BOW DOWN TO YOUR SLUG GOD: SLUGFEST 2025 CONCERT REVIEW

I originally had another introduction that I had written for this article pre-festival, but after my experience it just didn't cut it. the alternative music scene in Queensland is such an exciting and beautiful place to be a part of

right now and that could not have been more evident than at SlugFest. You would think having ten bands plays in the span of five hours that there would be some tension, anxiety or ego flying around, but as an observer and after talking to many of the band members, this was definitely not the case. Ravi (vocalist of war bear and SlugFest organiser) could not have hand picked a better group of bands for this show if he tried. from the very beginning of me stepping in the greaser bar, the energy of the crowd was light, joyful and held the vibe of just wanting to have fun.

so here I was On Saturday the 18th of September at 7pm walking through the maze that is the greaser bar getting my bearings before the mayhem of what was bound to be a crazy night. War Bear put in the work to make alternative

Laurachel Ventus

music affordable and accessible like back in the day before prices went sky high. with two stages and ten bands I was running between stages so I unfortunately was not able to see the complete sets of most of the bands, but I will endeavour to give you a faithful representation of my nights experience. I have previously discussed the band-by-band rundown, which you can read here; however since then bridge left to burn had removed themselves from the bill their place being filled with Ipswich skater punk band tomohung.

The night began with Defiant Ground on the inside stage, members of Arkángel up front and centre. While I only got to catch twenty minutes of the show, it was high energy from the very beginning, ruckus moshing and

cheering filling the room throughout. It was my first time seeing Defiant Ground and I would happily go out of my way to see them again. While they did only have enough room to stand side by side on the stage, they made it their mission to throw all of their energy into the set. During the four songs of the set I was able to see, singer Ben could be seen hanging off of the roof from the stage lights, pulling his energy further into the crowd. At this point we were into the last song of the night that I was able to watch and the crowd was truly heating up, with over half of the crowd throwing themselves, and each other around, filling the room with chaotic electrifying energy.

From here I was speed walking to the Garage stage to catch the end of inarius's set. With a little more room to move around the band filled the area, flinging their hair and power stancing as they went. "come on everyone, how

are we doing? we're inarius band from the backyard of Brisbane. if you guys came here to get sweaty. if you guys came here to lose your shit, now is your chance." during the set, vocalist jack, spent nearly as much time in the pit as he did on the stage. inaruis announced "this is our very first show as a band, so thank you very much guys" to ruckus applause. "this is a hardcore show so move your friends around a bit. if you want to run in a circle, now is your chance. run!" I was not aware coming into this performance that it was their first live show and I would have known if it wasn't announced. their stage presence and crowd interaction was on point through the whole section of their set that I witness. I left impressed and eager to see them perform again.

Next up was tomohung. while they were an unexpected addition I was most excited to see how they would jump into the fray, having very short notice of the show. with the vibe the

band were omitting from the beginning, you knew you were in for a good time. catching the start of their set on the inside stage I was resigned to leave half way through, but tomohung had my attention from the get-go and I found myself pulled from their set reluctantly (sorry alterth, that is no shade to you, they were just fun to watch.) "how are you going everyone? we are tomohung from Ipswich. thanks for coming out early" started Dan performing from the pit. I will admit that I am a sucker for some skater punk, but I was vibing as hard as everyone else to the playful music. I especially appreciated watching Dan dance with Shawn (vocalist) from copecaine during "Cushing street". the set was complete with drummer andy playing while standing on his seat and smashing his cymbals like they owed him money and "let's get weird" shouted through the mic from the pit.

one thing that I particularly enjoyed about the nights events were watching band members from groups who had previously played, or were yet to play, bouncing from stage-to-stage alongside me; whether moshing in the pits or just enjoying the show from the sideline, it was brilliant to witness.

