KIRSTY'S YEAR OF CONCERTS: VOLUME ONE

Let's start this one off like we are trying to find a recipe on the internet and you have to read your way through the unnecessary family

samherbertmedia

blog to find the ingredients. This year has been a crazy one for me, first with my husband recovering from extensive cancer treatment, sustaining a traumatic hand injury resulting in my being unable to use my dominant hand for six months and during that pause on my cheffing career finding Hot and Heavy and starting my music journalist career. After barely seeing a live

Zuko

show in three years because of the chaos that is cancer treatment I hit the ground with an absolute vengeance this year, to the point that this will be a three part series. This year I have met some incredible musicians and had some absolutely insane experiences, from being media for the used and stray from the path, interviewing smashed into pieces, attending slugfest 25 and being recognised by a good portion of the bands and watching the guys from roronoah call my son out by

Queensland Crew

name on stage and asking if he was having a great time. this year has shown me how amazing the alternative music scene is in Queensland and how truly lovely these musicians and fans can be. With only April and July concert free for me for the first half of the year let's get into it. I will also just mention that I will have two "wild cards" in here, but both artists have ties with the alternative community.

Wardruna

On Monday 27th of January I went to the Fortitude Music Hall to watch former Gorgoroth drummer einar selvik perform with wardruna as part of their world tour. Despite a lack of etiquette by some patrons it was a fabulous experience which hit me right in my Norse pagan heart. It was interesting to see a single artist set with a ritual-style interactive experience, with a single section of chatting and interacting with the crowd. The band is a true stand out with a passion for story telling and musical theatre. while not metal, wardruna comes from metal stock and is a 10/10 experience. I would definitely see again.

Aurora

oN FRIDAY February 14TH I SAW THE IMMEASURABLE AURORA FOR THE SECOND TIME AT THE FORTITUDE MUSIC HALL as part of the 'what happened to the earth: part 4' tour. WHILE SHE IS NOT METAL SHE HAS featured on THE SINGLE 'liMOusIne' by BRING ME THE HORIZON. if you want to be immersed in a world outside of this one, Aurora is your act to see. never have I been so transfixed by a performance. Aurora brought special guests ''odd luke" and "Hannah Brewer". WHILE ODD LUKE AND HANNAH BREWER WERE NOT REALLY MY THING I WILL SEE Aurora at every possible opportunity.

Lorna Shore

On Saturday February 22nd I was back at the fortitude music hall to watch Lorna shore with special guests bodysnatcher and to the grave. you can read my full breakdown of the night here. ttg gave me the experience of the most intense opening to show I have ever seen (still unbroken record to this day,) to end with the phenomenal experience of lorna shore.

knotfest 25

Knotfest 2025 had me at the brisbane SHOWGROUNDS on Sunday March 2nd. Due to some of my party having a medical emergency I left the festival early, however that wasn't before seeing sunami, vended, miss may I, health, in hearts wake, hatebreed, enter shikari, within temptation and slaughter to prevail. while I was devastated to miss Polaris, babymetal, Slipknot and especially a day to remember, I did have a great time watching the bands, despite the sound being a bit off throughout the date, resulting in slaughter to prevail stopping the show to get the issues rectified.

Babymetal

fortunately for me I have an amazing friend who had a spare ticket for the Babymetal side show featuring diamond construct at the fortitude music hall on Tuesday the 4th of March . This was my first time seeing both Babymetal and Diamond Construct and it was a blast. While I must admit I was more consumed by diamond construct's performance, Babymetal was a great experience.

falling in reverse

So there was a lot that happened around this falling in reverse show for me, taking place on Tuesday 18th of march at the Brisbane entertainment centre, featuring black veil brides and Hollywood undead. I injured my hand two days before the show, resulting in the review (which you can read here) actually being my audition for the Hot and Heavy show and starting my career with the company, and marking two bucket list artists, f.i.r and b.v.b off of my list. The night held a level of showmanship and entertainment factor I had not seen previously. I was pleasantly surprised by Hollywood undead and left the night wanting f.i.r to return to Australia quickly.

alpha wolf

finally for this round of shows was the alpha wolf 'terrible days across australia' regional tour with malevolence, zukø and INERTIA at the Toowoomba powerhouse on Friday 9th of may. this was my first time seeing all four bands and as I waited outside of the powerhouse I could hear the roof shaking from the sound check happening on the inside. it was safe to say that my socks were blown all the way off but in particular by zukø. I left the night with half the hearing I entered with, taking two full days to recover, as I stood at the barricade near the speakers all night.

Keep an eye out for volume two, where we will cover July, August and September.