With the weather dangerously teetering between grey and grey with rain, the anticipation of Good Things '23 could be felt in the air.
Trains were halted at Flinders Street Station, boarding as many alt/ emo/ hardcore lovers as they could manage. It was a gathering of band tees and fishnets, fostering a sense of community between complete strangers.Compared to last year's Brisbane show, getting into the Melbourne festival at Flemington Racecourse (1 December) was relatively easy. Lines moved quickly and punters quickly flocked to their stage of choice.
The event site held 5 stages and hosted over 32 acts – not including the extra Stage 666, featuring less traditional acts like full-band karaoke and sword-swallowing performers. While the main two stages loomed over the majority of the racecourse, a huge dome covered the second double-stage.
Coming out to an already packed audience, The Plot In You kicked off the day for many. Being a large act on quite early in the day, a lot of the crowd seemed to still be warming up. That didn't stop the mosh however, as fans got into the literal swing of things quickly. Vocalist Landon Tewers enjoyed the crowds early energy: "If you got a vape, blow the biggest cloud you can!" he yelled.
The Plot In You - image © Harrison Innes
Opening the main stage, PVRIS brought a softer vibe to entice crowds in. With Lynn Gunn's voice being lost the night before, herself and the band still managed to pull together for an entertaining show. Fans of the American band showed their enthusiasm with yells from the crowd.
One of the early highlights of the day was Enter Shikari. The British rock band quickly found their dedicated audience in the crowd and came with booming and demanding presence, people slammed into one another to the electronica breakdowns.
Speaking on environmental issues throughout the world, frontman Roy Reynolds dedicated a song "to those still arguing with thermometers". Getting into and amongst the crowd, Reynolds played perfectly off the engaged crowd's energy.
Finishing with a mash of "four songs in seven minutes", Enter Shikari finished their set with crowd pleaser 'Live Outside'. While the set was impressive in every way, many fans left thinking: "Why weren't they on later?"
Enter Shikari - image © Harrison Innes
Across the other side of the main stage, Eskimo Joe came out to a different crowd, dispersed from the previous act. Bringing a marginally softer and more traditional rock sound, the Australians held their own well, stacked up against competing international acts.
It was becoming increasingly difficult moving from stage to stage. The crowd was packed tight wherever you tried to move; making sure not to trip over punters sitting down became just as important as focusing on where you needed to go.
Moving past the dome stage, Slaughter To Prevail bellowed deep, gritty sounds. Peering into the crowd, the mosh was a silhouette of arms and feet. Bodies clamoured over each other as they tried to reach the front.
Security in front of the stage had seemingly doubled as they were put to work catching and escorting punters out of the front. Fans poured out the sides, sweat-coated faces beamed with huge smiles.
On the smaller fifth stage, local band Tapestry brought a dedicated and enthusiastic crowd. Diehards made themselves known as frontman Tom Devine-Harrison moved up and down the stage. The incredible coherence of the band members' energy created a main-stage energy, present throughout their whole set.
Tapestry - image © Harrison Innes
Another early highlight in the day, Make Them Suffer saw another crammed crowd under the dome. The energy of the band was infectious as fans swirled around in the mosh. The show, both visually and sonically, was one to really enjoy and get into.
Back at the main stage, punk-rock band Pennywise's banter had the crowd's eyes glued to the stage. Between covers of 'Down Under' and bringing on Frenzy Rhomb to play a song with, the whole set was glorious chaos. Their last track of the set saw a huge mosh of everyone joining in on the fun.
Appealing to a comparatively younger audience next door, Slowly Slowly launched onto the main stage in their acrobatic-like fashion. The band came with the intent to kick the door down, bringing another energetic and fast-paced festival set, something the band has become well known for.
Slowly Slowly - image © Harrison Innes
Keeping up a constant diversity between newer and older acts, Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura had the heads banging in the front row. A young punter is protected by three large figures in the front row, her smile lit up by the snarling sounds onstage.
While She Sleeps woke up the neighbouring stage under the dome with a large metalcore audience. While the crowd continues to pour in with late comers stuck in the festival's human traffic, singer Lawrence Taylor brings an amazing anti-hero energy to the stage, screaming to their loving audience: "Get the f... up!"
