The night couldn’t have started better;

Doing my makeup at my best friend's desk while slightly buzzed, blasting our favourite Pierce the Veil songs, and giggling like giddy children on Christmas Eve. Jaan, Hannah and I somehow managed to throw ourselves together to get to Rod Laver Arena with time to spare, and we were each astounded by the amount of bodies swarming around the stadium. The line was winding and filled with beautifully coloured hair, torn fishnets, Converse and precisely beautiful eyeliner. We were right at home in the sea of emo’s, and I could feel my 12 year old heart practically leaping out of my chest.

After quickly snatching ourselves matching band t-shirts and bumping into even more friends (shoutout Pixie & Emerald!), we scurried to our seats just as Ohio based singer, Jack Kays, took to the stage. He’s only been pumping out tracks for five years now, and already boasts a Travis Barker collab and a steady fanbase in his arsenal. I’ve had a few friends around me play his tracks in passing, but now that I’ve seen him live, I can say that I’ve made the mistake of not delving deeper sooner. His voice is completely enamouring, and flatters the authenticity of his lyrics perfectly.

My favourite tracks of his were “To Be American,” and “I’ve Got a Gun,”, and the crowd seemed to especially love the latter, as I saw the first formation of a mosh start to open up in the second chorus. Vic Fuentes later notes that Kays is his favourite new songwriter, and I can completely understand why. I can’t wait for him to come back to Australia, I’d love to see a full set from him very soon.

Jaan & I legged it to snatch up some bevvies before the next act, tearing ourselves away from buying even more merch to shuffle awkwardly back in our seats in near perfect time as the lights dimmed. As Movements took to the stage, it felt like a full circle (pun intended) moment for me and also them. Hear me out. Movements first toured with Pierce the Veil 10 years ago now, and were one of the first big bands to take them on tour, and the first gig I ever wrote a review for was Movements in 2024, when they played at Stay Gold alongside Softcult, which to this day remains one of my personal favourite gigs of all time. Getting to see them go from playing that smaller venue, to playing a massive arena in Australia made me a little bit emotional, as I reflected on my own little world of growth since then as well.

Their setlist has a great range of tracks spanning across their records, beginning with “You’re One of Us Now,” immediately setting the tone of their music for anyone who hadn’t heard of them before. Beautiful, melodic chugs fill the venue, alongside Patrick Miranda’s heart wrenching vocals that I will never get sick of, wavering perfectly over the twinkling guitars. Halfway through the set, Miranda took to the mic to tell us that Australia is his favourite place in the entire world - “Period”. He followed that up with announcing a new album that’s in the works, and we were lucky enough to hear a new track live, by the name of “Dissolve Me”.

The second mosh of the night began to form, the lights bolting sharp yellow lines on the crowd, as the guitars punched quickly with drum rolls that licked perfectly in between, leaving no time to rest. The lyrics, “Headfirst into the concrete, let it dissolve me,” were very beautiful to me, and proved their continuous, signature ability to create visceral, picture-like lyrics. They wrapped it up with one of the best emo anthems of all time, “Daylily,”, and everyone understood the assignment as, completely unprompted mind you, the crowd pulled out their flashlights and lit up the entire venue.

I don’t think time has ever moved so slow for poor Jaan and I, as our knees bounced uncontrollably and we twitched at any noise coming from the stage. When the lights finally dimmed, and “El Rey,” by Vicente Fernández started blaring through the PA system, I could swear that the sound of the crowd cheering unlocked a new decibel.

The song distorted, and as did the lights, shuddering red alongside the static, as the five symbols of each album came to light the screen behind the stage. The intro for “Death of an Executioner,” took over, and each band member took to the stage, waving at the audience before slamming into the song.

There was no time for recovery though, as the next track was arguably one of their best of all time, “Bulls in the Bronx”. From where we were sitting, we had a great view of the pit, they looked like a clan of tiny ants, and the first circle pit of night broke out during the bridge. Lionel has to be one of my favourite live drummers out right now, and his bongo solo before “I’m Low on Gas and You Need a Jacket,” sealed that with a bow for me. Every little detail in this show meant so much to my little emo heart, like how the back drop visuals featured all the fans near the barricade crying and singing along, which then matched the imagery on their merch. This nod and appreciation to their fan’s loyalty is so special, something they’ve done throughout their entire career, and does not go unnoticed.

*Pierce The Veil / Photo Credit:* *Drew Hill*

A very memorable part of the night was when the opening chords to “Where Is My Mind?” by the Pixies rung out, the familiar, droning and heartbreaking melody that then slowly swirled into the nostalgic chords of “Floral and Fading”. It was something nothing short of magical, the call and response of that vocal hook we’ve all had stuck in our heads since we first heard it had the crowd echoing the lyrics back to Vic over the speakers. They all smiled as the end rang out, and Vic took to the mic to say “This tour is all about celebrating our roots, and being together for the past 19 years. So, let’s take it back to the beginning”. I swear, everybody lurched forward as “Yeah Boy & Doll Face,” played. I don’t blame them. It’s truly one of the best. (Hint, I say this about all their songs).

“So Far So Fake,” was a crowd favourite, and something I’ve noted about the fanbase recently is that Tik Tok has brought in a massive amount of new wave fans over the past few years, which to me is so incredible. It was so cool to see so many different people from different age groups, and the setlist did a great job of acknowledging this, regardless if you’re a die hard stan to someone new to the group, everyone could sing along and dance.

As I was sitting and smiling, the most important thing of all time happened to me. As if I was some kind of CIA sleeper agent, when the opening note of “Hold On Till May,” shrilled out, my neck snapped to face the stage and my face scrunched up as I began to ugly cry. My birthday is May 1st, so this song is my unofficial life anthem, alongside being one of the first I ever heard from PTV way back yonder. Jaan and I swayed back and forth, screaming along to every word, and between our sobs, we swapped grins as we leant our heads on one another's shoulders. The lyrics “Darling you’ll be okay,” created a whole new meaning for me tonight, and I can’t wait to make Jaan tattoo it on us forever.

It goes without saying that screaming along to Pierce The Veil is almost a rite of passage, if not an integral part of growing up emo in the early 2010’s. I’d say nearly everyone I’m friends with had “King For a Day”, downloaded on at least one of their iPods, or still hiding somewhere in a playlist. 2026 is the official year for nostalgia and seeing them in the flesh, let alone hearing them perform a good majority of their cult classics grabbed us all by our distressed band tee collars and dragged us down memory lane. It’s so beautiful to know that the sad little teenager listening to Misadventures through my shitty Kmart earphones, could and would see them live one day, and leave with the biggest smile on our faces, almost like going back in time and giving him a hug and saying it's going to be okay.

Massive thank you to Live Nation!

PIERCE THE VEIL | ROD LAVER ARENA

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