On Friday night, North Carolina band He Is Legend brought their sludge metal sounds to Sydney’s Crowbar. The last time the band was in Australia was way back in 2015 for Soundwave festival!
First on stage were hometown heroes Fangz who have developed quite a reputation for wild live shows. All band members wore AC/DC shirts as they kicked off the set with ‘Drifter’, with vocalist Josh pausing between songs to share his excitement to play with his favourite band (He is Legend) tonight. Their set was a beer-guzzling good time with a huge highlight being the super catchy ‘Falling Up’. Sadly, guitarist Sam was not able to play the show due to being in Byron Bay for the hacky sack world championships.
Next up was Gold Coast band Hammers. Delivering a sound that could best be described as a boganesque Aussie take on the metalcore genre. Starting off with vocalist Leigh stating “Sydney ya fucking legends, good to see you again”. During the set guitarist Lucas Stone hammered away on guitar (pun intended) while Leigh did his best to rile up the crowd while carrying on like a drongo.
After a short break, the room filled with He is Legend fans who had been waiting over seven years for this moment. Getting off to a flying start with ‘White Bat’ as their cult fanbase was upfront screaming every word. Watching vocalist Schuylar Croom on stage was akin to a religious experience as he swaggered around. We got to hear songs ranging from ‘Seduction’ taken from their 2004 first album all the way to ‘Return To The Garden’ from their most recent 2022 album Endless Hallway. They even played a legendary cover of ‘Zero’ by The Smashing Pumpkins. The set ends with Schuylar saying “don’t tell anyone else, but this is the funnest show we’ve had. We love you guys and we love Australia a lot”.
(Photos by Meg Taylor)
