(HED) P.E. + NONPOINT - Live in Brisbane
COME WITH ME
Saturday 7th February 2026
Written by Tom Wilson
Photographed by: Rashid AlKamraikhi
When openers TOTAL BUZZKILL take to the stage and drop into their first track, two things are apparent: the band has some serious chops, and we can hear them all in perfect clarity because the sound tonight is phenomenal.
With the ear gauges and tattoos, their vocalist looks like a man who has committed to the rock game, and his repertoire of crowd work is strong too. Opening with some more traditional metalcore, they soon make a sharp left into nu metal bounce which goes down a treat with their audience tonight (can’t imagine why!). By the time they walk offstage, the Princess Theatre has turned into a mosh pit, and the vibe has been well and truly set.
Pictured: TOTAL BUZZKILL
Pictured: TOTAL BUZZKILL
Pictured: TOTAL BUZZKILL
Pictured: TOTAL BUZZKILL
Turning ten years old in 1995, I was a child of nu metal, but I must admit, I missed the boat on NONPOINT. My first exposure to them was sometime in 2014, on a range at the School of Infantry in Singleton, NSW, when someone started singing Bullet With a Name when we were learning how to shoot light machine guns. But the roar that greets them when they take the stage tells me that I am definitely in the minority. The band who come out onstage tonight don’t just sound like they did in the early 2000s, but they’re moving like it too! From the drummer to the singer, everyone is flailing about like they’re in a music video without missing a single note. NONPOINT might be the most dreadlocks I’ve seen onstage at once since my days of going to the Falls Festival, and they make for quite the spectacle. Their famous cover of In The Air Tonight goes down a storm, before frontman Elias gets the crowd to raise their hands in the shape of a gun, and Bullet With a Name finishes things off with a massive singalong.
Pictured: NONPOINT
Pictured: NONPOINT
Pictured: NONPOINT
Pictured: NONPOINT
In a recent interview with Sense, (HED) P.E. frontman Jared described tonight’s set as “all Broke, all the time”, but anyone expecting them to kick off with Killing Time is in for a rude shock. The band take to the stage with hip hop blasting from the P.A., Jared emerging from the wings oozing confidence. Guitarist Nathan Javier takes to the mic, and the word “Jesus” stretches out in a long, robotic drone, like a throat cancer patient talking through an electrolarynx. A slow, moody track towards the back of the album, Jesus (Of Nazareth) doesn’t scream “opener”, but that’s exactly what it is tonight – (HED) P.E. starting things off with a smoulder, not a bang, as Jared’s spoken-word verse gets heads nodding. The tension builds, then the first chorus comes crashing down, and the crowd erupts. “How’s everybody feeling right now?” Jared asks, and as the Princess Theatre roars in response, the gnarled opening riff of Killing Time rings out, and all bets are off. We yell ourselves hoarse to the chorus of “Kiss that world goodbye” as G-punk rhythms send the pit into hysterics, bassist Kurt "Kid Bass" Blankenship showing off his skills on the thick strings. There isn’t a moment of respite, as they plunge straight into the volatile Waiting to Die, and the guitar riff hits us like a buzzsaw. An ode to losing yourself in drugs and not giving a fuck if you see tomorrow, the entire Princess is chanting the refrain of “Everybody dies,” and the final chorus is a huge singalong. Feel Good is by turns funky and furious, and the crowd is happy to fill in the guest vocals of Serj Tankian and Morgan Lander.
Pictured: HED PE
Pictured: HED PE
Pictured: HED PE
Pictured: HED PE
“We haven’t played these songs in over twenty fucking years!” Jared exclaims to a thunderous roar, before the band start swinging with the reggae rhythm of Swan Dive and it’s time for, you guessed it, another big singalong (which seems weird for a song about suicide, but given all the other lyrics the crowd has been roaring tonight, it’s par for the course). Up next is one of my favourite deep cuts from Broke, Pac Bell, a moody track told from the perspective of a jilted lover, with Jared’s vocoder vocals reverberating up to the ceiling, crooning like a lovesick robot. Then the anger comes, and his caustic harsh vocals drip with emotion. It’s heart-rending and absolutely savage, but as soon as it comes to a close, the vibe takes a sharp right turn into the cocksure swagger of Crazy Legs, Jared smiling and shouting “Uh oh” as soon as we recognise the beat. A very R-rated little ditty written by a bloke who has grown up a lot in the last 25 years, it’s gleefully crass, and still a whole lot of fun, but it’s certainly a risky singalong (fortunately Jared’s vocals sound fantastic these days, so he doesn’t need our help with the racier lyrics). What he does need our help with is the call-and-response that follows, splitting up the guys and girls and playing them off each other, before plunging into I Got You, and the whole Princess ends up chanting “Whoop Whoop” so loud, you’d think you were at a Gathering of the Juggalos (minus the face paint and Faygo).
Pictured: HED PE
Pictured: HED PE
Pictured: HED PE
Pictured: HED PE
The band give us a wave and walk offstage, but no one is buying it, and encore peekaboo doesn’t even last for two minutes before (HED) P.E. re-emerge, and Jared sends the first note blowing through his trusty melodica. A playful rhythm dances around our heads, before slowly morphing into The Meadow (Special Like You), and the crowd sings the first verse and the chorus for him as he toots along on the breath-powered keyboard, before he takes to the mic and brings us through it again with him singing. It’s a beautiful vibe, and as it comes to an end, the melodica teases the opening of Bartender, and everyone loses their mind. This is the track that made a lot of us fans back in 2000, and a simple playthrough wouldn’t have done it justice, so it becomes an extended jam complete with bass solo, and when the guitars drop for the last time, the pit becomes a warzone. Just when it looks like we’re done, Jared gives us a smile. “We’ve got a fuckin’ bonus track for that ass! We just played every track from Broke. We’ve never done it before.” What song could it be? What else? The riff for Renegade triggers a deafening roar, and it becomes another sprawling jam session that sees the pit split down the middle for a wall of death, before they storm to the finish and leave the stage beaming, telling us that they’ll be back again next year. This is their third time playing Brisbane since COVID and the shows are only getting bigger, so who knows what 2027 has in store?
Pictured: HED PE
Photos by: Rashid AlKamraikhi
Click above to view the GALLERY