2011 has seen the gradual rise to prominence of one of Australia's most exciting new bands, Sydney-based Floating Me. Undoubtedly they were able to inspire many people to investigate their music pretty much as soon as they formed, because of the past musical history of the members (the former vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist of Scary Mother, the bass player of Karnivool, and the former drummer of Cog), but with the release of their debut album in April, it's clear that Floating Me are now ready to forge their own musical path. After their first headlining tour in May, and a subsequent coheadlining ventue with Thousand Needles in Red in July, the quintet did another lap around the nation to celebrate the release of new single Breaking to Breathe. On a very wet Friday night, it was Melbourne's turn to experience the live sounds of Floating Me, along with a handpicked bill of exceptional local Melbourne talent.
At one point in our lives, we've all "liked" (or at least noticed) one of those "(x band) should support (x band)" pages on Facebook, but it seems that the people never manage to actually make the people responsible for organising the tour aware of the page. On this particular occasion though, a friend of local Melbourne instrumental post/prog metal trio Anna Salen was successful in his attempt to get the band noticed by Floating Me, and so it was that Daiv Morgan (guitar/keys), Paul Risso (bass/keys) and Shaun Scott (drums) were given the great honour of warming the East Brunswick stage (and also played the Geelong show the night before). The band were understandably very excited to be given the opportunity, and didn't waste it, delighting the audience with their complex yet highly accessible brand of heavy instrumental music. New material and old alike was embraced by the crowd; the band's regular fans up the front of the room (a few Anna Salen t-shirts were spotted) knew all the right moments to headbang to, while others in the bandroom seemed new to the band, wearing looks of "Who are these guys? I LIKE IT!" This was definitely one of the band's biggest gigs in recent times, and if a band of the calibre of Floating Me is taking notice, then hopefully that's an indication that the metaphorical doors are opening for Anna Salen. They deserve it!
Up next was another great example of the diversity of the Melbourne heavy/prog scene, Ennis Tola. This unique five-piece have been on the rise in recent times, landing some pretty impressive gigs including a support slot with internationally-renowned Adelaide progressive rock group Unitopia. No doubt this can be attributed to the fact that there really isn’t another band around at the moment that sounds quite like these four guys and girl, and on this occasion they rose to the challenge and delighted the punters with something a little different. The band’s frontman, acoustic guitarist/vocalist Tomas Fitzgerald, wasn’t exactly engaging the crowd as much as he could have, but in all fairness, he probably had a good excuse – his guitar abilities are extremely impressive and instead of “delivering a show” so to speak, he was just concentrating on making sure he didn’t miss a note. Certainly with some of his band’s complex rhythmic ideas and time signatures, this was no mean feat, but Fitzgerald nailed every intricate riff and lead pattern. It must be mentioned that he also has a really powerful voice, with an almost soulful/blues tone to it, and his ability to sing and play those particular rhythms simultaneously deserves full points. Another area also getting a lot of the crowd’s attention was stage right, where the multi-talented Karen Heath was positioned. As various songs required, she switched effortlessly from clarinet, to saxophone, to bass clarinet, to keyboard, and at one point during the set, she even sat down to play the koto – a large Japanese 13-stringed instrument. Utilising this instrument in their set only served to underline Ennis Tola’s commitment to delivering forward-thinking, cerebral progressive rock. The set closed with Weather the Storm, definitely a stand-out piece in an already impressive set of tunes, and many members of the crowd looked quite surprised yet appreciative of what they’d just witnessed. This band is one to watch.
It was no surprise to anyone that Over-reactor were invited to join this bill, given that in the past they have supported Cog and more recently, Karnivool. The latter tour saw the Melbourne "death-hop" duo gain a whole new audience, and tonight there was a pretty sizeable crowd in the small East Brunswick bandroom to check out Ezekiel Ox and Cory Blight doing their thing. The setlist was pretty much identical to recent Over-reactor shows, but the two-piece gave it their all as they usually do - well, with Blight behind the drums there wasn't a lot he could do, but Ox more than made up for it, covering every possible corner of the stage (and a bit later in the set, even some territory off the stage), belting out his vicious lyrics with his trademark fire and passion, and even getting a little artistic between songs. As happened at the Showdown gig in August, an easel was set up on the stage, and Ox took every possible opportunity to spraypaint some interesting designs onto it. Well known for his fierce political beliefs, Ox also took time out between songs to comment on the Occupy Melbourne protests, not surprisingly criticising the police brutality that had occurred the previous week. This gig also saw the return of the trademark Over-reactor visuals, or at least, at attempt at it. The band had done some gigs in the past with deliberately old-school TVs displaying various imagery (helped out by their good friend Josh Meney), but tonight, technical difficulties meant that the two TVs (one up the very front of stage, one more in the centre) displayed nothing but static the entire set. "Once again, there's nothing on TV," remarked Ox sarcastically as he decided to try and fix the problem. "Maybe I'll check the other channels." However, his efforts proved unsuccessful, and at the conclusion of the set, he warned punters up the front to stand back before picking up the front TV and smashing it on the floor. It was a dramatic end to what had already been a very enthusiastically delivered set already, and Ox quickly requested a cleanup, and subsequently emphasised that the headlining act did not sanction his behaviour.
