Waves at Towradgi Beach Hotel, Wollongong · 7 November 2026
Australia & New Zealand Tour 2026

The crowd surfers at Waves were coming through like luggage at an airport. As soon as one went over, another took their place. It got to the point where even Jesse Leach commented on how many people were coming over the top.

And this was Wollongong. My hometown.

I still get a kick out of typing that. Killswitch Engage have songs with hundreds of millions of Spotify streams, and here they were playing a sold-out show at Waves which is part of Towradgi Beach Hotel. I know what a hundred million streams looks like. I know what a sold-out Waves looks like, too. At this particular gig, it looked like a bloke travelling over my head while everyone below him sang.

I used to go to discos at Waves. It’s where I met my wife.

They’d played the Enmore in Sydney the night before. Great room. Shit parking. I love seeing a band there once I’ve stopped seeing the same three streets with parking inspectors ready to fine you. From Sydney they came down to Wollongong, then it was on to Melbourne for the last show of the tour. I’m used to seeing Sydney and Melbourne on a tour poster and this time my town was right there between them.

They opened with “Fixation on the Darkness” and “This Is Absolution,” then put “The End of Heartache” third. Third. Some bands would build the whole night around getting to that song. Killswitch still had “Daylight Dies,” “Rose of Sharyn,” “This Fire” and “My Curse” in their back pocket.

That’s what I love about this band. The riffs are fast and ferocious enough to get a circle pit going, and the melodies are good enough to make you want to sing while you’re running in it. As a songwriter, I’m always listening for what a band does to make the chorus lift. With Killswitch, half the answer is in what they do to you before the chorus. The riff gets your whole body involved. By the time the vocal melody comes around, you’re already in.

My favourite was “In Due Time.” It understands that despair is not the opposite of hope. It’s the place hope has to fight its way out of.

“Pacing aimlessly with my mind at unrest.”

The feeling of being trapped inside your own thoughts, walking nowhere while your brain keeps moving.

Then the chorus arrives with;

“See the world through different eyes.”

Not a miracle. Not an escape hatch. A change in perspective, earned the hard way.

And then:

“The shadows will give way to light.”

It’s a simple line, but that’s why it works. When you’re in the middle of it, you don’t need a complicated theory of recovery. You need somebody to tell you the darkness is not permanent.

“In Due Time” is about endurance, but it sounds like endurance in motion. You don’t sit with the pain. You push through it, surrounded by people doing the same thing.

“The End of Heartache” and “Rose of Sharyn” were written when Howard Jones was in the band. “My Curse” too. And there’s Jesse, who sang on “Fixation on the Darkness,” fronting a set that goes deep into both eras and still has room for “Forever Aligned” and “I Believe.” I like that they put “The Signal Fire” in there as well. On the record, you can hear Jesse and Howard on the same song. For all the time people have spent arguing about which singer they prefer, I’ve always liked hearing what happens when you get both.

And Jesse Leach.

Try singing one of those choruses after screaming your way through the verse. The clean vocal has to come in on pitch, the words have to be clear, and you’ve still got to sell the melody. Then the riff comes back and you’re down in a growl again. Jesse Leach kept making those turns all night.

I sing heavy music. I know what it feels like to come out of a scream and realise the next note has nowhere to hide. Jesse has to hit that note with a room full of people who know exactly how it goes. And then he has to get up and do it again the next night. Respect.

Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz were locked in the whole night. When Adam stepped out for a lead, Joel kept the riff going underneath him. It’s one of my favourite things to listen for in a two-guitar band. Your ear goes straight to the lead, but it’s the rhythm guitar that makes you feel where the solo is going.

Mike D’Antonio was the only bloke in the band with long hair, and he got his money’s worth out of it. He banged his head the whole damn night.

And listen to what Justin Foley does with his feet. Sometimes the double kick follows the guitar accents so closely you feel the riff hit twice. Then he’ll keep the kicks moving underneath and the whole song leans forward. The guitars can be going flat out and you still know exactly where the beat is. Handy when half the room is running in circles.

Seventeen songs. Circle pits all night. Enough people going over the top that the singer stopped to talk about it.

And for once, the gig I’d normally drive to Sydney for was at a club in Towradgi.

Setlist

1. Fixation on the Darkness
2. This Is Absolution
3. The End of Heartache
4. Aftermath
5. A Bid Farewell
6. In Due Time
7. To the Sons of Man
8. Unleashed
9. Hate by Design
10. Where It Dies
11. Forever Aligned
12. The Signal Fire
13. I Believe
14. Daylight Dies
15. Rose of Sharyn
16. This Fire
17. My Curse