Festival Review – Good Things Festival 2022
Making its triumphant return after the pandemic, Good Things Festival delivered a mammoth lineup for its third time around. Starting off the festival’s circuit in Melbourne, punters from all over the state (and even interstate) headed to Flemington Racecourse for the sold-out festival. With the weather gods working in Melbourne’s favour for once, the day was full of good vibes all round, and an awesome lineup to match.
Kicking off the day on the main stage was Adelaide duo Teenage Joans, who as a last-minute addition to the lineup, absolutely killed it in their opening slot. Their hit singles Ice Cream and Terrible draw in all early arrivers, while new unreleased track Superglue was a sign of exciting things to come from the duo. Guitarist/vocalist Cahli Blakers and drummer/vocalist Tahlia Borg have been working the festival circuits for a while now, making their Good Things debut a piece of cake. Their Hottest 100 entry Wine absolutely went off, while the title track Hospital Bed from their upcoming album made its live debut. Wrapping their set up with a supercharged Charli XCX cover of Vroom Vroom, Three Leaf Clover and Something About Being Sixteen, we’re sure we’ll see the duo welcome back again at GTF.
Coming out of their retirement for Good Things was local pop-rockers Kisschasy, who treated the audiences to their debut album United Paper People played in full. Pulling in some massive crowds, the boys had everyone drawn in for the nostalgia of their hit album – which had us all singing along to every word. Playing tracks such as This Bed, Hearing Voices Tonight, The Shake, and of course, Do-Do’s & Whoa-Oh’s and Face Without a Name, the Melbourne four-piece were in fine form. It was as if they never went on a break.
Prog-rock powerhouse Thornhill was up next, with set-openers Raw and Leather Wings, which had the audience raging from the get-go. Thornhill have become local legends in the scene; selling out shows and touring the festival circuits to massive crowds, so it’s no surprise that the band was booked for Good Things. With the four-piece as energetic onstage as ever, vocalist Jacob Charlton had the audience eating out of his hand as the set raged on. Before we knew it, the closing track Where We Go When We Die wrapped up the set, bringing an end to yet another amazing Thornhill show.
Playing easily one of our favourite sets of the day was Electric Callboy. Coming onstage in matching tracksuits and mullets, what ensued was a set full of party anthems, costume changes and raving. Coming all the way from Germany, the electronicore group wasted no time starting the party with Pump It and Arrow of Love, which had everyone dancing along with their trademark synth hooks. The band were vocal about how excited they were to be in the country, and playing their first summer festival in Australia – which was met with ecstatic screams from the crowds. Tekkno Train and Mindreader off their most recent album Tekkno went completely off, with a sea of fists raised in the air, and a steady mosh heaving. Briefly leaving the stage for a final costume change involving bowl cut wigs and white vests, the band ended on a high with their next-level banger We Got the Moves, leading the crowd into a mass singalong and choreographed moves.
It wouldn’t be an alt festival without metalcore legends The Amity Affliction, who have become a mainstay in the scene’s festival circuits throughout the years. Pulling in the masses to the main stages, Amity ran through hit after hit, with Pittsburgh and All My Friends Are Dead being among some of our set highlights. In true Amity fashion, pyro effects just turned everything up to 11, especially when classic hits Chasing Ghosts and Soak Me in Bleach rolled around.
Reviving the nu-metal genre at Good Things was Ocean Grove, whose nostalgia-fuelled tracks have earned a massive following over the last few years. Rap-heavy singles Superstar and Ask For The Anthem had the whole audience bouncing along to each word as vocalist Dale Tanner jumped around on stage like a maniac, while the band put their all in to please the heaving crowd. With the good weather beating down on us, Ocean Grove finished up on the summer anthem Sunny, which set the vibe for the rest of the day.
Playing their first-ever Australian festival, Brit rock duo Nova Twins absolutely destroyed their first set for Good Things, with boss bitch anthems Fire & Ice and Cleopatra starting the set off strong. The duo, consisting of vocalist/guitarist Amy Love and bassist Georgia South, have built a major international following through their fusion of genres and grumbling bass lines, topped off with quick-firequick fire, cleverly written lyrics. Puzzles saw the duo encouraging a mosh pit with twerking in the middle (something we didn’t thinkthing we’d see at the festival), while earlier single Taxi had the audience up and jumping along. Performing with seemingly unending energy, the duo performed a massive set from the two albums they have put out, with personal favourite tracks Antagonist and Choose Your Fighter closing out the show strong.
