Review: Better Lovers @ Lion Arts Factory 30/01/26
A no-barrier show, the last night of the tour and a 40-degree day. Better Lovers are getting the full experience as they wrap up their debut Australian tour at Lion Arts Factory.
Words Thomas Jackson // Image Skye Sampson
Better Lovers w/Split Chain & Hammer 618 @ Lion Arts Factory 30/01/26
“Hey, can you make it hotter up here?” Better Lovers’ vocalist Greg Puciato sarcastically requests. Tonight at Lion Arts Factory, it’s no barrier, the last night of the tour and a 40-degree day. It's going to be a hot, sweaty mess for the finale of Better Lovers’ debut Australian tour.
Despite the heat, Adelaide isn't missing the opportunity to see the hardcore punk supergroup formed from the ashes of the legendary Every Time I Die. Featuring ex-The Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato and super producer Will Putney on guitar, Better Lovers have finally brought one of the most exciting debut albums in recent years - 2024’s Highly Irresponsible - to Australian shores for the first time.
Adelaide’s Hammer 618 take the brunt of the heat as they kick things off first. They give it their all and the shirts off their backs - literally performing shirtless. It’s a powerful, captivating and full-speed set with a healthy dose of two-step. Vocalist Shaun Hueston riles up the crowd with his infectious, larger-than-life bravado on stage. He jumps into the crowd himself and throws an inflatable hammer to them, which someone quickly grabs and starts half-heartedly crowd-killing with.
Gold Coast’s Blind Girls are one of a kind, creating this unique mix of hardcore, screamo and mathcore. The highlight is the guitarist Julian Currie’s moments of almost percussion-based playing as he punishes his guitar, making it squeal as he adds melody through the feedback, most evident on ‘Loveless’. You can hear the influence of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Every Time I Die pulsing through them. Sharni Brouwer’s screams are awe-inspiring, making you wonder how anyone can go through this raw punishment to their body for a forty-minute set.
“I never thought I’d play a show where it gets 40 fucking degrees,” laughs Split Chain vocalist, Bert Martínez-Cowles. The Bristol boys are also making their Australian debut on this tour. Their hybrid blend of shoegaze and nu metal, “nu-gaze”, is spellbinding. It has these nostalgic elements, but still feels like you’re experiencing something brand new. From their live performance and the quality of these songs, it’s easy to see why they’ve been speed-running their career.
The five-piece formed in 2023, signed with Epitaph Records in 2024, and released their debut album in 2025. They already know how to control a room, and the audience is stage-diving and throwing themselves against each other only after one song. ‘who am i?’, ‘bored. tired. torn.’ and ‘I’m Not Dying to Be Here’ are instrumental love letters to 90’s nu metal, while Martínez-Cowles’ vocals carry the shoegaze, Chino Moreno ingredients. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Split Chain coming back and headlining this venue themselves once they have another album in their setlist.
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Several love-inspired songs fill the venue before Better Lovers take the stage. Phil Collins and Philip Bailey’s ‘Easy Lover’, The Beatles’ ‘All You Need Is Love’ and ‘The Power of Love’ flash through a montage of over 30 songs. The mood changes in an instant when Better Lovers go straight into ‘A White Horse Covered in Blood’ as people charge forward to touch their heroes with no barrier in the way.
It's jarring seeing Puciato and the former Every Time I Die members in such an intimate setting. It’s a dream scenario for the fans who grew up loyally following both bands. It's hard to miss the previous projects when masterpieces like ‘Superman Died Paralyzed’ have since been created in their ashes.
The album Highly Irresponsible feels like a continuation of Every Time I Die’s magnum opus, Radical, which guitarist Putney also produced with the band's members on stage. However, Puciato brings this renewed chaotic energy; he’s a beast. He makes animal-like screams throughout the set and sounds like a bird of prey shrieking during ‘Don’t Forget To Say Please’. You can see the sweat dripping off guitarist Jordan Buckley as he almost touches his toes with his forehead while headbanging. They are not leaving a second of pause in their 14-song set.
Clayton “Goose” Holyoak downs a whole bottle the moment he gets a pause as Buckley rings in the intro to ‘At All Times’. It’s the only song of relief due to its (slightly) slower intro during the first half. The last three songs of ‘Love as an Act of Rebellion’, ‘Lie Between the Lines’ and ‘30 under 13’ are the needed pick-me-up to keep the chaos going until the last note.
The fact that tonight wasn’t a sold-out show feels criminal. The ones lucky enough to witness Better Lovers’ debut Australian tour will be able to brag about it to friends and unbelievably say, “I saw them at Lion Arts Factory with no barrier”.
Hopefully, 2026 is another exciting year for Better Lovers with new music potentially in the works, and Australia sees their return sooner rather than later.
Want more pics of the gig? Check out our full photo gallery here.
