American pop-punk icons, Good Charlotte, recently graced Australian shores for the first time in over eight years in celebration of their eighth studio album ‘Motel Du Cap’, released in August of 2025. Formed by twin brothers, Joel & Benji Madden, in 1995, Good Charlotte became one of the biggest names in the 2000’s pop-punk scene with massive commercial hits from ‘The Anthem’ to ‘I Just Wanna Live’.
Good Charlotte brought a carefully crafted setlist and their signature, chaotic pop-punk energy to Brisbane Entertainment Centre, alongside well-known special guests, Yellowcard, and Kisschasy (who joined Good Charlotte on their Australian tour in 2007) , as well as indie-alt Australian singer-songwriter, Parker. Huge thank you to UNTITLED. for having us along to cover the show, it was an absolute blast from start to finish.
Opening the night ahead was eighteen-year-old indie-alt artist, Parker. Hailing from Aussie shores, Parker has begun to make waves among the local alt-rock music scene. With over 2,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and undertaking a mentorship from Good Charlotte’s Joel Madden, along with support from MDDN management, Parker is on the path to becoming one of the biggest emerging talents to come out of Australia.
Aussie punk band, Kisschasy, opened their set with a bang, with the floor and seats shaking as they opened their set with ‘This Bed’. The crowd cheered on as the Melbourne rockers started a 45-minute set filled with crowd favourite hits. After announcing their final ever tour in 2015 and performing a small handful of shows and festivals between 2022-2024, it’s extremely exciting to see the band back to doing what they love with just as much energy as they had 12 years ago.
As they played hit tracks from their 2005 and 2007 albums, from ‘Face Without A Name’ and ‘Strings and Drums’, fans screamed along to every lyric, with most attendees soaking in the excitement of seeing the band live and in their full glory. As they weaved through the set, with their infectious energy, just before they began the last song of the night, lead singer Darren Cordeux took a moment to plug their latest album, ‘The Terrors of Comfort’, released in 2026. This marks the first studio album that the band has release since 2009, over sixteen years ago. After closing the set out with fan favourite song ‘Opinions Won’t Keep You Warm at Night’, Kisschasy showed their Brisbane fans that no matter how long they take between shows, they will always show up for their favourite band.
At 8:10pm on the dot, the stage lights dimmed, and a low, bassy hum reverberated throughout the arena as the Yellowcard members walked out one by one onto the stage. The lights shone blue as the opening chords of ‘Way Away’ bounced off the walls. Lead singer, Ryan Key, chatted to the audience between songs, even stating that Brisbane Entertainment Centre is one of, if not the biggest venue that they have played at in 25+ years of touring. As the members danced around each other, playing their hits from ‘Love Letters Lost’ to ‘Bedroom Posters’, eliciting deafening cheers from the crowd. As their 45 minute set was coming to a close, the chords to ‘Ocean Avenue’ rang out and had the audience screaming every single and jumping to every beat.
The set was filled with fun moments, with Key stating how thankful he was to have been able to come back to Australia twice within a year, as well as hinting that they may be back even sooner than we think. Yellowcard’s set had the perfect amount of energy and set the scene for the band that everyone would come to see: Good Charlotte.
*Unfortunately there are no point and shoot photos to accompany this set due to my SD card corrupting the files.
As 9:30pm hit, the venue lights cut and the stage lights shone a gentle blue. The sides of the stage raised as drummer, Dean Butterworth, and keyboardist/rhythm guitarist, Billy Martin took their places atop the raised edges which elicited deafening, ravenous screams from the crowd, which was to be expected, being their first show in Brisbane in over eight years.
Opening the set with their 2008 single ‘The River’, the members trickled out one by one onto the stage before lead singer, Joel Madden, ran out from stage right and stepped into the spotlight and started the night with a bang. The band quickly moved on to ‘I Don’t Wanna Be In Love’ as the screens behind them changed from the motel-esque theme to a blue, futuristic background filled with static TVs and flashing 3D symbols. The sound was absolutely next level, with the Madden brothers’ vocals weaving beautifully around the boom of the drums and perfectly balanced between the harmonies of the keyboard and guitars.
As the band made their way through the packed setlist, the backing visuals and the lighting would change with each song change. Between tracks, Joel and Benji would create small talk with the crowd, expressing gratitude and the audience for selling out the arena and spending their hard-earned money to spend the night and watch them play their songs, with Joel going as far as to saying that he wanted this show to be “the best Good Charlotte show everyone here has ever seen”. The audience didn’t give out once, keeping monentum up, and even gaining it with each track as if they were feeding off of the infectious and chaotic energy and adrenaline rush from the members as they gave each and every song their absolute all.
In closing, Good Charlotte’s first Brisbane show in eight years was as energetic and chaotic as you could imagine. There wasn’t a dead moment throughout the entire setlist as fans jumped to each beat and screamed along to every lyric. It’s safe to say that the band both met and exceeded the expectations of their fans, easily surpassing their goal of making it the best Good Charlotte show that each and every member of the audience had ever seen. Good Charlotte’s special guests for the night also did an incredible job at warming up the audience for the night to come, keeping every person entertained and hyped for the show all the way until the end.
Thank you again to UNTITLED. for the excellent coordination, I know for a fact that fans will be waiting with baited breath for them to return to our beautiful country, let’s just keep our fingers crossed that they come back sooner next time!