After not performing live in almost 18 years, Melbourne-based band TISM reunited for a series of shows at Good Things. With a career spanning the last 30 or so years, the seven-piece ‘anonymous’ band took to the stage in their trademark balaclavas. Playing a show that could only be seen to believed, the group wore massive silver balloons attached to their heads and led the audience through a set packed full of their hits, with plenty of shenanigans thrown in. Classic tracks Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me and Greg! The Stop Sign!! went absolutely off with the massive crowds – all yelling along with every word. Death, Death, Death, Amway, Amway, Amway and (He’ll Never Be An) Ol’ Man River began to draw the set to a close, and had all jumping in unison. Love them or hate them, TISM sure know how to put on a show.
Punk rock legends NOFX were up next on the main stage, treating the audience to their fifth studio album Punk in Drublic being played in full. With plenty of banter back and forth between the band and vocalist Fat Mike, the four-piece delivered all of their best hits to an energetic crowd. Returning since their last Melbourne dates back in 2018, we were happy to see the veteran punk rock act before they call it quits in 2023.
We quickly made our way to another stage to see Cali pop punk band The Story So Far, whose hard hitting lyrics and catchy hooks have earned them their name in the scene. Frontman Parker Cannon is a machine onstage; spitting lines with a collected calm, despite the heartbreak behind them. Hits such as Roam and High Regard were met with screams from the audience, while fast paced tracks such as The Glass and Bad Luck saw a sea of crowd surfers throughout the set.
As the day started to near a close, alt-metal icons Deftones took to the stage to play to a packed out crowd. The band’s distinct style and experimental tendencies have cemented them as heavy hitters within the scene – and the band’s nine studio albums are a testament to that. Starting their set off with Genesis and Diamond Eyes, Deftones reminded everyone why they were still around, with a jaw dropping kick off. With the crowd in a trance-like sway along, hits such as Digital Bath, Sextape and Rocket Skates went off without a hitch, and were also personal set highlights. Before we knew it, the set was coming to a close with Change (In the House of Flies) and Back to School (Mini Maggit); with the grumbling basslines reverberating throughout the crowd.
Up next, immediately on the main stage, was the band a lot of the audience had been camping out for; Bring Me The Horizon. As one of the first countries they’d headlined a festival in, the band’s excitement and enthusiasm was palpable – so fair to say, the band put on a massive show. With some of the coolest graphics we’ve seen in a show, their ‘AI’ welcomed us to the show, before announcing their opening track, Can You Feel My Heart, which was met by a sea of people as far as the eye could see. Showering the audience in a flurry of pink confetti, Happy Song, Teardrops, MANTRA and Dear Diary had the crowd going wild, before the build up to Parasite Eve drove everyone over the edge. Newer track sTraNgeRs and lead single Shadow Moses from their hit 2013 album Sempiternal went absolutely off, before the set was kicked up a notch. ‘This next one is a big fucking tune’, vocalist Oli Sykes told us before the band tore into their Babymetal featured track, Kingslayer, which absolutely killed it. Another newer track DiE4u went down an absolute treat, before things were slowed down a bit with an acoustic version of Follow You, which was met with a sea of dazzling phone lights swaying in the audience. Jumping into the pit, Oli Sykes ran along the crowd for what appeared to be their final song of the night, Drown, before BMTH disappeared offstage. With their AI announcing their return, the band were back onstage for an encore of Obey and their anthemic hit, Throne, which had the audience raging. Shooting red streamers out into the crowd, it was clear to see that Bring Me The Horizon had done nothing but work hard to get where they are now – and it’s only further up from here.
Needless to say, Good Thing Melbourne came to yet another very successful close – filled with an incredible lineup, great weather, and good times all around. As one of Australia’s newer festivals, Good Things has impressed year after year – and we can’t wait to see what they have in store next time around.