The Amity Affliction, In Hearts Wake, Redhook, Heartline @ The Bridgeway Hotel, Pooraka 21/3/2026
‘I’m not searching the sky for a reason to live’ Jonathan Reeves, bassist and vocalist of The Amity Affliction sings, barely audible over the raucous choir of fans at The Bridgeway tonight. The room awash in purple haze, arms reaching for the heavens, voices in unison. If anyone thought losing an iconic band member would slow the group down, tonight answered emphatically.
The Amity Affliction’s (TAA) last show of a twenty five date tour across Australia lands them here in the suburbs of Adelaide, a sold-out show and a stacked line up the reward for the any adventurous souls tonight.
We miss Adelaide’s own Heartline however we do manage to get in for RedHook who are struck by the Bridgeway curse of the sound cutting out early in the set.
Never fear though, in Emmy Mack they have an effervescent fireball of a front-person who gets into the crowd, conversing with them singing a capella version of Wonderwall, while Ned cracks some jokes from stage. Live music eh, can’t beat it.
Once the technical issues are resolved, RedHook make up for lost time and roar through the remainder of their theatrical, vaudeville set. Musically they are a rapid firestorm of sonics with a firework in Mack popping off up front. Be it a blood thirsty zombie, or someone making Bad Decisions, RedHook have the venue bouncing with enthusiasm.
That enthusiasm continues into In Heart’s Wake, where the chatter is most people didn’t even know they were on the line up. The surprise pays off as the crowd welcome them like gifts on Christmas morning as they open with ‘Worldwide Suicide’ and spend the next forty minutes shuddering your bones into dust.
After dominating at Froth & Fury only a few weeks ago, the touring in between has battle hardened them into diamonds. Emmy Mack does a guest spot and then Jake Taylor himself makes his way into the crowd for The Flood, the audience spinning around him while the centres the universe with emotional content.
However, for many, tonight is the first-time seeing Australia’s big players TAA since the bad blooded line up change. The previous incumbent of the bass and vocals duties was an iconic voice and character in the scene; how does the band fight back from such a reeling impact?
They start with a previously unreleased Kickboxer, arguably the bands heaviest and straight-out metal track to date, blowing the cobwebs off before Like Love and Drag The Lake break out. Both songs centre around the clean vocals and while Reeves doesn’t sound like the previous, nor should he, he consistently hits what is needed.
Let’s be frank though, there is no Australian band who have as many anthemic songs as TAA that you know the audience will take each part on themselves anyway and the ‘fuck it up’ line in Drag The Lake is spine tingling.
Joel Birch patrols the stage like a caged lion, just waiting to burst out, surprised rage channeled through his parts in All My Friends Are Dead and House Of Cards.
The pit is bubbling like a volcano, crowd surfers joined by those sitting on their friends’ shoulders, while the odd wheelie bin is carried across the crowd and a circle pit rages. It’s mayhem down the front.
Musically, TAA sound razor sharp and the choir practice just keep coming as Don’t Lean On Me is epic. The band epic, the crowd epic. Just epic.
TAA drop all the bangers, Open Letter biblical, Death’s Hand magical and Soak Me In Bleach so good that no one even remembers the previous band member.
Finishing with Pittsburgh, TAA had played a raw, metal masterclass. Arguably the most consistent set I have seen from the band in over a decade. All this with a line up of the finest Australian talent in support, wow! What did I say earlier, epic? Yeah, the whole evening was epic.
Live Review By Iain McCallum