For fans of Alien Ant Farm and Drowning Pool, an Australian tour has been a very long time coming.
In the case of Alien Ant Farm, it's been decades, with their first and only tour to the country occurring as part of an east-coast run during Big Day Out back in 2002. Though a tour was planned alongside the likes of Wheatus, Lit, and others back in 2017, that event was cancelled leaving fans to wait a few more years still.For Drowning Pool, it’s been close to nine years, and even then it appears we may have been lucky to catch them in 2025 as it is. After all, when Alien Ant Farm were announced to be touring the country this year, their original tour mates were Pennsylvania rockers CKY.
However, after an alleged altercation between CKY's Chad I Ginsburg and Alien Ant Farm's Dryden Mitchell while on tour in the UK, the former were removed from the line-up and instead replaced by Drowning Pool.
No matter how you looked at the line-up, it was bound to be a long-awaited return to Australia for these bands whose fanbases remain strong and healthy despite years of absence.
On Sunday (9 February), the Australian tour of Alien Ant Farm and Drowning Pool hit the halfway point in Melbourne, with the Northcote Theatre turned into a sea of black T-shirts (and even a few CKY shirts) for a celebration of music that was as memorable and nostalgic as it was heavy and cathartic.
Frankenbok - image © Rob Cuzens
Kicking off the evening were local metal stalwarts Frankenbok. A known quantity amongst Victorian fans and an ever-consistent presence on the homegrown metal scene, their brutal sound felt right at home in the opening slot.
Visibly grateful for the audience to be witnessing them as openers, the group were determined not to waste their appearance on the bill, ripping into a handful of cuts from their discography – largely leaning on their recently released 'Irrepressible' EP.
Armed with their trademark sense of humour, the crushing riffs of guitarist Aaron Butler and the throat shredding vocals of returned frontman Adam 'Hutch' Glynn, their all-too-short set was worth making the trip early for punters.
Alongside some samples from 'Point Break', fresh cuts like 'Dopamine', 'We're NOT The Drummonds', and 'Static Wings' were lapped up by eager ears, leaving an excited crowd even more energised about what was still to come.
As the crowd slowly swelled in size, it was clear anticipation was high for Texas quartet Drowning Pool, whose cinematic entrance was enough to wonder whether the order of bands had been switched and we were seeing the headliners out early.
Drowning Pool - image © Rob Cuzens
"It's been too f...ing long," vocalist Ryan McCombs (who resumed his role as frontman in 2023) told the crowd as they started to get the energy flowing. Kicking things off with 'Sinner', the opening track to their 2001 debut album of the same name, it felt clear Drowning Pool were not only making up for lost time, but giving us all a crash course in their musical history.
Pummelling rhythms and relentless riffs were paired with McCombs' immaculate vocals, proving that Drowning Pool are a well-oiled machine; consummate professionals well-versed in showmanship.
Alongside exceptional crowd interaction and vibe curation through tunes like 'One Finger And A Fist', 'Step Up' and 'Tear Away', covers of classic tracks such as Billy Idol's 'Rebel Yell' and Pantera's 'Cowboys From Hell' underlined their versatility.
Of course, whether you're a casual fan or a Drowning Pool diehard, even the band themselves were aware the best moment was saved for last. "Are you cheering because there's only one more song or because you know what that song is?" McCombs asked before launching into their debut single, 'Bodies'.
Making his way into the sea of writhing bodies, McCombs performed the track from the audience delivering a truly immense performance that left the crowd in awe of what they had just been a party to.
Drowning Pool - image © Rob Cuzens
Though the pairing of the two bands may seem like an odd one on paper, the overlap of their fans ensured those seeking the harder edge of Drowning Pool, and the slicker alt rock and grunge of Alien Ant Farm were well-catered depending on how their moods struck them throughout the course of the night.
For now, we were focusing on the latter, and as the comedown of Drowning Pool took hold so too did excitement for Alien Ant Farm's imminent appearance on the stage.
As reggae and dub classics over the PA gave way to Vicente Fernández' 'Volver, Volver', the Californian outfit appeared before us all to raucous applause. Knowing their audience well, they ripped into things with 'Courage', the opening track to their 2001 breakthrough album 'ANThology', before again recognising what their fans were here for – screaming out "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater!" in honour of the game that their following song, 'Wish', appeared on.
Alien Ant Farm - image © Rob Cuzens
As vocalist Dryden Mitchell complemented his enviable singing with good humour and his trademark semi-robotic movements, a hugely receptive crowd welcomed the band back to our shores after far too long away.
By far, the biggest song of the night was 'Movies', which saw an energetic crowd reach fever pitch, ensuring that other classics such as 'These Days', 'Attitude', and 'Glow' only paled in comparison despite a still-intense response from the crowd.
Leaning heavily on their latest effort, 2024's 'Mantras', Alien Ant Farm were under no illusion as to what their fans wanted. Returning from the standard encore break with a performance of 'What I Feel Is Mine' from 2006, much reverence was given to the arrival of their final song.
Alien Ant Farm - image © Rob Cuzens
Launching with some audio of Michael Jackson discussing the band, they whipped into their iconic cover of The King Of Pop's 'Smooth Criminal'. Much like Drowning Pool, Alien Ant Farm were aware that saving their best-known song for last was going to stir the crowd into a frenzy.
As they evoked memories of that first visit many moons ago (and even paired the cover with a brief rendition of CeCe Peniston's 'Finally'), it was clear that far too long had passed between shows, and that we can't wait 23 years to do it all again.
Alien Ant Farm - image © Rob Cuzens
For years, Alien Ant Farm have been unfairly relegated to the status of one-hit wonder thanks to the ubiquity of their chart-topping 'Smooth Criminal' cover (let's not forget that 'Movies' also hit #29 on the ARIA charts), a performance such as this proves that we need to rewrite history so as to ensure they're no longer considered a one-hit wonder, but a musical wonder whose one hit eclipsed their wider catalogue.
- written by Tyler Jenke
More photos from the concert.
