Bury Tomorrow, Gideon, Headwreck, Heists @ The Gov, Adelaide 10/9/2026
Daniel Winter-Bates screams ‘Adelaide, lose your f*king sht!’ and they do. He cheekily highlights how they removed the barrier earlier that day for stage divers and there had been only one so far, that number increased dramatically, fairly quickly. He implores everyone to hug the person next to them and jump, the room bounces. Bury Tomorrow have managed to get complete buy in from everyone, making this show, quite frankly, wonderful.
The bands energy doesn’t stop, and while Winter-Bates can be a chatty in between songs – at one-point saying he will be quick and still talking for a few minutes after – it’s a valuable tactic to connect with audience, who are just as much a part of the show as the group, while the giving the band a breather before the next song. That’s cause the next song will be a tornado of metalcore, huge beats, crushing breakdowns and roaring vocals.
The whole evening is set out that way. Heists open early and bring the heat that gets the crowd going straight away. Heavy, and lovingly well known to the Adelaide crowd, they have a spark with the audience many openers don’t have, making for a camera light waving, two stepping, circle pit extravaganza. The are not a million miles away from Bury Tomorrow’s style, mixing the deep with the soft, the hard with the introspective, that if they continue on this trajectory, they could be headlining venues like this soon.
Headwreck are back in town and there are probably fewer bands in Australia who are more identifiable than them. Their merch is spotted everywhere outside of gig time, which becomes clear why, when you see them on stage. While musically it’s a kaleidoscope of metal – hardcore, nu metal, rock, pretty much all the sub genres – their stage presence matches the diversity. No inch is left uncovered, the drummer appears at the front of the stage midsong, and their melodic choruses make a certain demographic swoon. It’s getting hot in here.
Which is where Gideon come in. Armed with a fearsome live reputation, and physical statures to match, the is metal like a mad dog being let loose. It rips and tears and the power stuns and shakes. The grooves constantly feel concrete slabs crashing to earth, and frontman Daniel McWhorter performs like a man who has just been told to sing for his life.
They can switch within speeds, and the sound of the guitars is like Leatherface’s chainsaw ripping open a corpse. The crowd are on shoulders, a wall of death appears in More Power, More Pain and in final song No Love/No One and random guy runs off the stage, legs first and disappears into the pit, presumably swallowed up and never seen again. This is band you need to watch.
Which leaves the headliners, Bury Tomorrow. Any fears that the heavyweights of earlier would dwarf the English band are soon dispelled. You don’t do what they’ve done for this long and play it safe.
The band have more than one string to their bow too. Life (Paradise Denied) is a foot stomper with the band a sniper’s nightmare with their constant movement, Cannibal has a beautiful melody within the blasts which harks to 80’s big rock songs and SX an industrial blast of early Nine Inch Nails meets Rob Zombie.
Throughout all this, Winter-Bates is constant busting a gut vocally, all while being the crowd hype man. The audience in return scream, bounce, clap and hang on his every word like a puppy looking at its owner.
The six-piece sound massive. The percussion and keyboards do elevate them from an average ‘metalcore’ band anyway, however tonight, the diversity from each song, while still being heavy, is impressive.
Heretic unlocks a riff barrage and rapid-fire drumming, the crowd surfers are pouring during Black Flame and they save the biggie Abandon Us for the end, where the sheer energy being expelled from the band, in not only the music but their own stage presence, and sometimes within the crowd, is unrivalled.
The last time they were here, was as a support and they were brilliant, however as a headliner, it was one of the most enjoyable shows of the year. Such a shame the tour is nearly finished for those that missed out.
Live Review By Iain McCallum