It’s been far far far too long since Drowning Pool and Alien Ant Farm have been in Australia. So tonight will be nostalgia overload and I can’t wait.
Frankenbox open the show to a room that is starting to fill up very quickly and that’s a great sign for what’s to come. These guys are heavy, and with a new EP out they’re well worth a listen.
Drowning Pool take to the stage and open with ‘Sinner’ and this place is now packed and so many are here for these guys and it’s amazing to see. What a way to open and what a return to Sydney. ‘Enemy’ is up next and they are killing it. As the drums ring in ‘Step Up’ hearing this live again is a treat and what a perfect song for this environment as the crowd are warmed up and this really got them going. ‘One Finger and a Fist’ keeps that intensity up and allows CJ to shred a little which was awesome. ‘37 Stitches’ slows things down for the first time tonight and the crowd groove along to this slower one before they kick straight into a cover of the classic Billy Idol track ‘Rebel Yell’ which gets the crowd warmed up even more. I love an unexpected cover and with the crowd yelling “more more more” back to the stage the band have them. That was great. Having Ryan back on vocals in the band is perfect and he killed that!!
‘Feel Like I Do’ keeps things rockin’ as it should as that’s a big one from their catalogue and then as ‘Sermon’ rings in that was awesome, as was ‘Tear Away’ which lit the place up with lighters and phones as this big one takes its place in the set. Hearing the crowd yell that back to the stage was so good. Up next is another unexpected cover and holy shit the place just went off ‘Cowboys From Hell’ and what a crazy thing that was and they nailed it. That was so good. Closing the set the only way they could with ‘Bodies’, the song we all know and the one that they put their all into. It’s a huge song and hearing it played this well was damn good.
Drowning Pool welcome back to Australia, that was awesome.
Alien Ant Farm, let’s go!!! Wasting no time and immediately into ‘Courage’ wow they sound amazing and you can tell everyone is happy to have them back as the crowd erupts. Time for ‘Wish’ which I was hoping to hear but this early is outstanding. Damn. This is great. Staying down memory lane with ‘Flesh and Bone’ is just cementing to me how good this band is and the fact they haven’t been here in so long is criminal. Not even a smooth one, I mean actually criminal. Taking us to their newest album ‘Mantras’ we get the opener ‘The Wrong Things’ and the fact they’re still making music this good is the best. But from the new straight back to the old with ‘Movies’ and what a song. Easily the biggest reception of the night thus far. Man that was great to hear live as it’s been far too long between versions. ‘These Days’ keeps their bangers coming and you almost forget how good these songs are and it’s worthy of being ashamed of for forgetting. An excellent outro sets up the next one and I’m here to say actually probably one of the best songs of the bands catalogue. ‘Last dAntz’ is where’s it at and that was excellent. That’s a groove for sure. As is ‘Attitude’ taking us back to Anthology then ‘Stranded’ which was a standout of the night. What a track.
‘Glow’ got a great reaction followed by the eternal question ‘What am I Doing’ taking us back to Mantras then staying there with ‘Storms Over’ and these new songs really are so good. ‘Sticks and Stones’ flips us back and rounds out the main part of the set. And without a long wait we get them back on stage and ‘What I Feel Is Mine’ and then of course closing the set the only way they could, with ‘Smooth Criminal’ and you know that’s what everyone was here for and they delivered. I could say that maybe 98% of the room were introduced to Alien Ant Farm through that song and they were all happy tonight.
My name’s not Annie but one thing I can tell you is after tonight’s show and these two sets from these bands, I am most definitely OK.
Essential Information
Venue: The Metro Theatre – Sydney
Date: February 8, 2025
Presented by: ThePhoenix.au
Set Lists:
Drowning Pool
Sinner
Enemy
Step Up
One Finger and a Fist
37 Stitches
Rebel Yell
Feel Like I Do
Sermon
Tear Away
Cowboys From Hell
Bodies
Alien Ant Farm
Courage
Wish
Flesh and Bone
The Wrong Things
Movies
These Days
Last dAntz
Attitude
Stranded
Glow
What Am I Doing
Storms Over
Sticks and Stones
What I Feel Is Mine
Smooth Criminal
