mycriesfallondeafears (NSW)
juno eclipse (NSW)
Our Mutual Friend (NSW)
In Her Palms
Fear of Horses (NSW)

The World At A Glance
goblinviolence (NSW)
The Middle Chapter (NSW)
half request (NSW)
Chromatin

A weekend long-awaited by many, Starfest finally came to The Tote, Collingwood, to bring some of Naarm & Eora’s best emo-adjacent bands together. Tickets sold out quickly, filling the band room with an excited crowd from the afternoon into late evening. It was so incredible to be a part of one of the ten bands who joined forces to put on such an amazing show.. I will definitely look back on this night fondly for a long time to come.

Southeast skramz five-piece Chromatin opened the show at around 3pm, immediately setting an intense and animated tone for the afternoon. This was my 8th?? time seeing them play, and they have come so far since their first show. Their energy is consistent, with this set being one of their best yet.

As is now a well-established staple of Chromatin’s live act, Liam performed his vocals exclusively from the floor, joining the crowd and dancing alongside them. To finish, the band ended their set with two songs from their upcoming demo EP, ‘Downpour’ and ‘Sharpshooter’. These were both highlights that concluded their performance on a high note.

Next, half request came from Eora to deliver a lovely shoegaze/alternative emo rock performance. Their ethereal songs translated perfectly to a live setting, as their deep basslines and bright guitars created a very full sound. Their music provided a more thoughtful, introspective change of tone from Chromatin’s previous high-energy act.

I particularly enjoyed their harmonised and clean vocals, contrasting many other more intense sets that would follow.

Before Starfest, I had heard very little of The Middle Chapter, aside from a video of their debut during the Summer Break festival earlier this year. I ended up really enjoying their somewhat laid-back slacker emo/indie rock performance, which ebbed and flowed naturally in intensity between softer passages and crescendos. The band covered 'Dope Calypso' by Violent Soho, a song which paired well with the more energetic end of their sound.

My favourite song from their set stood out and spoke to me immediately. Talking with their guitarist and vocalist Aidan, I later found out that it was called ‘cartilage’ (although this is possibly a working title). I’m very excited for any potential The Middle Chapter releases in the future!

From the beginning of their set, goblinviolence made the anti-imperialist undertones of their music explicitly clear. Their vocalist, Bill, read the following passage (found by their drummer Thom on this website) written by a soldier from New York on the American conquest of the Philippines:

“The town of Titatia was surrendered to us a few days ago, and two companies occupy the same. Last night one of our boys was found shot and his stomach cut open. Immediately orders were received from General Wheaton to burn the town and kill every native in sight; which was done to a finish. About 1,000 men, women and children were reported killed. I am probably growing hard-hearted, for I am in my glory when I can sight my gun on some dark skin and pull the trigger.”

In the middle of their act, they played a Converge cover, which fit in seamlessly with the rest of their chaotic, sassy mathgrind sound. My camera ran out of storage on its memory card at this point, so I took this as a sign to join the fast-paced, high-energy mosh, which left me feeling exhausted.

During the following performance from gothic post-metal band The World At A Glance, I resigned to sitting behind the merch table to recover my energy. In this time I went through my camera and made sure I had more storage space for subsequent sets, but as a result I wasn’t able to take any photos of the band.

As always, their electric violin added a melancholic and lyrical quality to their music, an addition which contrasted beautifully with Scott’s vocals. Within their set, they debuted a song from their upcoming 2027 record, which I am really looking forward to.

At roughly 6:50, there was a 20-minute intermission, breaking up the otherwise eight-ish hour long festival to allow everyone to catch their breath, socialise, and get something to eat. I went with Sam to Falafel Place, a vegetarian and halal spot on Smith Street where we got falafel & chip wraps. I will definitely return next time I am in Collingwood.

Checking the time, we walked quickly back to the venue to make sure that we would not miss Fear of Horses. When I walked inside, they were playing ‘Yay’, and the atmosphere in the room was enchanting as the crowd watched almost in a trance.

It was very surreal to see these songs that I love so much played live, something the whole room seemed to feel as they stood in awe during the band’s quiet and introspective sections, and moshed and crowdsurfed to heavier, more intense parts.

While still processing the feeling of watching Fear of Horses, I joined my friends Asher, Charli, and Zi on stage to play our fourth show as In Her Palms. After playing 3 of our new songs, Asher addressed the crowd, thanking them for coming & making the show possible. He then announced that we would, for “the last time ever”, play a few Could Be Stars songs in our set. After four of these older songs, we closed with our highest-intensity ‘Floodlight’, which is always fun to play live.

I would like to put a disclaimer here that after we played, I started taking advantage of The Tote’s free drink card for performers, so my recollection of events may decline slightly.

Eora twinkly post-hardcore emo band Our Mutual Friend played next. It was so nice to see them live, especially so shortly after the launch of our 'In Her Palms/Our Mutual Friend' split just the day before! Unfortunately, because Eva's bass went missing, she had to borrow Charli's, but luckily the instrument was found and returned to her the day after.

A standout of their performance was when they played ‘dry my tears’, a recently-released single which encouraged lots of singing along from the audience.

The second-last band of the night were juno eclipse, whose genre-defying sound drew influence from punk, modern shoegaze, indie rock, and emocore. Their set was full of what many would consider 'hype moments and aura', reflected by the high-energy push pit and frequent waves of crowdsurfing.

juno eclipse were joined onstage by a 'Star Wars' Yoda puppet, pictured (somewhat visibly) below. The Jedi master wasn't the only company they had either, as other members of the Eora bands climbed on to the stage to share the spotlight. As this was happening, the band played their cover of The xx's 'VCR', a song that they have made their own through their shared release with Our Mutual Friend.

mycriesfallondeafears, an emocore band from Eora, closed the festival with a 30-minute set from around 10:40pm. I was excited to watch them play all afternoon and evening, having seen them once in late 2024 when they played with my band ‘gatecrash’ at d’shut. Since this day, I have often cited them as the best live band I have ever seen, and their 2025 self-titled album as one of my favourite screamo records. With this in mind, mycries’ set at Starfest did not disappoint.

From the minute they started playing, the pit burst into chaotic life. The band’s stage presence was also so crazy, with an energy and slight eccentricity that paired well with the guitarist’s black Flying V with glow-in-the-dark lead. As they played perhaps my favourite song of all time, ‘Kick His Teeth Thru’, I moshed and watched in near disbelief; a near transcendental experience. During this song, Asher got on the stage and sung along for them. No I did not take ANY photos of mycries at Starfest, I was way too busy fangirling.

The festival wrapped up at around 11:15, right on schedule.

Thanks so much to Asher for putting this event on, organising everything, and making such an insane dream lineup a reality. I would also like to thank every band who played, especially those who travelled interstate to make it, your dedication and enthusiasm means so much to us <3

And of course, thank you to everyone who came to support Starfest as well, keeping this scene alive is so important and without you guys none of it would be possible.

Shoutout @cohen.salnitro on Instagram for recording and putting together compilation videos of goblinviolence's and Fear of Horses' sets from this show, and to Bambell, who put this video of 6 of the bands from the night playing on their YouTube page. If you're looking for more footage from Starfest, @joyful.8.8.8 on Instagram has uploaded so many videos to their page. Show some support for one of Eora's coolest videographers.

photos from the night (click to expand)

photo credits:
@tennace.photography on instagram
@joyful.8.8.8 on instagram
@milk_luvsu on instagram
@googiboogi on youtube (bambell)