to the sheer quality of their music and live show.

The setlist is a ripper (although this humble scribe only gets to hear one out of his three favourite ‘Vool tunes again – ‘Goliath’, with ‘All I Know’ and ‘Shutterspeed’ remaining unplayed – although ultimately this is neither here nor there), featuring a broad array of songs from all three albums and a couple of the currently standalone singles they’ve released in the last few years (‘Drone’ and ‘All it Takes’.) It’s a joyous set, a crowd-pleasing set, with the set proper culminating in the magnificent title track to the debut Themata album, from no less than twenty years ago. Three fabulous encores draw the show out to a full hour and a half of magic and majesty, representing maximum enjoyment and value for money for the punters. 

This writer must have seen this band at least a dozen times over the last two decades or so, but they never, ever fail to blow what little hair I have left back with their musicianship, the exuberance of their delivery and the quality of their music. This band is timeless, transcendent, a beacon of musical light in the darkness.

And soaring above it all is the sublime vocals of frontman Ian Kenny, whose voice still sounds as strong, pure and effervescent as they did the day Themata came out, and whose stage presence still captivates.

These Perth legends have, unequivocally, still got it. And it seems that, while they’re not as active as they were fifteen years ago, they’re not going to lose it any time soon.

‍Cannot wait for the new album to drop.

Review by Rod Whitfield