Gig Review: A Night at Greaser - Free Gigs and a Mosh Communion (8 August 2026)

Background on my history with being outside: Tomcat was underwater when I had finally gotten the courage to go out to gigs by myself. A fire next door had doomed the venue into a hiatus. As a recently healed hermit, Greaser was my salvation. 

The iconic dive bar hidden away in Fortitude Valley has all the edge, grime, and drinks someone would want for a place boasting to be the best place for metal and alternative live music. I make jokes all the time of how much money it would take you to be dared to lick the floors of Greaser. A Young Henry’s tapestry is gaffed to the wall as a backdrop. Stickers from years of live bands, brands, and drinks, decorating the frame of the “stage”. Whenever I have a new friend in town and they want to know what music I like, I bring them here.

Tonight, I’ve been hyping myself up to see some really amazing bands live. All the way from Gold Coast, Toowoomba, and Greaser’s home base Brisbane. And honestly, all of that for free, was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. 

ENTER: DEPRIVED OF

Arriving fashionably late, I entered to the sound of Deprived Of kicking off the night. If you’ve ever grown up with older brothers or cousins who worshiped the ground that Chino Moreno walked on, you’d be familiar with the sound that this band made. They set the tone. A real testament to the talent and heart that's in metal and post-punk. Vocalist Jarred 'Tatey' Tate takes swigs of a monster can tucked beside one of the speakers in between verses as the band takes it away on grunge rhythm. Rhys Jones is locked-in on guitar, Caleb McCallum on bass, and Zane Ambrose on drums making drum stick tricks that every drummer wants to look cool doing. I hope I get their names right, because I can only thank them for making me feel like I’m in a music video. I watch from a safe space on the side lines for the time being. People are already headbanging and making room for someone moshing. 

That’s my favourite part about Greaser. You can get up close and personal. I can only imagine what it’s like having someone head banging to a song you made just ten centimetres away from you.

I feel like I’m a new fan on the spot. In the best way possible, it brought back all my memories of watching Rage as a kid, being indoctrinated by older and cooler cousins with The Fur. Growing up in Hervey Bay as well, hearing they were from Toowoomba makes me biased towards any band getting out of their regional home town.

Deprived had set the tone, and it was onto the next.

GRAVEYARD CLUB, an iconic return

I knew The Graveyard Club from Battle of the Bands. They have opened for other local acts in Brisbane, and had been meaning to catch them live again after I heard they did a killer cover of a Muse song. And I can see why they're well loved by the scene.

They opened with Hex, in fact the first track I had ever heard from them. Turns out they had also brought in their family to watch, who were cheering from the side-lines. 

“Thank you parents!” the lead vocalist Aria calls out into the herd. They are not afraid to kick into their set with emotionally charged and high energy tracks. A mix of originals, and iconic covers from Queen of the Stone Age and Rage Against the Machine. They pull acknowledgement of not being able to get out of their 9-5 jobs, and hoping that crowds like tonight can create the change in the music industry that it desperately needs. Brisbane has seen much push back lately on policies to invest in the local night life, much to what the crowd here tonight can attest is desperately needed. It feels like all the more reason to go hard, and the crowd are eager to show the bands tonight what a great audience looks like.

After some original tracks, the crowd explodes when the first riffs of Break Stuff starts. A bit on the nose for a place like Greaser, but no one is ashamed to create a Limp Bizkit mosh pit. 

Graveyard are experts at a great setlist, and before a very tasteful elevator drum interlude, we go to a more intimate track. It’s passionate, and real, a vulnerability that I respect from Graveyard’s work. They truly do feel like friends making the most of their time on stage, and Tom Wilkinson on guitar steals it away with the guitar riffs. Much respect to Max Muir on drums keeping them locked-in, and Cristina Richards taking my breath away on the bass. Their vibes are immaculate, and always a must-see when it comes to my favourite live bands. 

Honorary Mention: The Moshers

Once the set is over, I sing my praises to the band before I escape away closer to the bar to let my ears heal up. A great opportunity to talk with the moshers. My new friend Lin has just started going to gigs by themselves after finding themselves living closer to the city. They’ve conquered Tomcat, and now Greaser. I’ve been seeing them at the front of each act so far, along with another but nameless thrasher. Max, another victim of the mosh pit, comes along to discuss modern day mosh etiquette. It’s rough out here tonight. Turns out, being a few millimeters away from being king hit is not very fun.

Taking off with PYROKINESIS

“You’re not made out of glass” was the encouraging words from the next band. Pyrokinsis is Gold Coast proud, and clearly a lover of rough crowds. Every song calls for a circle pit. In the confined space of the Greaser dance floor, the crowd happily obliges. I let Lin enjoy their fun. I am, sadly, not as comfortable flinging my body into a mass of people when I know my hair can get pulled out. I have spent my time being nearly knocked out by some guy who wants to decide the 5ft girl in the pit’s time has come. I take a mental note to have a different outfit in mind for next time, because honestly it looked really fun. At the end of the day, all a mosh pit is, is another way to move together.

The interludes between songs give little gems. Someone from the crowd screams at Skyler Patrick, vocals, to be louder. Clearly not being able to hear the guy, keeps yelling “What?!” back. Mind you, Skyler is one metre away from the heckler.

There’s a reason this band continues to grow from the hardcore scene in Goldy. Max Way, Ken Carter and Mason Bower deliver a set full of sound everyone is having the greatest time barrelling through. Even Skyler jumps into the crowd every song or so. I wasn’t able to capture it, but he’s taken by surprise by nearly being barrelled straight into the floor in his first attempt. I think whenever a Brisbane crowd knows it’s a band’s first time in their city, they take the effort to show their appreciation.

Finale: TWISTED LULLABY

I’ve got a secret to tell you.

I couldn’t actually make it to their set.

A horrible confession. Twisted Lullaby were the whole reason I came out in the first place. I’m devastated. I am unfortunately not the spritely seventeen-year-old who could function with four hours of sleep anymore. Sadly, when a morning shift the next day looms and the last train out of Fortitude Valley is threateningly too late for me, I have to choose my battles. 

Making a run for it, I do my best to harass my new mosher friends for their thoughts, videos, observations. I have never felt a harder case of FOMO in my entire life.

But the verdict is in: Twisted Lullaby’s awaited set was incredible.

As my new friend Lin wanted to say: “A siren song”

Greaser was absolutely packed. The veterans of both the Gold Coast and Brisbane scene have been hyping up this gig for weeks. The crowd in equal measure are loving that they’re here.

Lead vocalist Shay Ribchester has a distinct dark femme style. Their whole discography leans into the eeriness of the metal genre, a ghostly quality that everyone in that room was craving to hear live. Especially their newly released Murder Me had given the crowd the juice to celebrate. The delicious riffs and drums create a heart stopping track that haunts the listener, and carries the crowd into a frenzy.

The rager continues until midnight, as I’m told. At this point I’m home, trading my boots for the couch and trying to edit this article before I get thrown back into my 9-5. Three hours of sleep is richer than my seventeen year old self ever managed, but somehow it feels like a fair trade.

One day, maybe Brisbane will deliver a better transport system. Until then, I’ll keep chasing the last train out of Fortitude Valley, and I’ll keep coming back for more.

You can support Twisted Lullaby and The Graveyard Club directly on Distrosub. Want to see Pyrokinesis and Deprived Of onboard? Visit their Holding Profile on Distrosub and feel free to leave a few words of encouragement!