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NEW MODEL ARMY
+ Kathleen Turner Overdrive
@ The Triffid, Brisbane,
2nd May 2025
(Live Review)

Review and photos by Alec Smart (@alecsmart_fotos)

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New Model Army, The Triffid, Brisbane. Photo: Alec Smart, 2 May 2025

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New Model Army performed at The Triffid in Brisbane, the first of five cities on their ‘Unbroken’ Australian tour, supported by local band Kathleen Turner Overdrive (AKA KTO). The tour promoted their latest album, Unbroken (2024) and a new compilation album of songs recorded in concert, Live SO36 (2025).

The concerts were the first New Model Army have played in Australia since their 1980 foundation in Bradford, England, 45 years ago. Unfortunately, national ticket sales were lower than expected, leading to downsizing of some venues and them performing as an acoustic duo (just vocalist-guitarist Justin Sullivan and guitarist Dean White) in Perth and Adelaide.

Nevertheless, their robust debut concert in Brisbane’s The Triffid concert hall was an absolute cracker and generated an enthusiastic response from the home crowd, with gusty singalongs and dancing.

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Kathleen Turner Overdrive, The Triffid, Brisbane. Photo: Alec Smart, 2 May 2025

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Warm-up band Kathleen Turner Overdrive is a spirited four-piece hailing from Toowoomba in South-East Queensland. Singer Lizzie Cook-Long is a confident and charismatic frontwoman and the band played a tight set of melodic, abrasive punk rock, in a style reminiscent of The Clash and The Jam.

They performed songs from their three albums discography, plus their latest single Best Dog (2025). The highlight was the unapologetically acerbic I’m Not Changing, from their 2023 album Ctr+Alt+Delete, which was rated number 11 on 4ZZZ Radio’s Hot 100 songs of the year.

The arrival of New Model Army was a little delayed – guitarist Dean White initially came onstage to tune guitars, then the band’s technicians tuned all the instruments, re-checking the same guitars. Fans were patient – they’d waited 45 years for the band to come to Australia, they could hang on another 10 minutes.

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New Model Army, The Triffid, Brisbane. Photo: Alec Smart, 2 May 2025

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Justin Sullivan is the lead vocalist, co-founder, primary songwriter and fulcrum of New Model Army. Onstage he’s a captivating presence – glaring, grinning, finger-wagging and leading the charge. Alongside him, bassist Ceri Monger frequently flailed his long red hair dramatically. Combined, the 5-piece generate a lot of energy.

Over the decades the band has gone through a few line-up changes (although guitarist Dean White has been with them since 1994 and drummer Michael Dean since 1998) and experienced a few highs, lows and notoriety, but they’ve always been interesting and generally defy categorisation.

Their music ranges between the hard rock of punk and metal, the haunting keys of ‘Goth’ rock, the melodic vocal forays into Northern Soul, and the acoustic guitar strums of folk, typically weaving keyboards and distinctive guitar riffs underpinned by their signature strong rhythmic drum beats.

Sometimes they employed two sets of drums when either the bassist or the touring keyboardist added percussion on a smaller kit by the side of the stage.

Up front, Justin Sullivan alternated between a Gibson SG electric guitar and a Lowden acoustic.

New Model Army launched their set with Coming Or Going, a hard rocker from their new album Unbroken, which set the template for a full-frontal assault. This was followed by Get Me Out, from their 1990 album Impurity, then another new composition, First Summer After, an evocative, haunting song that ranks as one of their finest compositions in a long career of extraordinary melodies (see link to music video below).

The Brisbane audience were treated to four songs from the new album, in a set spiced with old favourites and a few lesser-known numbers.

Sullivan announced near the start, “There’s over 250 songs we have that we can play, but tonight we’ll play only 20. So, don’t shout out your favourite, because there isn’t a chance in Hell you’ll hear it!”

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New Model Army, The Triffid, Brisbane. Photo: Alec Smart, 2 May 2025

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However, judging by the mood of the boisterous punters, the set list they chose struck the right notes.