I was off again, to the garage Stage to see the end of alterth's set. I will forever have alterth ingrained into my brain as the dildo band as I realised one of the members had a large pink

dildo hanging off the end of his guitar. it did pull me out of the performance for a moment

while I giggled like a child, but pushing myself back into adulthood, I watched as the vocalist screamed his heart out from the pit. "for your maximum participation, I want you to come forward. and I want you to jump on f**king command. just two steps. we aren't fighting. we are just jumping. are you ready? I will help you out. i'll show you the way. we're going to fucking bounce. bounce! bounce! bounce!" I had a great time watching the guitarist throw themselves around the stage, heads banging, hair flying and moving in synchronised steps. while unfortunately at most points throughout the set I was too short to see most of the stage properly, the sound clarity and energy of the crowd were still there and alterth have great potential to set the metalcore scene on fire.

at this point in the night I was running back inside to catch the start of where the devil. I have previously written about the band in bands you should be listening to here. by this point the sets were running slightly behind so I did get to see less of the set than anticipated

but I was not disappointed in what I was able to see. with nearly half of the band playing in the pit it was interesting to see how the crowd interaction changed. while still moshing their hearts out, the crowd hung back against the walls, giving the band space to move; vocalist Jake was having none of it however, his towering form looming over crowd members and getting in peoples faces to bring their energy in. while I am a relatively new fan of w.t.d I was excited to see how they would perform and how the crowd would take their energy. "how the f**k are we guys? you all having a good night" Jake asked to rousing applause and cheers. "now I want to see you all moving, slap me in the face, hurry the f**k." my favourite part of the set was the synchronised head banging before jumping into completely feral energy as the crowd moved in closer to two-step.

I was off again to the garage Stage to watch insect. I will freely admit that I am an absolute sucker for these boys and will watch them at every possible opportunity. I have written about them several times before, starting off with bands you should be listening to here, a review of their two-track here, and finally a

Toowoomba show review here. upon my first time seeing insect I was privileged enough to see vermin and neanderthal performed with beau frizzell of deep leech and I was hoping that this time Aiden Duke of deathrow would be around to perform neanderthal, and to my delight he was. Aiden jumped on stage to duet his featured song and left to ruckus applause. "your head copies me" screamed vocalist Liam, as he began banging his head. "now we're talkin'" he announced as the crowd joined in. the onstage antics of Liam will forever make me laugh and today did not disappoint, with strong man muscles and teeth bearing grins, booty shaking and jumping into the crowd. "this is exactly what this shit is about. we meet each other. you make sure you're not a c**t and we put this shit together." we were also in for a treat with the first performance of newest addition joão on guitar, who had a meer three sessions to learn all of the songs.

up next, and back to the inside stage was arkángel. I have written about arkángel previously in more bands you should know here, and for a review on their newest single "haunting my dreams" featuring misstiq here. this set was a powerhouse from the very beginning and didn't disappoint with three featured singers in the forms of ezz Eddy

(vocalist of spacegoat), Amy rose driscall who remarkably took photos and performed during the same song and finally Kalani weeks (vocalist of roronoah.) to say that vocalist jake has a looming stage presence is probably the understatement of the century. watching the boys go from the friendly chatty men offstage to the demon-like persona onstage was intense to watch, but in all the right ways. their energy filled the room and pulled you, giving you no chance of escape. the crowd was ready to go feral from the beginning and they did not hesitate, matching the band's energy, the mosh section going crazy from the very beginning to the end. "I want to see everyone singing or screaming along. push it up. push it up. push it up." props definitely needs to go to guitars harrison and jacob who were supplying the backup gutturals throughout the set; I was pleasantly surprised by their vocal performance.

I unfortunately lost track of time while watching Arkángel so I did miss more of outer worlds than I intended, but I did manage to see the last ten minutes of the set. running back to the garage Stage I was met with the hair

flinging goodness that was outer worlds. their presence sat heavy in the air as the crowd rapidly grew around me. "how are you all doing? I want to see you all take two big steps to fill in this gap. two big f**king steps." I will admit I knew very little of the sounds of the band coming into the night but I left very happy and a fan of their music. vocalist Corey has a clean sound that hits in all the right places; he has great vocal control, especially while throwing himself around the stage, and is backed by some truly talented guitarists and drummer.