After the anger and passion of that set, it was time for Floating Me to take things down a notch, but the crowd were no less enthusiastic for their performance! Getting things off to a slow start with Xtoto, the band quickly followed it up with the industrial-flavoured, upbeat Narke, showcasing the amazing talents of Lucius Borich on the kit. However, it became apparent at this point in their set that there were some serious problems with the sound mix; Borich's samples and triggers didn't seem to be working correctly, while the guitars of Antony Brown and keyboards of Tobias Messiter were almost drowned out entirely by the fierce rumble of Jon Stockman's bass. Eventually it seemed enough was enough, with the band taking an extended break after Spirals to try and get everything in order.
When the set resumed with Piano, it seemed that everything was in order, and not a moment too soon, because many in the crowd were growing extremely restless with the disruption to the flow of the evening. The band, to their credit, did their best to soldier on though; after all, sound problems are rarely the fault of the actual artist (what band wants their performance to sound substandard?), and they were still performing with passion and conviction, especially vocalist Andrew Gillespie. Some remarked, after the band's shows earlier in the year with Dead Letter Circus, that the band still had quite a way to go in terms of developing their stagecraft (especially considering that some of their material is a bit more downtempo and reflective), but with a few solid touring runs under their belt, this is now a lot less of a problem and the band look a lot more comfortable onstage, and with each other.
The improvement to the sound was extremely noticeable on the band's next song, which was a cover of the Jefferson Airplane classic White Rabbit. Prior to the band's previous coheadlining tour with Thousand Needles in Red, they had asked fans via their Facebook to select a song for the band to cover, with this being the song they had eventually picked out of the many selections offered. Though some of the younger fans in the room were clearly unfamiliar with the song, it was clear that the band wanted to treat this song with the respect it deserves, and they gave it their all, before returning to their own material to round out the set. Bezhumous was as stunning as it had been on previous tours, given that the outro to the song was magnificently extended by a lengthy drum solo from the one and only Lucius Borich, as the rest of the band jammed around his improvisations. When it was all over, the applause from the sold-out crowd was far longer than the usual between-song appreciation, and deservedly so! The energy didn't stop there, as the band launched into the very first song that everyone heard from them, the 2010 single Sugar, which is understandably a massive crowd favourite. It was almost time to go, but there was one more tune to come, and the set drew to a conclusion with the epic Across the Gulf.
It's been a bit of a gradual process (the fact that Cog aren't together anymore is understandably still upsetting to many), but Floating Me are slowly earning themselves more and more fans, and with the show they put on tonight, it's easy to see why!
SETLIST:
Xtoto
Narke
Deathless
Spirals
Piano
White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane cover)
Breaking to Breathe
Bezhumous (with drum solo)
Sugar
Across the Gulf
Showing posts with label Over-reactor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Over-reactor. Show all posts
Monday, October 31, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
"Too fragile for sleep today" - Saltar Hype presents Showdown at the Corner, 30/08/2011
In recent years the Melbourne-based Saltar Hype booking agency has had great success with its attempts to stage small-scale "festivals" at various points throughout the year in venues across Melbourne. First we had Rock the Bay in March and Swarm in October 2009, then in 2010 a winter edition came along with Showdown at the Corner. Though the billing usually features relatively underground Melbourne (and occasionally interstate) talent, these events are usually quite popular and well-attended by music lovers in Melbourne. This is no doubt due to the events always bringing together a tidy package of great local bands for a very affordable price, and the 2011 edition of Showdown was no different. Headlined by Sydonia and featuring an enticing supporting cast of bands as diverse as Over-reactor, Sleep Parade and Mushroom Giant, punters packed out the Corner bandroom for a Saturday afternoon and night, and enjoyed immensely!
The Corner was looking a little empty though at the start of the day, as Tempting Fate kicked things off, followed by Le Belle, at around 3pm in the afternoon. Unfortunately these bands were somewhat lacking in the originality department, and weren't really impressing the punters that had turned up for some early brews and bands. Both female-fronted, comparisons to the likes of Evanescence came to mind way too quickly, and this is a genre that's just a little bit out of date and wasn't really that interesting in the first place.
