Live Review: Dream On Dreamer, The Brave, Stepson

A slow trickle of people make their way into the specially designated Band Room of The Worker's Club and settle in for what will be an emotionally charged four hours of Australian metalcore goodness.

The Brilliant Dance is a pleasant surprise of an opening act, with ex-Dream On Dreamer vocalist Michael McLeod taking the stage with nothing more than an acoustic and a microphone. His angelically high voice blends perfectly with the chords that are at times melancholy, at times heartwarmingly upbeat and cheerful.

Moving on quickly from McLeod's acoustics, Death In Bloom rip into the crowd with the most honest metalcore sound that you'll hear in Australia. This Melbourne outfit openly embrace the guttural, sludgy guitar and bass tones and don't pretend to be anything other than what they are. The screams coming from vocalist Logan Fewster leave a punch with every word.

Brisbane's Stepson takes the new-era pop-punk sound and gives it a hardcore twist that really gets the room jumping. In between songs, vocalist Brock Conry stops to talk with the audience in a softer voice, a contrast to the screaming and yelling he taps into in his performance. Their last song of the set, Twelve, has all the fans in the room screaming along, bringing a unified ending to their set that seemed too short.

Another Brisbane treasure, The Brave prove that, yet again, metalcore is still alive and kicking in Australia. With a sound as polished as any Warped Tour headliner, The Brave stick it to the audience with melodic guitar that gives way to room-shaking breakdowns. The energy levels are peaking and in a room that's now almost packed, not everyone can hope to jump as high as Nathan Toussaint as he screams or steal his mic like Stepson's Conry did.

After one last soundcheck, Dream On Dreamer took to the stage and, opening with The World In Front Of Me, did they deliver. Marcel Gadacz was constantly right up the front of the stage, belting powerful screams through the mic and encouraging that people jump up and sing along. Vocalist and guitarist Zachary Britt spun some maniacal laughter on some tracks and, somehow, it worked. They played powerhouse song after powerhouse song from their two latest releases, Songs Of Soulitude and Loveless, before Hear Me Out brought the crowd to an intimate place. They got the blood up and pumping again soon enough with Downfall's heaviest breakdowns before closing on their latest single, Don't Lose Your Heart.

The crowd screams over and over for one more song, only to have Gadacz come back on to cheekily announce two more songs, inviting McLeod on stage to take over Britt's vocals before performing In August and crowd favourite Ambitions. The giddy smiles from McLeod to the rest of his old band, the playful banter between McLeod and Britt and, at the end, Britt getting swept off the stage in hugs made for an idyllic ending that spoke volumes about the camaraderie in and amongst music.