Ocean Sleeper was well and truly the highlight of stage five, garnering arguably one of the most enthusiastic crowds of the day. Between constantly throwing out merch to the crowd and inflatable repelling beach balls, zealous crowd surfers prayed to their god as they tumbled over the barrier. The energy of each band member was unrelenting as they thrashed around the stage.
Ocean Sleeper - image © Harrison Innes
Meanwhile back on the dome stage, Taylor of While She Sleeps had surfed into the middle of the crowd, standing upon punters to deliver the last lines of popular track 'Sleeps Society'.
With a largely departed crowd to continue the carnage that was sure to ensue at Bullet For My Valentine, Jebediah played to their own audience that had quickly amassed after the previous act. Being another older Australian act, while their set was great in its own right, the placement of Jedediah's slot felt like an alternative instead of a must-see.
Another set that fell victim to the draw of the main stage, Royal & The Serpent also felt the pressure of sound troubles, meaning a later start for their set. However, once the band got started, you couldn't stop them. The act was relentless in their energy, and those punters who had showed up were clearly having the best time.
Royal & The Serpent - image © Harrison Innes
Drawing all the emos out of their hiding, Taking Back Sunday brought the sad nostalgia to the afternoon. With a more tame crowd then the previous few acts, TBS amped their show up with big rock moves, frontman Adam Lazzara pranced around onstage, swinging his microphone high up in the air and catching it, while spinning and twisting around. Crowd favourite 'MakeDamnSure' was a huge moment for many fans.
Back over on the main stage, the crowd was packed in tight. People flooded out of both the mosh and front pit, red-faced and caked in sweat. The brutal sounds of Bullet For My Valentine tore through the main arena, enticing all to move forward again and again. A patron in a wheelchair joined in on the fun, being crowd surfed safely atop the large crowd.
Following the same energy, I Prevail brought the heat, both metaphorically and literally. Flames spat out of the stage, accompanied by the heavy vocals of the band. The crowd surged back to front, metalheads well and truly in the mood for some unforgiving music.
I Prevail - image © Harrison Innes
A hot topic among many festivals is the state of the toilets: Good Things seemed to have got it right this year. While there always could be more toilets, the spacing of blocks and separation of lines worked very well. With different lines to choose from and constant cleaning, lines moved quickly into clean-ish cubicles. Mild exceptions of doors not closing kept things interesting from time to time.
At this stage in the late afternoon, choosing acts became more and more important and crowds started to form for the headliners. A local favourite on stage five, Luca Brasi brought their wholesome, high-energy show to a dedicated crowd.
With a continuing run of Good Things always bringing an oddball to the line-up, Devo brought an era's type set to Good Things, moving through their different sounds of their 50-year discography. While the set would've been a spectacle for some, many younger fans might've felt quite disconnected from the genre-defining act.
"We know why you're here." Limp Bizkit took the stage. Carnage ensued. It was everything fans hoped for – bodies piled over the barricade, one with a leg not where it should be. The solid, grassy ground shook as people jumped as Fred Durst waltzed around in an unapologetically cool fashion.
Limp Bizkit - image © Harrison Innes
While the Bizkit 'partied like it's 1999', Durst showed a present care for his fans, stopping the show at one point when a punter looked to be seriously unwell. While fans might have hoped for some more songs from the set, no one could fault the nu-metal rockers starting and ending with the iconic 'Break Stuff'.
On the other side of the site, Spiderbait wrapped up the dome stage, with a fun and energetic set. Bringing out a didgeridoo for the intro into 'Black Betty', each crowd member joined in on the action.
The finale fell into the hands of Fall Out Boy, amassing a gigantic audience to wrap up the night. With a super-passionate crowd for the first part of the show, the iconic emo act played material from their entire discography, though some fans felt the day's exhaustion and made a break for it. However, with a strong finish to the set with tracks like 'Thnks fr th mmrs' really brought it home.
Fall Out Boy - image © Harrison Innes
An incredible day of varied alternative music, Good Things pulled it off once again. While some acts seemed weirdly placed and some tear-worthy clashes, the spread of acts across the day gave the majority of punters an incredible experience, well and truly locking them in for next year.
More photos from the festival.
