LIVE REVIEW: I SEE STARS + ELIJAH + THE LOCAL ROMANCE @ THE TRIFFID 17/10/25

Words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi

I See Stars have been on the go for almost 20 years, so it’s amazing that they’ve not managed a headline show in Australia before now. That was set to be righted this evening, with their first headline gig in Australia at The Triffid, and their return visit after a 14-year absence as they have not been here since Soundwave. The sold-out crowd proved that the band’s absence has been noted and missed. But beforehand there was the simple matter of the support bands the amazing Elijah from the US and local band The Local Romance.

The Brisbane based band The Local Romance opened the evening with a short but powerful set with their songs ‘Are You Somewhere’ and the explosive ‘Valentine’. The band stopped and acknowledged the crowd and the fact that this was their biggest gig at The Triffid. Their performance was very good as they moved from melodic hard rock to hard and heavy breakdowns.

The Local Romance were a happy band as they warmed up the crowd with ‘In Your Eyes’. Then, the band. comprising of Zeph (lead singer), Caelan (drummer), Matthew (bass), and Kyle (guitarist) took the crowd into their heaviest song ‘Datura’. The crowd was really getting into the set and the bass player Matthew really showed off his skills and it was impressive. The set highlight was the new song ‘Rescue Me’ that was released last week.

The Local Romance closed out their set with big guitar riffs and melodic vocals on ‘Be The One’. Their performance was energetic and authentic and the rhythm in the drum and bass needed to be praised as it set up a great foundation for their melodic and harder soundscapes. A band to watch!

It was a very quick turnaround on the stage as it was made ready for Elijah and his band. It was his first ever visit to Australia and The Triffid to perform. The music press has been very excited about Elijah. And, it was easy to see why as the set he delivered was truly impressive and an exercise in controlled chaos with the added ‘shoey’ that pleased the crowd.

Elijah came to the stage with his band and as he took the microphone in his hand this astonishingly beautiful voice rang out around the venue. He performed ‘Skin’ that was released earlier in 2025 and then quickly followed with ‘Easy To Drown’ and ‘Virus’. He stopped and talked to the crowd as he explained he had come over 4000 miles from the US to be here as they got the circle pit started. The energy that blasted off the stage with his just amazing band was incredible. However, it was Elijah’s voice as he moved from singing like an angel to that hard vocal metal fry within the blink of an eye that had the crowd gobsmacked.

The warm up had got into full swing with Elijah and his stunning band. The high octane moves on stage were impressive as the guitarists set the place alight with jumps, turns and pure skill. The drummer kept the pace and the timing perfect. The crowd responded as the place bounced! And, as the circle pit turned, the young girls next to me twirled in circles. Elijah told the crowd: “I came to party” as he delivered ‘Victim’ and a set highlight in his song ‘Guilty’.

Elijah then delivered the unreleased song ‘Grip’ and it was another set highlight. His strong vocals, energy, and melodic musicianship ran the range from heavy breakdowns to almost pure pop-punk sounds. His songs also ranged from heavy to rock ballads. ‘I Don’t Give A’, ‘Underrated’ and ‘Human’ were performed with such energy and skill. He closed out his set with ‘Harder To Lie’. He stopped to ask if he had any fans in the crowd, and there were quite a few, but after this demonstration of power and skill in delivering melodic heavy metal, he had many new fans in Brisbane. 2025 really is Elijah’s year.

It was a quick turnaround on stage as instruments were moved. The DJ deck was fixed and everything was ready to go.

The Triffid burst into pure excitement to see the first ever headline gig of I See Stars in Brisbane. The American hyper-metal tinged with electronica pioneers, lit up the venue with a performance that fused metalcore, electronic dance music with a touch of heavy rock balladry.

I See Stars formed as a band in Warren, Michigan in the US. The band comprises of Devin Oliver (vocals), Andrew Oliver (keys, vocals), Brent Allen (guitar), Jeff Valentine (bass) with Dakota Sammons (drums). It was surprising that they haven’t been back to Australia in over 14 years. The pent-up emotion in the packed-out crowd was palpable as the band came on to the stage one by one to ‘Spin It’ and then opened with ‘The Wheel’ from their latest album.

Right from the start, Devin Oliver took total control of the crowd. He was a striking front man as he led the fans in a high-energy, interactive performance that captured everything from clapalongs, to singalongs to massive pit circles and an unlimited amount of bouncing. His vocal range is amazing, especially the upper end of the scale, as he shifted effortlessly between melodic clarity and guttural intensity. He was very much the centrepiece in his beautiful sparkly shirt, largely as he was at times the only person visible in the dark.

The songs ‘Running With Scissors’ was an obvious fan favourite as hands were in the air. Then, ‘Break’, ‘Ten Thousand Feet’ and ‘D4MAGE DONE’ followed. The Triffid crowd were in I See Stars heaven. The setlist pulled heavily from their extensive back catalogue as the songs ‘Murder Mitten’, ‘White Lies’ and ‘Yellow King’ were delivered with precision and passion.

I See Stars made it very clear that they would be delivering a powerful set. They took no time to continue their dynamic performance with various music from more recent releases such as ‘Drift’ from 2023, ‘Are we 3ven?’ and ‘Split’.

The band then delivered ‘What This Means to Me’, and a new song ‘Carry on for you’ before the fan favourite ‘Calm Snow’ was performed to the delight of the crowd. The performance from I See Stars was so on point and the crowd had been swept away in the music that when Devin announced that the last song was here – ‘Anomaly’ – the crowd chanted along to the lyrics and the end of the set was amazing. 

I See Stars thanked the crowd and then the guitarist Brent Allen did the ‘shoey’ to the crowd’s delight. Then, the band with crowd picture was taken. It formalised the band’s return to Australia. It was hard to believe that this was the very first headline gig of I See Stars in Brisbane. The level of their performance was top class and the crowd adored them. Hopefully, they won’t be strangers and will hurry back to Brisbane.