The Plot In You | PICA

After the past few days spent sweltering in blistering heat, strolling into PICA with the cool breeze brushing my neck was nothing short of a relief. I don’t mind working up a sweat in the pit, but I was grateful to be able to comfortably enjoy the night ahead without worrying about fainting. After starting off the day strong with a sit down interview with Landon Tewers himself (go watch it now), the adrenaline from that chat stayed coursing through my veins well into the night. Tonight was set to be The Plot In You’s largest headline show to date, and what an honour it was to be in attendance.

First to take to the stage of the gorgeously grimey venue was New Zealand's own Banks Arcade. Boasting a spectacular come up as a band, having already toured with metal gods such as Northlane and more recently Dayseeker, these guys are not one to miss, no matter how early on the bill they are. The warehouse was already swarming with so many bodies as they broke out into their first song of the set, energetically bounding across the stage as brash tones gleamed from the amps. Vocalist Joshua O’Donnell proudly stated Melbourne as the birthplace of Banks Arcade, and in celebration they decided to use this opportunity to play through some tracks from their new album. All of them were melodic and managed to take the classic traits from their sound and metamorphosing them into something even tighter and cleaner than anything they’ve done before. 

Banks Arcade / Photo Credit: Tristan Skell

Next up were Boundaries, hailing from Connecticut, and as the opening chords to “Turning Hate Into Rage,” shrilled out, I knew I was in for a good time. Bassist Nathan Calcagno was coming in full force with his energy, keeping the audience's energy high between songs while absolutely shredding every note. Also clearly elated to be bouncing around the stage was vocalist Matthew McDougal, enthralling the room with his guttural screams during “Realise and Rebuild”. The passion was palpable on stage, and there wasn’t a single moment where the crowd wasn’t thrashing around one another, even from the sidelines I couldn’t help but snap my neck in time to the gorgeously gory tracks. I was offended with myself that I hadn’t heard of these guys before, and have found myself since having their record “Death Is Little More” on repeat. 

Boundaries / Photo Credit: Tristan Skell

Fit For A King took the stage by storm, launching straight into “Begin The Sacrifice”, the opening track from their most recent album “Lonely God”. This was my first time seeing them live, and they did not disappoint in the slightest. Ryan Kirby did what he does best on that stage, tearing PICA to shreds from the moment they kicked off. “Backbreaker” was a massive highlight, and hearing that 24 second scream live genuinely awoke something in me. Chester Bennington would be proud.

Fit For A King / Photo Credit: Tristan Skell

The tension in the air was palpable, as people sifted around me, the familiar feeling of cool beer cans bumping my arm as I awkwardly side shuffled to let more bodies into the pit. Cheers started bouncing off the distant walls as the Mario Kart theme song played. Soon enough, the lights on stage began to flicker, alongside an eery, discordant shrilling that set the tone for the final act of the night. Confetti canons exploded the minute the band took to the stage and slammed into “Don’t Look Away,” the familiar pelting drums making my body pulsate.  

The Plot In You / Photo Credit: Tristan Skell

The stage set was perfect, with a platform to elevate Cooper on the drums, scaffolding tangled with vines that the spotlights shone through and of course pyrotechnics lining the front of the stage. Intricate and broody, it elevated the entire set as each member made use of every inch of the stage. After slamming through beloved hits like “The One You Loved,” and “Not Just Breathing,” Tewers made his way to an orange, velvet chair to play through their most recent single “Silence”. Accompanied only by a lamp, dimly swaying above his head and an acoustic guitar, the somber lyrics “I used to seek violence, but now I use silence,” sent a shiver down my spine. As the second chorus hit, the rest of the instrumentals swung back in, a cinematic moment being encapsulated in a set like this makes for something you will never forget. 

The rest of the setlist was absolutely perfect, and the fire flaring on the stage during the encore “Feel Nothing,” felt like the final send off the crowd could only dream of. As I sat and watched 4,200 bodies swarm out of the concrete domain, and I tried to ignore the blister from my platforms nagging at me, I found myself already reminiscing on the day that’s now passed. I found two new bands to obsess over, a new record from Banks Arcade to keep an eye out on, and even now, two days post mortem, I keep replaying Landon’s delicate vocals singing out from that velvet chair. 

The Plot In You / Photo Credit: Tristan Skell

Special Thanks To Destroy All Lines!