LIVE REVIEW: A DAY TO REMEMBER + PAPA ROACH + LANDMVRKS @ BEC 12/04/26

Words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi

As I walked from the train station into the Brisbane Entertainment Centre (BEC), there was a sea of nu-metal fans dressed in your basic black rock shirts as they got themselves ready for a massive concert event. Three important nu-metal bands were going to take the fans on a “nu-metal time machine” ride: California’s Papa Roach, Florida’s A Day To Remember, and they brought alongthe French metalcore band from Marseille Landmvrks.

The evening started with discovering I had the most amazing seat. I could see everything. At this point, I want to thank Dallas Does PR and Destroy All Lines for the media accreditation and the best seat I have ever had at a BEC concert. And I have attended a few here, but this was the best. I have to say Brisbane has seen some amazing concerts this year – we are only at April – and this night goes to the top of that congested list.

The musical night commenced with a 30-minute set from the exciting band Landmvrks. And what an amazing set it was. Before the set even started, the band stalked the backstage area. There was an aerobic warm-up with bouncing, arm circles and jumping, and the band wound themselves up with fist pumps as the energy built. The lights in the BEC went dark and then the band leapt onto the stage.

Landmvrks launched into ‘Creature’ with those heavy bassline riffs as they vibrated and pulsed through the speakers into the BEC. What a start! It was visceral and you could feel it in your chest. Then, ‘Sulfur’ went off as the crowd were swept away in the band’s fluent French and English lyrics interwoven through the heaviness of the song as the soundscape enveloped the BEC. It was huge!

But the first standout moment was ‘La Valse Du Temps’ with the harmonious blending of the French and English lyricism and the metalcore sweetness of the melody. It was fantastic! Landmvrks engaged with the crowd and got the mosh and circle pits going early. The first crowd surfer went over the barrier during ‘Lost In A Wave’ and the set started to go off.

The lead vocalist Florent Salfati had the most amazing voice. He really pumped up the crowd as he raced around the stage. The crowd was awed by the energy on display as the rest of the band demonstrated real skill with heavy rock, and syncopation, as Nicolas Exposito, Paul "C. Wilson" Cordebard, Rudy Purkart and Kévin D'Agostino let the sonic soundscape sink in like ‘Rainfall’. The French rap-rock bite in the delivery of the lyrics and the beautiful melody was finished with a huge breakdown.

Landmvrks addressed the crowd and thanked them for their support. The band has visited Australia three times now and crowds are growing, and on the evidence of this set and songs, you can see why. The band finished their set with ‘Blood Red’, and when they announced their last song ‘Self-Made Black Hole’, I didn’t want the band to go, but with a sincere ‘merci beaucoup’ from Florent Salfati, the band left the stage.

Landmvrks were awesome! If you didn’t come early to see this dynamic band, you really missed out. It was easy to see why Landmvrks have grown into one of Europe’s most exciting metalcore acts.

There was a pretty substantial stage rearrange for the first of the headliners Papa Roach. There were 25 people on stage dressing it – an impressive sight. The songs coming out of the sound desk were keeping the crowd engaged to keep up the energy and work Landmvrks had done warming them up. The excitement was certainly building! There was a funny moment when AC/DC was being played, and just as lyrics of Bon Scott got to “don’t stop me” – they did stop him. And then it was stop – start and then The Go-Betweens ‘Streets of Your Town’ was played. The vibe got odd as alternative indie-pop floated over the BEC. Black shirted people stopped the singalong.

Then, it went dark pretty fast. The lights pulsed and the synths and drums joined in and lit the fuse. Papa Roach appeared and detonated the night as the band exploded on stage. What a start! They launched straight into the title track from 2025’s album, ‘Even If It Kills Me’. The pyrotechnics with fire pillars and CO2 cannons fired straight up into the roof, and the heat hit my eyes, and were feeling the effects. It was brilliant! The band continued with a couple of songs from 2000’s album ‘Infest’, coming next with the huge ‘Blood Brothers’, and ‘Dead Cell’.

The band: Jacoby Shaddix, the fantastic Jerry Horton, Tobin Esperance, Tony Palermo,and Anthony Esperance,the touring musician on guitar, turned the BEC into a “nu-metal time machine” as the crowd were transported back. Jacoby Shaddix talked to the crowd with lots of Australian slang he has picked up on – even after his wife had told him to stop – he continued. He talked to the crowd “you sick c*@ts” about the band’s formation in 1993 and the importance of touring in the band’s life and their gratitude at being able to have a career in music.

And for the rest of the night, the crowd witnessed that evolution of Papa Roach’s sound firsthand through their songs and their support of suicide prevention campaigns around the world, and to charities here in Brisbane as they sang their way through emotionally charged lyrics about struggle, resilience, and mental health.

And the crowd went off - it made goosebumps rise - as the crowd singing along commenced with ‘...To Be Loved’, ‘Kill The Noise’, and the massive ‘Getting Away With Murder’ as Jacoby Shaddix took off from the stage and walked around the BEC greeting fans and singing to them. It was quite a victory lap. Then, as the band got back together on stage, Papa Roach went on to perform a cover of 2Pac’s ‘California Love’.

