Debut Headline Gig for Bitter Kind goes off without a hitch at Graveyard Bar
- Keely Naylon
- Oct 16, 2025
- 5 min read
The car park is full of people, laughing, chatting, dressed in black and band-merch, some milling beside the Kebab truck receipts in hand, all outside The Graveyard Bar in Coburg North.
A small, yet buzzing, local venue on the outskirts of Coburg nestled between two kebab trucks and boasting a vibrant smokers area. Last Saturday (4th of October), The Graveyard Bar hosted the debut headliner show of burgeoning Melbourne metalcore band Bitter Kind.
Opening the evening was Nightmarsh, a Melbourne progressive deathcore trio, bringing high energy and confidence to the small stage. Already, a crowd had gathered on the Persian rug in front of the band, nodding their heads, and raising their glasses in the air to the impressive screams from the vocalist Will.
Adrian De Santis on an 8-string guitar similarly impresses, covering the lower and higher registers, as the band is without a bassist by choice. Cleverly, the band has a track playing both the synth and bass parts, filling out the sound, and leaving the band feeling much larger than a trio. A track that can sometimes lead them off beat but overall adds to their sound.
Drummer Alex Bikovsky does an excellent job of maintaining the rhythm which allows De Santis to indulge in some thrilling and interesting solos.
The band graced us with a deathcore cover of ‘Untouched’ by Aussie music legends The Veronica’s to high praise from the crowd.
Western-Sydney metalcore band Elara spiked interest from the very first step into the building as punters spotted their merch (a white slide with ‘Elara’ written on the strap), and their introduction to the stage was no less entertaining.
Disco music featured heavily throughout the set, ‘boogie checks’ as they called it, as did their bassist Dong Hee (Daniel) Lee. Lee couldn’t make it to the show in person but definitely made it in spirit via a mic stand and a print out of his smiling face.
The band had a vibrant energy, the guitarists and vocalist moving between the raised stage and the mosh, pulling eager fans into a swirl to excellent ear-worm riffs and thundering drums.
Musically, they were good, fun, heavy metalcore, and whilst they were a lover of a good bit (many good bits such as ‘duck the slide’ (hence the merch)) they were not using gimmicks to make up for bad music. A mixture of heavy screams and clean singing - typically the forte of bassist Lee - were covered by vocalist Alex Lopino who did an incredible job holding it all together.
The band is tight, confident, and clearly having the time of their lives, playing around with each other yet maintaining a heavy, grinding, sound. And, seemingly in agreement with Nightmarsh’s celebration of women in pop, the band’s popular take on ‘Unwritten’ by Natasha Bedingfield was a perfect way to get the crowd singing along.
Day Saints didn’t let the energy sink. Lead vocalist Sam Kriesel carried the crowd in with an aggressively charming air, constantly inviting the crowd forward with cheeky phrases like, ‘We’re not that heavy!’ Followed swiftly with, ‘Who knows how to two-step?’ The crowd was constantly pulsing in and out as mosh-pit regulars took to the stage only to be replaced with new-comers as Sam Kriesel drew the audience in.
The emo grunge band from Melbourne delivered and they weren’t lying about not being the heaviest band of the night. Day Saints were a melodic, hard-rock style band with heavier, metalcore/emo style scream vocals intermixed with the classic clean yet raspy vocals you can expect from grunge.
They were thrilling, with tight chugging riffs and restrained drum fills, Day Saints provided an overall gritty, grimy and angsty feeling. They felt like a well-oiled machine, confident, controlled, yet at the same time rowdy and raw. Day Saints' playing was the perfect amount of messy, fitting with one another perfectly, as vocalist Sam Kriesel led the charge; it felt like an intimate controlled chaos.
As the night drew to a close, our headliner Bitter Kind took to the stage, the room overflowing with supporters, fellow players, and fans as the five piece band warmed up for the final time. Immediately, Bitter Kind provided a big, overflowing energy to the crowd who surged forward for them on command.
Their support acts had been chosen well as each band had built up to Bitter Kind being the heaviest band of the night, with the screams of Nathan Duke and Vas Papadopoulos being an impressive focal point.
The band sounded firm and close knit, with bassist Josh Ison and drummer Tristian King working in an incredible harmony. Guitarist Kieran Macdonald delivered with searing and sinister guitar riffs that felt electric in the room.
The band pulled out a huge eerie sound from the small stage, yet not oppressive, crashing over the crowd with ferocious waves of sound and sending audience members reeling in a thriving mosh pit.
Bitter Kind came prepared for their headliner show handing out goodie bags of lollies and stickers that had the crowd already on their side when they walked through the door. Early in the set foam swords were thrown into the crowd and grasped by eager punters where a sword fight was carried out with glee and abandon.
The band played an epic and enthralling backing track with playful, high-energy guitar work and led the chaotic crowd through the fight to their panting exhausted end.
Community appears important to Bitter Kind, recognising their fans and supporters, and recognising talent amongst the crowd. During the last section of the set several screamers were invited on stage, or simply handed a microphone in the crowd, to scream a section of the song to mass applause and cheers.
It felt like a much larger show, with each person knowing the words and proud to scream along with a band that appeared over the moon to receive the support they had.
Vocalist and guitarist Vas Papadopoulos invited new-moshers into the pit for the final song, offering a safe space to learn and mosh without the hardcore professionals which was shakily embraced by a few nervous yet excited fans.
The Melbourne based band left on a high and to the roaring cheers and raucous applause of the crowd as the house music kicked back in and the buzz of amps died down leaving the audience begging for more.
Bitter Kind well and truly put on a show worthy of a debut headline gig.
Hears to many, many more.
