May 29th was a night I had been looking forward to ever since my tickets arrived in the mail to see some of my all-time favourite Australian metal bands. The Free Your Mind Tour, also described as a mini-festival by officials, featured the likes of Perth’s MAKE THEM SUFFER, VOLUMES from California, VEIL OF MAYA, THY ART IS MURDER, and NORTHLANE.

‘Packed like sardines’ would be an understatement when describing the Perth over 18 show at the Capitol in Perth. The only way to get some space in the mosh pit would have been to douse yourself in lamb grease, slither across the floor through all the skinny jeans and Vans, and punch the air while connecting with some jaws.

For me, the stand-out performances of the night were definitely MAKE THEM SUFFER, and THY ART IS MURDER. The lyrical content of these two bands are amazing and they both know how to put on a show. The only down-side was (and this goes for all the bands on the tour) that these dudes (and one chick on keyboard) were tired.

When A DAY TO REMEMBER was in Perth, they were hanging out at a local spot the night before a show and I was lucky enough to have a bit of a chat with the band’s rhythm guitarist Neil Westfall. When I spoke to Neil, he and the other band members were positively hung-thefuck-over. I asked him if he’d be alright for the show, to which he replied, “Yah dude. Once you start playing a show, the adrenaline kicks in and nothing else matters.”

I can’t remember a time when any of the Free Your Mind Tour bands WEREN’T posting tour dates on their Facebook pages. To be on the road like they are must take a lot of endurance, and to be able to put on a great show for the fans simultaneously must be fuelled by that adrenaline rush.

The tour’s headliner, NORTHLANE were definitely a highlight, and clearly the band everyone came out to see. After months of national and international touring, the boys gave it their all to put on amazing show. Their set was well rehearsed and these young guns obviously put a lot of hard work into creating an atmosphere where people can free their minds.

One thing that all bands have in common is that they all started somewhere. They all started in their hometowns playing local gigs in their local scenes. These humble beginnings are where a fan-base begins, and a sense pride in your local scene begins to grow as your local bands start becoming national and international sensations.

An awesome aspect of the Free Your Mind Tour is that in every city they tour, they have local bands to open the show. For Perth, the under 18 show was opened by ICONOCLAST and the over 18 show was opened by XENOBIOTIC. Two very strong bands in Perth’s local scene if you ask me.

TL;DR:

Palm mutes were sweaty, Knees weak; bands were heavy, there’s vomit on my sweater already mosh was (also) sweaty.

-Lachlan Rodenburg