Through all of this sound, fury, and fun; the crowd surfers were doing their thing, hands were in the air, the mosh pit was active, and the circle pit was turning. The first set highlight, if the start wasn’t big enough, was the performance of the songs: ‘Liar’, ‘Falling Apart’, the affecting and beautiful ‘Leave a Light On (Talk Away the Dark)’, where the phone lights lit up the BEC, the amazing ‘Scars’, and the emotional punch of ‘Help’. It was so good!

Papa Roach, then played a new song from their upcoming album to be released in September, ‘Braindead’, and the crowd loved it! Jacoby Shaddix demanded: “I want to see an insane fucking moshpit”, and the moshpit responded and went harder. The “Banana Men” and their “potassium” were praised. Papa Roach gave the crowd metalcore at its finest and closed their regulation set with ‘Born for Greatness’, as the command of “let’s bounce” was made and the crowd did. The BEC was buzzing: as the fire pillars continued to burn and the CO2 cannons fired into the ceiling.

Then, the band left the stage and a video of cockroaches and their larvae played. It was either creepy or funny, depending on your love of these insects. Electronic music played and the synths swelled as the band returned to perform ‘Between Angels And Insects’ to reinforced the joke.

Papa Roach led the crowd into the“Nu-metaltime machine” and the set went into overdrive, as they took the crowd on a ride with: Korn’s ‘Blind’, Deftones ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’, Limp Bizkit’s ‘Break Stuff’, and System Of A Down’s ‘Chop Suey’, with added ‘Fruit Salad’, Wiggles style, delivered in a way that saw the crowd return to their teenage years.

Papa Roach closed out their 17-song set with ‘Last Resort’. The crowd had been waiting for it, and rap-rock aggression with the emotionally charged lyrics went off with a massive singalong, headbanging, and true emotional catharsis. It hit hard and true. What a way to finish! The band took a bow, the crowd thanked them, and they waved goodbye.

As the stage was redressed by about 30 roadies – it was an amazing sight in itself – there was a question in my mind. How do you top a performance like that?

Well, A Day To Remember had the answer in a crowd standing behind the drum kit, the basketball challenge, Mario’s t-shirt gun, confetti cannons firing, and an incendiary performance. And to the strains of Richard Strauss’ ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’, A Day To Remember hit the stage and just took over and gave us a night to remember.

The heavy metal, punk, and metalcore combined in the core of ADay To Remember’s sonic world, and the soundscape of heaviness with lightness rang out as they commenced their 18 song set with ‘Downfall Of Us All’. It was huge! The song’s soundwave blasted out with melodic choruses and crushing breakdowns all the way. After 11 years absence from Australia, A Day To Remember, wanted to remind us why they were headlining this tour.

The set was all about the music. Yes, there were fire pillars, confetti flying everywhere, streamers (even toilet rolls at the end), and CO2 cannons, but the stage backscreen had the band’s name and that’s it. No video distractions – just the band. And that band: Jeremy McKinnon, Kevin Skaff, Neil Westfall, and Alex Shelnutt delivered. They talked to the crowd about their 20 years on the scene.

As they matched action to the words, the band went rapid-fire through the performance of ‘I'm Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?’, ‘2nd Sucks’, ‘Right Back At It Again’, ‘Bad Blood’, and the fabulous ‘Paranoia’ as if making up for lost time. There was no rust on these guys as they delivered these tracks at full throttle. The crowd was feeling it: the heaviness, the speed, and the emotional rollercoaster.

A Day To Remember then dialled down the energy for the “kinda new, but kinda old” ‘Miracle’ and brought the crowd off boiling point. Jeremy McKinnon switched effortlessly between clean, melodic pop-punk vocals in the chorus and dark vocal fry. Next, the crowd was engaged in a huge singalong with ‘All My Friends’ as shirts were fired into the crowd.

The band brought the headbanging next when they played ‘Mr Highway’s Thinking About The End’. The machine-gun drums fired and took control of the crowd. Then, the song for the “ladies” was performed with ‘Have Faith In Me’ as people got onto friends’ shoulders. It was followed by ‘Flowers’. The crowd was hit with ‘Space Jam’ heaven with the song ‘Le Bron’, and that “beach ball” basketball competition, so won by stage right despite Jeremy McKinnon trying to stop us.

‘All I Want’ hit the pop-punk button before the band stopped to thank the other bands and fans – especially the guy who asked them at the airport to play ‘Monument’. Then, apparently Landmvrks also asked them to play the song. So, A Day To Remember, did just that and dedicated the performance of the song to the young French band.

A Day To Remember then declared the encore dead, “we hate encores”, and asked the crowd to “level up”. They set about performing ‘The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle’ as the last song of the regulation set. Then, the acoustic guitar-led song ‘If It Means A Lot To You’ had the BEC lit up with phone lights. Before ‘Resentment’ had the crowd “level up” as the circle pit spun, and there was a winner in the crowd surfing when a guy stood on his friend in a perfect surfing pose – even the band looked impressed. The last song of the night was delivered with ‘All Signs Point To Lauderdale’ as the band hit the high. It was an awesome way to finish!

Then, the fans stumbled out of the BEC to James Brown’s ‘I Got You (I Feel Good)’. It really was an amazing experience, with three visceral bands delivering fantastic performances. No Barriers would like to thank all the organisers for a brilliant night!