Prior to their song A Liberal Education, Sullivan bemoaned the world’s over-reliance on computers for major decision-making. “People think computers are intelligent but they’re not, they’re fucking stupid! They only know how to calculate one or zero!” – refererring to the binary code that instructs computer processing.

A definite crowd-pleaser was 51st State, their 1986 song that was highly critical of Britain’s military alliance with the USA and absorption into American hegemony.

Around the time of the song’s release (perhaps coincidentally, probably not), the band were refused work permits to perform in the USA. The US Immigration Department declared that New Model Army were of “no artistic merit”.

51st State was followed by the slow, mesmerising, Before I Get Old, from their 1990 album Impurity, which ends with White’s haunting guitar solo.

When one man called out, “I love you Justin!”, Sullivan quipped back, “Is this a personal relationship we’re having?!”

After Stormclouds, which includes the metaphoric lyrics, “All my life I’ve been gazing to the far horizon. It could be storm clouds and it could be mountains…” Sullivan commented on the impending Australian Federal Election, to take place the following day.

For a band named after the 17th century army that included Oliver Cromwell among its generals and fought in the English Civil Wars that ultimately deposed tyrannical King Charles I and beheaded him, Sullivan might be expected to say something subversive, perhaps incendiary.

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New Model Army, The Triffid, Brisbane. Photo: Alec Smart, 2 May 2025

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Sullivan’s nom-de-guerre during the band’s early years was Slade The Leveller, derived from the Levellers, an influential republican socialist movement that agitated during the English Civil Wars and had many members in the historic New Model Army.

In a cruel irony, the increasingly tyrannical Oliver Cromwell, who replaced King Charles I as ruler of England, crushed The Levellers, arrested and executed their leaders and their progressive demands for reformation of Britain’s oppressive Laws were dismissed.

However, Sullivan opted for a somewhat mild statement: “Every election is primarily about choosing between the lesser of the evils. I can’t comment though, because I know fuck-all about Australian politics having only been here for 24 hours!”

The band then launched into Here Comes the War, their 1992 Apocalyptic warning of bloody conflict, which stirred an audience singalong to the pessimistic four-word threat, “Here comes the war!”

The band finished on two fan-favourites, Purity and Wonderful Way To Go, with the dancefloor jostling and the venue full of voices joining the choruses.

After a break, during which a loud crowd chant of “Army! Army! Army!” inevitably brought the quartet back to the stage, Sullivan said, “As we only come around once every 45 years, we’d better play some more!”

They then performed a trio of their most popular songs, Poison Street, No Rest and Green And Grey, before heading south to Sydney. Sullivan departed promising, “See you in another 45 years!”

New Model Army’s most recent music video, First Summer After.

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New Model Army, The Triffid, Brisbane. Photo: Alec Smart, 2 May 2025

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Set List

Coming or Going
Get Me Out
First Summer After
Language
Winter
Devil’s Bargain
A Liberal Education
White Light
51st State
Angry Planet
Before I Get Old
Vagabonds
Do You Really Want to Go There?
Stormclouds
Here Comes the War
Purity
Wonderful Way to Go

Encore

Poison Street
No Rest
Green and Grey

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New Model Army, The Triffid, Brisbane. Photo: Alec Smart, 2 May 2025

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Check out Alec Smart’s (@alecsmart_fotos) full gallery of this event HERE

Check out Dan Turner’s (@dapperdanphoto) full gallery of the Sydney event (@ Mary’s Underground, 4th February 2025) HERE

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New Model Army, The Triffid, Brisbane. Photo: Alec Smart, 2 May 2025

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Follow NEW MODEL ARMY
Website – Instagram – Facebook – Spotify

Follow KATHLEEN TURNER OVERDRIVE
Bandcamp – Instagram – Facebook

Photo by Tina Korhonen

Troubadour Presents:

New Model Army
Unbroken Tour

First Ever Australia & New Zealand – May 2025

Friday 2nd May – The Triffid, Brisbane
Saturday 3rd May – Northcote Theatre, Melbourne
Sunday 4th May – Liberty Hall, Sydney
Wednesday 7th May – The Tuning Fork, Auckland
Friday 9th May – Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide
Saturday 10th May – Magnet House, Perth

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

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AMNPLIFY – DB