Sunday 7 December
Brisbane Showgrounds
Good Things 2025. Where do we even begin? This year’s event showcased the best of Australian pop punk, sprinkled with a dash of 2000s nostalgia thrown on top. And as Australia’s premier home for all things emo and pop punk, we like to think we captured the best day ever.
Our day kicked off with Sydney act Yours Truly, who got things warmed up real nicely. Mikaila Delgado led the way in with a highlight reel of their latest LP, Toxic. The band even gave early punters a warmup round in the circlepit as guitarist Teddie Winter-Haron was the centre of attention during ‘Back 2 U’.
South Arcade tore up a storm over at Stage 3 as the UK rockers made their Queensland live debut. The seering heat was barely a bother as lead vocalist Harmony Cavelle crushed it with her distinctive voice of the Y2K era. A strong highlight was baring witness to the band’s strongest hit, ‘How 2 Get Away with Murder’.
US pop punkers New Found Glory delivered all the good stuff with a nostalgically-heavy set. Easily showing one of the strongest sets of the day, the fun was nonstop as Jordan Pundik powered through the band’s huge catalog of songs. As fans joined in with catchy singalongs like ‘Hit Or Miss‘, and ‘All Downhill From Here‘, the mid-day sun glaring in the backdrop almost transformed the Good Things main arena into a Vans Warped Tour main stage. What a time.
One key member was missing in action though. With guitarist Chad Gilbert currently surviving a round of cancer back in the States, Four Year Strong guitarist Dan O’Connor could be seen on stage with the NFG crew helping out a mate.
I don’t know about anyone else, but at every festival I attend, I’m on my game and a strict schedule. Checking my pre-planned schedule and stopping via the free water tanks to hydrate before we bore witness to the return of Tonight Alive. It was refreshing to see the Sydney OGs back on the festival circuit once again. Frontwoman Jenna McDougall is as mesmerising as ever, and even those who had never seen the band before was captivated.
Forming the first half of the best hour of Good Things 2025, Tonight Alive took things back to 2013 with a high-velocity edition of ‘Lonely Girl’. Joined by Harmony from South Arcade, it offered that added touch of camaraderie this scene is so well known for.
Stand Atlantic had some big shoes to fill, having stepped in last minute following The All-American Rejects‘ last minute cancellation last week. But boy, they ticked every box on the fill-in criteria and passed with flying colours. Bouncing straight in with ‘Kissin Killer Cobras‘, the band threw in the perfect equilibrium between bouncy pop punk and crushing almost-breakdowns. Proving that beachballs are actually made for the moshpit with their dancefloor anthem, ‘Sex on the Beach’, frontwoman Bonnie Fraser stirred up the crowd, in turn making that moshpit one of the most energetic environments of the day.
But it wasn’t a STAT party without a ‘pity party’ and a liferaft crowdsurf entered the scene featuring Scene Queen and Teddie from Yours Truly. Once again, Stand Atlantic proved that a Good Things stage is where they truly belong, no matter what other opportunities are flung their way. What rockstars.
By the mid-afternoon, energy levels slowly began to dip and we thought we needed to refuel and hydrate. Taking a seat as GWAR played out their grotesque, unique entertainment, we took a short timeout to munch on homemade sandwiches that still tasted pretty damn good. Here’s our festival food tip for those on a budget: pack an icepack with your sandwich and you will save yourself at least $20. Hey, more beer money in the festival kitty!
Baltimore pop punkers All Time Low was a huge drawcard for the festival but before we move into the evening, we did manage to catch some ska punk with Goldfinger. John Feldmann and crew even brought out Fever 333’s Jason Aalon Butler during ‘Get Up‘, which was an onstage collab we totally weren’t expecting.
The creme de la creme of our day had to be All Time Low and by 5pm, it was still a sweatfest but a slight breeze had made its way into the arena. Frontman Alex Gaskarth ensured fans had the time of their lives with ‘Weightless‘ thrown in amongst newer tracks like ‘Suckerpunch‘. The boys took us back to the good ol’ days and had us feel all of the emotions for 60 minutes. While the pit was nowhere near as awesome as Stand Atlantic’s earlier that afternoon, the Baltimore boys still proved how strong and consistent their career has gotten.
If All Time Low was the main course, then Cobra Starship became the dessert. And you never miss dessert when the mains are that good. Continuing the emo throwback into 2009, Gabe Saporta and co. delivered a Gatsby-style celebration to celebrate the band’s first return to Brisbane in a decade. The biggest surprise was “smashing it up” in the pit to ‘Pete Wentz is the Only Reason We’re Famous‘ – that wasn’t on my 2025 bingo card, that’s for sure.
For me, Cobra was one of those fleeting MySpace bands that you know, wasn’t necessarily a core favourite. However, their music is nothing but a good time and that’s exactly what the lads brought to the Good Things stage this year. How good was finally getting to party to ‘Guilty Pleasure‘ live for the first time ever? That definitely became a core memory. DAL team, we want more emo bands that deliver nothing but good memories of our youth please.
While we can appreciate how much of Australia’s music scene delivers heavy and more metal styles, we love that this year, pop punk, emo and punk got the opportunity to play centre stage. It’s a refreshing change and for us, the Sydney pop punk trifecta of Stand Atlantic, Tonight Alive and Yours Truly (amongst the international offerings of South Arcade, New Found Glory and All Time Low) definitely offered that extra value of a festival ticket.
Who are our picks for 2026’s edition of Good Things Festival? System of a Down and we’re hoping The All-American Rejects will get the 15-year return to Australia that we all need.
Review by Tamara May
Photos by Reece Trudgen
If you repost images, please credit Reece Trudgen and PitPass appropriately.
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