Gallery, ReviewDitch This MagazineJuly 25, 2025gallery, live, melbourne, Odin Imaging, Nathan Goldsworthy, odin imaging, God Is An Astronaut, Solkyri, Treebeard, Max Watts

Bear McCreary + Portair @ The Forum 23-07-25

Gallery, ReviewDitch This MagazineJuly 25, 2025gallery, live, melbourne, Odin Imaging, Nathan Goldsworthy, odin imaging, God Is An Astronaut, Solkyri, Treebeard, Max Watts

photos: Nathan Goldsworthy @odin.imaging

The Forum’s already cinematic on a normal night. But with Bear McCreary in town, it feels like the whole building’s been pulled into another realm. A ceiling full of stars. Columns lit gold. The sense that whatever’s about to happen isn’t just a gig — it’s a story, about to unfold.

The night begins with Portair, who doesn’t so much warm the crowd as cool it into place. His voice floats, backed by ambient textures and looped acoustics, like a slow exhale in a quiet winter. It’s understated and elegant — the perfect calm before the storm.

And then Bear McCreary walks onstage.

There’s no dramatic build-up. Just the man himself, bouncing between instruments — accordion, synths, guitar— leading his band into an opening that feels less like a song and more like a cinematic prologue. And from there, it just doesn’t let up.

What follows is two hours of full-spectrum storytelling through sound — thunderous, delicate, soaring, tense. Music from God of War, The Rings of Power, Outlander, The Walking Dead, Battlestar Galactica — all reimagined for the stage, with grit, scale, and sweat. You don’t just hear these themes — you feel them.

Backing McCreary is a band of absolute heavyweights who don’t just support the vision — they amplify it. On vocals, his brother Brendan McCreary is electric. He shifts from tortured wails to delicate falsetto like he’s narrating the rise and fall of civilisations in real time. Omer Ben-Zvi slices through the mix with cinematic guitar lines — sometimes huge and distorted, sometimes sparse and shimmering. Pete Griffin holds everything down with warm, locked-in basslines that ground the more chaotic moments. Then there’s Paul Cartwright, whose electric violin isn’t just texture — it’s a voice of its own, sharp and emotional, often stealing the spotlight. And behind it all, absolute monster Gene Hoglan on drums — precision, power, and just the right amount of menace. He brings the weight of a film score and the attack of extreme metal, all without breaking stride.

The chemistry between them is locked in. Even in the quiet moments, the band never feels like it’s coasting. They breathe with the crowd. They push the dynamics. You can tell they live this music.

McCreary’s energy is relentless. Between songs, he shares quick stories — from working with his favourite directors to unexpectedly being cast as Ræb the dwarf in God of War — but he never lingers. He’s here to play, and he does. At one point, he pauses to dedicate the night to the late Ozzy Osbourne, acknowledging the immense influence Ozzy had not only on his own musical development but on the DNA of heavy music itself. It’s heartfelt and unforced — a rare quiet moment in a set that otherwise surges forward with purpose. The show feels like a career retrospective, but it never drags. It’s not just about familiar titles — it’s about momentum. Emotion. Rage. Heartbreak. Defiance. Wonder.

The encore caps it perfectly. A haunting, stripped-down Skye Boat Song that silences the room. A searing, chaotic take on All Along the Watchtower that turns the Forum into a burning starship. And then, just when you think it’s over — the massive, tongue-in-cheek, balls-to-the-wall track Godzilla that feels like the band exhaling every last drop of energy they’ve got left.