British pop-punk five-piece As December Falls put on a high-energy show at Melbourne's Stay Gold on February 14, 2025; in which was their first Australian performance. Traveling all the way from Nottingham in the United Kingdom to perform a string of shows down under is insane. Before we get to that, let's talk about the artists who kicked off the night.
First up on the bill, is a band right from Melbourne’s doorstep. A four-piece punk/alternative group, known for their powerful vocals, heavy intervals and energetic stage presence Ultravlt. From what I've seen on Friday night, they are known for those things for a reason; even as the first act of the night they had the crowd MOVING. The vocals were on point from vocalist Sarah Jones who delivered a POWERHOUSE of a vocal performance. One of the best female vocalists I've seen live and everything this industry needs more of. I've only seen or heard of Ultravlt in passing or when a friend plays them on a road trip, but safe to say i'm a big fan. Their set left me feeling empowered.
Next to take the stage were my good friends in Belle Haven, also local legends from Melbourne. Made up of David De La Hoz on Vocals, Daniel Marinakis and Corey Cichowski on guitar with Adam Pinzone from The Beautiful Monument filling in on drums. The combination of these four could not be more killer. The band are mostly known for (and one of the things I love them for) their way to weave both emotive and dynamic into their music style so easily. Their past songs have explored themes of grief, loss, love and everything in between, which is ironic because one of their most known albums is legitimately named 'You, Me and Everything In Between', featuring one of my all time favourite songs called "By Hook or by Crook". With a lot of themes in their music, anyone with ears can tell that these lads are very passionate about music and using real life personal situations to create MASTERPIECES. Not only does this band have a strong sound, but they are one of my favourites for the way they use their platform and their lyrics to openly discuss and promote mental health issues in their songs. On the night they performed, "fauxlove", "Lose", "regret", "repeat", "Forget Me", "Thx" and "A Hypothetical Exit".
The crowd was WARMED up, the venue was moving plenty by the time the main act for the night took to the stage. ALL the way from Nottingham in the UK (thats 10,508 Miles or 16,912km) which is INSANE, and they were well worth seeing. Coming out of the gate swinging with one of the most energetic performance I've ever seen from a international band, with vocalist Bethany Curtis commanding the stage and making it her own with ease. You can tell she belongs up there, one of the biggest female vocals I've heard in a while. She has such raw power and talent. The rest of the band consists of Ande Hunter on lead guitar and backing vocals, Timmy Francis on bass, and Lukas James on drums. Between the four of them they all have a very vast range of influences and genre knowledge and they are easily in my top five bands I've seen live. I cannot wait to see them again in the future. As December Falls' setlist consisted of "Ride", "Join The Club", "Mayday", "I Don't Feel Like Feeling Great" (iconic name) "Alive", "Nothing On You", "No Money", "Little by Little", "I Cant Sleep", "Go Away", "Angry Cry", "Therapy", "Everything You Say:" and concluding their set with "Carousel". The fans were very pumped and had a lot of energy, ultimately having them form a massive circle pit. All in all this one of my favourite shows to be in attendance for and i'd gladly do it again.
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