GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL // SYDNEY SHOWGROUND // 6TH DECEMBER 2025
Suffering from the pouring rain last year, Sydney brought out the sun and turned up the heat full ball this time for Good Things Festival 2025. From one extreme to another, a whopping 40 degrees wasn’t going to deter these diehard festival goers though as they lathered up the sunscreen and got down to the new location at Sydney Showground early.
The Good Things team did an absolutely amazing job with this new venue in the very strong heat, giving everyone access to more free water stations, multiple sprinkler locations (so grateful for those), and the immense amount of undercover and seating areas where people could retreat and catch a breath between sets. Those were some of the moments that you could tell punters were truly appreciative for in the blistering heat.
With the sun shining down and the gates opening at 12pm, people quickly piled into the massive venue, whether they went straight for the great array of merch, a cold beverage, or to catch the first set of the day, we all knew we were in for a huge day of good times.
Check out our gallery below!
Yours Truly never fail to put on a great show, regardless if you’ve seen them 100 times or this being your first, they just know how to get the party started and get the crowd going with participation in the mosh alongside their bouncy pop punk tracks. Their loyal fans were dripping with sweat and getting scorched but that didn’t matter because they all were having the time of their lives. As the set came to an end, the band finished off with absolute banger “Call My Name”.
US artist Scene Queen kicked off stage two, decked out head to toe in pink while looking sweet and cute as all hell but then diving into a set that featured some of the heaviest guitar riffs that blew our heads off. The contrast between the pink aesthetic and the lyrics and breakdowns was refreshing and badass. A really fun 35 minute performance to say the least with tracks such as “BDSM”, “Pink Panther”, and “Barbie & Ken” making fans headbang harder as they progressed.
We had to head over to the other side, undercover to stage 5 where Tik Tok Sensation band Maples Pet Dinosaur were due to perform and there were already a fair few people waiting for them and seeking shelter from the sun. The young band from Newy all took to the stage with this enjoyable energy that was undeniably contagious. Cheers were let out from the people at the front of the barricade after every song which was sweet to see and well deserved. I can’t wait to see where this band goes in the future.
Running back over to the main stage as Pop Punk icons New Found Glory were already a few songs deep into their set. The party was sure as hell going as people were hard moving in the mosh pit, the heat not stopping them and a 12-track set list to keep them going with some classics and a cover of “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer that they are very well known at doing so well. Singer Jordan Pundik moved around and around on stage in circles before jumping and hyping up the crowd with his vocals that still sound the same after nearly 30 years in music. They have never sounded better!
Refused were a force. One of the best sets of the day with their incredible stage presence and entertaining performance. Each member of the band was just really enjoyable to watch as they moved around, especially when vocalist Dennisl Lyxzen pulled out the moves and swung his microphone around before catching it on his chest. Raw, powerful energy from these guys that will stick with us for a long time - truly unforgettable set! It was also very bittersweet as it’s the band's last time performing in Australia, announcing that December will be their final shows before they hang up the towel. Sad to see them go, but happy to have had the chance to witness greatness live.
Sydney’s own sweethearts Tonight Alive were back at Good Things for the first time since 2018! They took to stage 3 with the most amazing vibes and created a beautiful atmosphere that was heavily enjoyed by all as we all shouted out the lyrics to every. single. song. My teenage self was at peace seeing one of the bands that basically shaped me, play in a festival setting again and totally bring the best vibes ever. It was the hottest part of the day and Jenna McDougall told fans to just chill, they don’t have to mosh if they don’t want to, the band are just thankful to have such wonderful fans that showed up early to see them in this weather. It melted hearts to see a band so passionate about their music and their fans as well.
Next door on Stage 4, metalcore heavyweights Dayseeker took charge of the stage and owned it as well as the screaming fans. They had everyone jumping, hands up in the air, fully enthralled. Their pink album backdrop only added to the experience that they brought to life with their loud, melodic guitars mixed with the powerful vocals all combining together and melting faces off, never mind the sun.
To see Gwar live is to witness greatness. There isn’t anything more fun then seeing a band who have the best, detailed costumes and who spray fake blood out into their crowds. Most know that the band do this but it was amusing to see the few that had no idea what was coming as they got absolutely annihilated not once but multiple times throughout the show. The fans at the front loved every single second of it as they became coated in a sea of red while the group played their sickening, gnarly tracks for an amazing 45 minutes. I wouldn’t mind being coated in fake blood either if it cooled me off. I couldn’t recommend seeing this live enough. Words can’t even describe how fun and incredibly wicked it was.
Another incredible local band, Closure were also playing on this huge line-up and they were setting up over on Stage 5, as I ran over there I got to catch a few of their songs and see how they lit up the audience. There is just something about this band that you can’t stop watching them perform, it’s hard to turn away, it’s hard to leave. They have a great sound and they just are really incredible to watch. It’s hard to believe that they are playing on the small stage when they should be playing bigger stages!
