GOOD THINGS 2024 RECAP | NE DOWN UNDER

Good Things 2024 was an absolutely unforgettable day, even with the sweltering heat and unexpected rain showers—but what more could you expect from a summers day in Melbourne! The vibrant touring festival made its grand entrance at Flemington Racecourse on Friday, December 6th, before continuing its exciting journey to Sydney and Brisbane over the weekend.

I hadn’t been surrounded by as many alternative people since Slam Dunk North Festival [UK] in May. The atmosphere was electric, filled with passionate fans, and the rain didn’t dampen spirits; instead, it added to the energy of the day. 

311

First up on the day were seasoned American rock band 311. Performing tracks from across four decades, including their latest album Full Bloom, 311 were a fine fit to open the festival.

Next up, I managed to catch the end of Bowling For Soup‘s performance where they joked about JLo taking Sum 41‘s space on the bill as they had to cancel their performance due to front man, Deryck Whibley, having pneumonia. “Instead of ‘Fat Lip’ she’ll perform ‘fat ass'” says Bowling for Soup front man, Jaret Reddick jokingly before doing a half-arsed shoey.  

Alpha Wolf

Australia’s own Alpha Wolf brought the screams and the first mosh pits of my day with their nu-metal tunes. They put on a great show and even though I didn’t know any songs, I couldn’t help but headbang along to the beats.  

Frank Turner

Surprisingly, this festival was the first time I finally got to see Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls after just missing his shows or festival sets for years and it was worth the wait. They performed some of my favourite including ‘1933’ and ‘Recovery’. 

Jet

After growing up constantly listening to ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl?’ by Jet, hearing it live with a sea of emos screaming along felt very magical. This was definitely one of my highlights of the day. 

Killing Heidi

Waving the flag for the Aussie contingent included Victoria born brother/sister fronted band Killing Heidi. Another another first for me today, but the band drew an impressive and lively crowd.

Sleeping For Sirens

Sleeping For Sirens were another one in the the nostalgia bag for me. A band I’ve admired for a long time, I was thrilled to finally see them live. They performed hits ‘Better Off Dead‘ and ‘If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn’. Unfortunately, the set was stopped for approximately 10 minutes towards the end of ‘A Trophy Father’s Trophy Son’ due to a medical incident in the crowd. Luckily, due to everyone being diligent, the person was able to get the medical attention they needed and the show could continue. 

Electric Callboy

One word Electric Callboy…WOW! Confetti and pyrotechnics within the first few songs added to the hype of their songs. The crowd was huge at this point, everyone singing and dancing along. Their drummer David Friedrich was ill and unable to perform so Sum 41’s drummer, Frank Zummo, filled in the spot and even performed some of ‘Still Waiting’. My favourite’s of the set were ‘RATATATA’ and ‘We Got The Moves‘. 

Korn

Good Things 2024 headliner, Korn was the last to perform and they ended the day with a bang. There was so many crowd surfers to the point where all the photographers got kicked out of the photo pit early because it was getting too dangerous, but we didn’t mind. It meant that we could join in with the crowd. Korn had the crowd in the palm of their hand for each song. The most memorable moment was during ‘Y’all Want A Single’ everyone had their middle fingers in the air whist screaming the lyrics so loud, you could barely hear lead singer, Jonathan Davis over the noise. They finished the set off with ‘Freak on A Leash’ which was the perfect end to an amazing day.  

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Kayleigh Nickson

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