Adelaide showed up in force on Thursday May 7 as Of Mice & Men rolled into Lion Arts Factory with Crystal Lake and Perth metalcore crew Patient Sixty-Seven for a huge night of modern metalcore, emotion, chaos and pure live energy.
Presented by The Phoenix AU, this was one I was really keen to get along to, camera in hand for Crannk.com, and the night delivered exactly what you want from a stacked heavy lineup. Three bands. Three different levels of intensity. One Adelaide crowd ready to move from the first riff.
Opening the night were Patient Sixty-Seven, a band out of Perth, Western Australia, who I have had the pleasure of interviewing for Crannk before. It was great to finally get along and snap some live shots of them in full flight.
Patient Sixty-Seven came out swinging with a set that showed exactly why they continue to build their name in the Australian metalcore scene. Tracks like Barricade, Nothing Inspires Forgiveness Quite Like Revenge, Hibbertia, Shed My Skin and Scattered hit hard, and the band also dropped a new track called Catch 22, giving the Adelaide crowd a taste of what is coming next.
They were tight, hungry and full of intent. There is always something special about seeing an Australian support band take their moment seriously, and Patient Sixty-Seven did exactly that. They set the tone early and gave the room every reason to pay attention.
Next up were Crystal Lake, and bloody hell, what a set.
I will be honest, I did not know the band as deeply as some in the room before this show, but after watching them live I will absolutely be diving further into their catalogue. The energy they brought was unreal. Pure power, movement and aggression, all delivered with the kind of confidence that grabs a room by the throat.
Crystal Lake tore through tracks including Six Feet Under, The Weight Of Sound, Prometheus, Everblack, Watch Me Burn, Lost In Forever and Apollo, and by the time they were deep into their set, the Adelaide crowd was completely theirs.
Bodies were moving everywhere. The room was bouncing. The energy coming from the stage was massive, and the crowd gave it straight back. Crystal Lake were one of those bands that made you stop mid photo and think, right, I need to listen to a lot more of this.
Then it was time for Of Mice & Men.
The headliners hit the stage with the kind of presence you expect from a band that has carved out a serious legacy in modern metalcore. From the first moments, the room locked in. There was a real mix of nostalgia, emotion and heavy release in the air, with fans singing, moving and throwing everything into the set.
Of Mice & Men moved through a strong setlist that included Another Miracle, Feels Like Forever, Would You Still Be There, Wake Up, You Make Me Sick, Obsolete, Another You, Back To Me, Flowers, Troubled Water, O.G. Loko, Bones Exposed and Second & Sebring.
It was a set that hit across different eras of the band, giving longtime fans those huge singalong moments while also showing where Of Mice & Men sit now. Heavy when it needed to be. Emotional when it mattered. Tight, powerful and completely locked in.
For me, it was an absolute honour to be there capturing the night for Crannk.com. From Patient Sixty-Seven flying the Australian flag, to Crystal Lake absolutely winning over the room, to Of Mice & Men closing the night with power and heart, this was one of those Adelaide shows that reminded you why live heavy music still hits so hard.
Massive respect to The Phoenix AU for bringing this tour through Adelaide, to Lion Arts Factory, and to every band and fan who made the night what it was.
A massive night, and one I was stoked to photograph.