Alt-Metal giants Machine Head were a band that many were extremely excited for and they didn’t disappoint. They played for a solid hour and in that time it was filled with multiple inflatables floating around the crowd, smoke blasting, confetti canons, and huge streamers blown out into the massive swarm of fans. That alone was fantastic enough let alone the sound and presence of the band. They played favourites like “Is There Anybody Out There?”, “Choke On The Ashes Of Your Hate”, “Locust”, and "Davidian” which had the mosh pit going so hard with continuous walls of death and circle pits.
I saw many punters either wearing Kublai Khan merch or whipping it around their heads during other sets so I knew many were here to see them and I was curious to see what they would be like in a live setting. I was completely blown away by the sickening guitar riffs and the heavy weight vocals that they even had me moshing a little. They went hard but the crowd went harder! And that is truly an understatement.
It was tough as nails and raw as hell as fans flew over the top of the barricade in complete ecstasy from seeing their favourite heavy band perform and being in the moment. It doesn’t matter that it was a mass of sweat, everyone went wild for Kublai Khan and I was here for it.
90’s Icons Garbage had sparked a bit of divide in Melbourne with singer Shirley Manson calling out someone for having a beach ball in the crowd. She has definitely not visited Australia in a while because it inspired concertgoers to bring even more beach balls along today and when the band walked out onto the stage, MANY beach balls were thrown up into the air in which had the badass front woman laugh and say “oh fuck” inbetween versus of the first track “There’s No Future In Optomism”. Bringing out a fan with the words C*NT on it was just another very funny and iconic piece that was added to the set and we love the singer for it. This whole set was filled with non-stop dancing from the audience while favourites like “I Think I’m Paranoid”, “Special, and “When I Grow Up” were blasted through the speaker out into the showground.
It was truly an honour to be able to see a band of this caliber play live and you could see that on the faces of many fans too. Shirley is unapologetic, and she stands up and fights for what she believes in, even sporting a shirt that reads “Stop killing children”.
The woman is a true badass who brought a fierce and powerful performance to Sydney. It was also amazing to see Butch Vig on drums in person, he is also an incredible musician who has shaped music hugely especially in the 90’s.
The whole band sounded amazing - so amazing that even the heavens opened up on this 40 degree day and delivered rain. It was only fitting especially when the band broke out with “Only Happy When It Rains”.
Weezer received many screams as soon as they stepped foot onto the stage as they smiled out to the people and dived in with “My Name Is Jonas”. Cups of water were being handed out to sweaty fans, despite the cooling rain, after it died off the heat was still very much there and you could see the exhaustion in many faces but everyone was still happy as ever to sing and dance along to the sweet sounds of the legendary Weezer.
I was again running over to stage 4 as I had planned to catch a glimpse of Make Them Suffer but ended up staying for the whole set because it was wild and sounded so great that you just couldn’t walk away. One song after another just went harder than the last and had fans soaring around the mosh left right and centre. The energy was there, the atmosphere was there and the band only added to it with their raw, killer personas and loud, gritty sound. Another highlight set of the day by a mile.
As the sun went down and most people headed over to the main stage to witness the headline event - Tool. It was a full spectacle with crazy lights that added to the huge experience of the band. They say you can only witness Tool in the dark and that seems true with their extravagant atmosphere of lights and visuals on all the big screens. 1 hour and 30 minutes of pure wickedness that had even the people in the stands, moving around and singing along. From the very front, to the back, you could easily see the flood of faces were having an incredible time.
If you thought that Tool was the last band to play, you would be wrong. Walking this time back to the other stages to see what was happening, I was surprised to see SO many people waiting for deathcore band Lorna Shore to start. I couldn’t comprehend how many people were watching Tool let alone seeing another massive amount of people waiting around over the other side. There was a reason these people weren’t over at the other stage, Lorna Shore was out of this world. The low lights and hefty grind that rang out of the speakers combined with the sturdy screams from the vocalist was more than enough to keep me there for the rest of the night. Witnessing people giving their all as they got pulled over the barricade after crowdsurfing to the pounding riff driven, scream infused music. It was insane.
Trying to run between sets at a festival should be a sport in itself, rushing through the crowds of people, trying so hard not to miss anything but always failing, there was some amazing talent on the Good Things line-up this year that I unfortunately had to miss due to time clashes and the heat that got a little too much at some points of the day. Good Things Festival sure got one hell of a make-over this year with the venue upgrade plus many more activities to do and see.
So much good food, so many good things to do, so many good acts. (Fake) blood, lots of sweat, and many (happy) tears were shed - That’s why they call it Good Things.