BABYMETAL, Bloodywood @ Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide 14/3/2026
A big show should be spectacular. Grandiose. Magical. No matter your age, there has to be ‘wow’ moments. BABYMETAL are in Adelaide, for the first time ever, with a reputation for huge, exciting, bombastic shows. Does the Japanese three-piece deliver?
Well, there’s not just them. Also forging quite the reputation as India’s premium metal band is Bloodywood. A night of metal infused with Japanese and Indian sounds awaits.
Starting with the sub-continent’s Bloodywood, the six piece go hard immediately. The drums matching the beat of the Dhol, a warning of what’s to come.
Mixing metal, with rap and Indian sounds of sitars and lyrics, the audience lap it up. Opener Gaddar and Aaj swing with rocking guitar riffs and even making the mistake of calling us Melbourne – which drew a few boos – is quickly forgotten when Nu Delhi is dropped on us.
The guys acknowledge that metal isn’t that big in India, so travelling is where they create their noise and for a first visit to Australia, I’d say they are doing really well. Now to see them with their own show next time.
However, it’s BABYMETAL, the three-piece girl group that’s divides opinions, we are here for. Having debuted in Good Things in 2018, they now run through their own headline tour, with tickets at a premium and little space left in the venue.
Opening with BABYMETAL DEATH , the girls arrive on stage in sync, graceful and resplendent in matching outfits that reflect and distort the light. The band behind them are gruntingly brutal which adds to the juxtaposition of the music with the sweet smiling metal assassins up front.
Straight into from me to u, images of Poppy appear on the big screen for her part while the group bounce around the stage, geeing everyone up.
For that’s what BABYMETAL are. They are one of the world best hype bands. You get carried away with the clapping, cheering, dancing and singing when all night they cajole you into joining with screams, fire and catchy choruses.
Song 3 features Slaughter To Prevail on the screen but let’s not forget the band actually performing, who all night, are heavy. Crushing, gargantuan sized heavy.
BxMxC precedes Kon! Kon! in which Bloodywood’s Jayant Bhadula and Raoul Kerr join for a raucous performance that had everyone bouncing.
This is not hyperbole. Kids, adults, teenagers, everyone are on shoulders, clapping and singing right to the back of room. In fact, if you’re not, you’re the odd one out. It’s cult like, infectious and as seen during METAL!, a great cardio work out.
Monochrome finishes the first part of the set, epic blast beats, camera lighting the room and angelic vocals before everyone has a quick breather.
As the ‘Fu Fu’ chants starts to signal the on coming explosion that is RATATATA, the extended intro has the crowd reaching peak fever. All night the girls, main vocalist Su-Metal, Moametal and Monometal, have been nonstop. How they continue to put this much energy in, co ordinated in sequence, while smiling is an incredible testimony to their fitness and endurance. The least the audience can do is match it.
As the noise from RATATATA subsides the girls launch into a shirt swinging PA PA YA! before the hair stands up on my arm due to the crowd cheering for Gimme Chocolate! with the girls re-enacting, well, eating chocolate.
Ending with Road Of Resistance, the Australian Baby Metal flags are adorned, flames are reaching to the roof, and everyone is lost in this moment of theatre. Children as young as five, all smiles, eyes wide, absolutely in awe at the performance before them. To be fair, this old guy loves a theatrical show as much as they do. And I enjoyed this.
Live Review By Iain McCallum