There is absolutely no way I’m going to miss out on their show in Brisbane, I thought to myself when Billy Talent finally set their first dates of their “Afraid Of Heights” tour in Australia.

It’s been six years since the last time I saw the Canadian boys live on stage and even though it’s been a while… they still cast exactly the same spell over me and though they are performing new songs - it feels like nothing has changed.

So here I was catching a bus to West End, exploding from excitement and being impatient as fu*k to finally see my favourite band again. When I arrived at the venue, the first band was already playing and Billy Talent couldn’t have done a better choice with their support by The City Shakeup. The local band had a clear touch of BT and they rocked the stage with such enormous power. The songs were extremely catchy and the crowd even launched a mosh pit as desired by the lead singer.

After waiting a fair while - it felt like forever - Billy Talent jumped on stage and started their setlist with A Devil In A Midnight Mass - just as they did six years ago. Lucky me, I managed to snatch the perfect spot, right in front of the stage, so I had a perfect view of Benjamin Kowalewicz who was definitely owning the stage. The singer was running up and down, head banging, jumping off monitors and singing - all at the same time and there was not one single moment the band didn’t kill it. You could barely tell that their actual drummer was replaced that evening and their song choices were an incredible success.

I admit that not much has changed since the last time I saw those guys live, even the setlist was pretty similar that evening, with songs like Prisoners Of Today, Devil In A Midnight Mass, Saint Veronica, Try Honesty and of course Devil On My Shoulder. Though the old school hits definitely kicked in better, the addition of their new songs mixed it up very well. Ben did an amazing job keeping the crowd entertained and motivating them with his positive attitude about tolerance and living in the moment while performing Try Honesty. When Viking Death March, and the classic Billy Talent tracks Red Flag and Fallen Leaves came on, the crowd was going insane and as far as I could see, the fans in the front rows were jumping up and down, completely losing it and pushing over the edge (including myself). There was nothing Billy Talent could have done better that evening, everything worked out perfectly and their new songs were a blast!

You know the concert was awesome when your legs hurt and your voice cracks… So thank you, Billy Talent, for giving me another unforgettable night full of rock and roll and please don’t ever stop making music!

- Natalie Städtler