I made my way for the final time of the night to the inside stage to see awake in time. I will admit freely that my favourite part of this all over excellent set was watching drummer michael walk up to the kit with a seemingly shy and reserved demeanour before turning rapidly

into an absolute weapon. the interactions between the different band members were also lovely to see and gave the performance an extra little something. all-in-all I had an amazing time watching the band cause mayhem in the crowd and on the stage. "we're here for a good time, not a long time. let's see some s**t." Vocalist Alex has an incredible range that was out in full force and it was remarkable to watch him flip through so many different singing styles and techniques in such a short period of time. the energy from the band was on point and the crowd were definitely feeling it, joining in on the fun with no hesitation or need for encouragement. while I have heard awake in time before for some reason they were never a band I would jump to listen to. this has changed since seeing them in person and feeling the energy behind the songs. I have most certainly been snagged in their trap.

now we make it to the reason we were all at the greaser bar for the night, war bear. I was back at the garage Stage, waiting somewhat impatiently to watch the band I had interacted with so much for the first time. I have previously

interviewed war bear, so if you are interested in learning some band history, musical INSPIRATIONS etc you can read the interview here. "did I f**king stutter. all you mother f**kers in the smoking area, up the front. this is your last chance to dance you little bitches" Ravi hollard into the microphone by way of greeting. "alright you f**king pussies, get up here. front to back, get the f**k up here. we are war bear." Ravi is the true definition of a frontman, in the way he

commands attention, drawing you in no matter where he is on stage or in the crowd, and is a dominating force whose energy fills every tiny gap of space in the room. when the performer switch turns on it is like watching a real life personality switch. the overall musical talent of this band is completely insane and I cannot wait to see where they go. whether it is drums, guitar, bass or vocals nothing is out of

place, or unnecessarily flashy. I already had a rather large obsession with this band, but after seeing the boys perform live it has hit a new level. the force they create on stage is equal to that of bands like to the grave, parkway drive and Whitechapel. it is not always about the size of the venue, but what you do with that space, and it is safe to say that war bear ripped it to shreds. in true Ravi style he spent as much time in the crowd, encouraging the pit to move, hugging specific people throughout the crowd and hanging off the stage as he did on the stage itself. circle

pits, walls of death, two-stepping, head banging and sing-a-longs were abundant throughout the set and kept the energy high at all times. I have to admit I got a little teary during "don't be afraid" after finding out Ravi wrote it for his daughter; being a parent myself the song hits extra hard now, and seeing the passion with which the boys perform the song makes the track hit even more intensely. I was hoping the show would end on "we're still here" and I wasn't disappointed. this song had the entire crowd screaming the lyrics back at the band, filling the air with a sense of gratitude, community and brotherhood; it was truly beautiful to witness and I am so grateful to have been a part of it.

You can find war bear on: spotify, apple music, facebook, instagram, youtube and tiktok

For fans of: Comeback Kid, The Ghost Inside, While She Sleeps and stick to your guns

Upon finding out about SlugFest I had approached war bear for a quote for the article and after chatting for a while I had made the joke that "I am going to call this SlugFest 25, because I can tell this is going to be amazing and just the first of many, so, sorry, not sorry." now, here we are, after the fact and SlugFest 2026 is already in the making, so keep an eye out for the announcement next year. congratulations Ravi and war bear on your successful first festival, and to all the bands involved for making the night so lovely and filled with joy.

war bear have been announced on the lineup for munk & petal at the brightside in Brisbane on Saturday the 28th of February 2026, you can buy your tickets from the link below:

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Did you attend SlugFest? who was your favourite band of the night?