Punk Rock Factory - The Mortal Wombat 2025 Tour

Walking into CrowBar Sydney last night honestly felt like stepping straight into a dodgy 90s punk bar you’d see in an old music mag. Sticky floors, loud shirts, the kind of crowd where everyone looks like they pre-gamed with energy drinks and nostalgia. Absolute perfection.

Punk Rock Factory hit the stage and, no joke it was like someone unleashed four hyperactive cartoon characters with guitars and drums. They’ve got this whole “let’s take a song you grew up with and absolutely punk the living daylights out of it” vibe, and the crowd was so ready. Every track had people yelling, laughing, jumping, vibing like the whole room was in on some chaotic inside joke.

And THEN they dropped their new Halloween/Christmas mash-up song and the room collectively went, “Wait, what?” for about three seconds before completely losing it. It was spooky but also jingly?? Like… imagine if Michael Myers and Santa decided to form a band and got stuck in a blender with pop-punk riffs. Totally unhinged. Totally iconic.

The whole gig had that crowbar-style, sweaty, slightly unhinged energy where everyone’s a little too excited, the band is cracking jokes mid-song, and you keep looking around like, “Is this actually happening right now?” People were dancing in that awkward but committed way only live punk covers can inspire. The band barely stood still, the crowd knew every lyric to songs they absolutely were NOT supposed to be this passionate about, and the whole night just felt stupidly fun in the best possible way.

By the time it ended, my throat hurt from singing songs I haven’t thought about since primary school, my ears were ringing, and I’m pretty sure i witnessed the birth of a new genre, festive horror punk chaos.

In other words: 10/10, would scream/sing again

Thanks to Punk Rock Factory, The Phoenix Au, John Howarth and Crowbar for having us along.

Review and Photos by Megan Kilpatrick for Music Kingdom Australia