The day took a turn for the better though just after 4pm, when Melbourne post-rock luminaries Mushroom Giant took to the stage. The band attracted a mixed response from fans last year when they reintroduced former vocalist/guitarist David Gogerly back into the band, recording an EP and playing several live dates as a five-piece. The "controversy" (if you will) resulted from the fact that the band was most known for their stunningly beautiful album Kuru, which had been recorded without Gog (as he's affectionately known) and had for the most part, been completely devoid of vocals. Fans really appreciated that particular style, and introducing a vocalist into the band had got a few people offside. However, the band have only just recently reverted to their Kuru instrumental lineup (including the return of David Charlton; a show in December last year was billed as his "last" with the group), and fans were very happy to see this lineup back in action on the Corner stage today, with one enthusiastic punter shouting out "Why aren't you headlining?!" A 30 minute set hardly seemed enough for a band whose repertoire is based on pieces that evolve over a gradual time frame - as a lot of post-rock tends to do - rather than just a to-the-point verse-chorus structure. Nevertheless, they did their best and played a good selection of material, including a track which was presumed to be new entitled Comasphere. The quartet concluded the set with the first two parts of the trilogy contained on tracks 8-10 on Kuru, the more reflective and gentle Woman Heroin and its intense conclusion Poor Tom, featuring dizzying blasts of rapid-fire riffs and drumming. As usual, they had set up a projector which displayed various psychedelic imagery which perfectly accompanied their atmospheric soundscapes.
SETLIST:
The Drake Equation
Comasphere
400 and Falling
Woman Heroin / Poor Tom
Up next was more another disappointingly unoriginal set, this time from a band by the name of InVolume. Despite being a very energetic group and appearing very comfortable onstage, their overall sound was more than a little off-putting - it soon became clear that these guys had probably picked up instruments around the same time that nu metal was popular, and in this day and age, that is NOT a good thing. Granted, a lot of bands in the current Melbourne scene have had their sound shaped by that late 90s/early 2000s wave of bands, but the ones that have been most successful are those that have managed to put their own spin on things and create something unique. Hence, a band that sounded an awful lot like Disturbed were never going to impress those who had come to see some more interesting talent. They do deserve points for stage presence though.
After their set it was about 5:30pm, and the bandroom crowd was growing noticeably, in anticipation for some truly awesome acts to come later in the night. The quality of bands on show was starting to grow too, and Branch Arterial got a solid response for their progressive-tinged rock numbers. Despite obvious similarities to their contemporaries such as The Butterfly Effect, there's undoubtedly a whole lot of talent in this band, and being a relatively new band, they still have plenty of opportunity to make a mark in this particular scene. They are definitely one to watch. Following their set, it was the bizarre and unique sounds of Xenograft that left a definite impression on the crowd, even if for a lot of people that impression was one of "...Huh?" For those that haven't seen these guys in action, there's six of them onstage, including saxophone and keyboards, and though their influences aren't immediately apparent, one could assume from their spontaneous free-jazz-meets-metal freakouts that they might perhaps be fans of the likes of Mr Bungle and Frank Zappa. Probably the most forward-thinking band Showdown had to offer, to be sure.
At the 2009 Swarm Festival, a relatively young Melbourne band by the name of Anna Salen won themselves a whole heap of new fans with their highly unique and technical blend of math-rock/progressive metal fusion. Though that microphone onstage is only used for between-song banter (and occasional nonsensical non-lyrical chants), after support slots with the likes of Jericco and Engine Three Seven, the regular Melbourne gig followers have quickly welcomed the instrumental trio affectionately known as Anna into their hearts, as evident tonight with the increasing number of punters adorned with the band's t-shirt. The boys riffed and grooved their way through a stomping set, with some old favourites and potential new classics getting an airing to a very appreciative crowd.
A little while later, Melbourne's very own "supergroup" in The Khyber Belt made their way out onto the stage, with many of the audience looking forward to seeing what they'd deliver, now they've notched up a few shows on their belt (no pun intended). Though they only formed late last year, they drew attention to themselves immediately with a lineup consisting of former members of Rook (vocalist Forbes McKail and guitarist Tyson Fish), Bushido (guitarist Guy Shenfield and drummer Alex Dinic) and Sleep Parade (bassist James Livesy; coincidentally his former band were also on this lineup), and they got a very rousing response at their very first gig earlier this year at Rock the Bay. McKail acknowledged that "some of you might recognise us from other bands we've been in", yet through their set they quickly proved that the new band is a force to reckon with in itself - the five guys were obviously a lot more stage-ready than before (and thankfully the technical problems that plagued Shenfield at RtB were non-existent) and they showed a new level of skill with a fresh batch of new tunes. McKail promised an EP in the works sometime soon, and although it seems like a lot of bands feel obligated to make these kind of statements no matter how much intention they have delivering them, the crowd assembled definitely hoped those words would count for something soon.
If there was any doubt about the bands that had taken to the stages up until this point, the next act on the bill proved that it was now very much the business end of the evening - it was the no-nonsense death-hop fury of Over-reactor. Fresh off a national tour with Perth heroes Karnivool, vocalist Ezekiel Ox and drummer/studio-guitarist-meets-live sample-man Cory Blight had gained themselves a whole lot of new fans and a new level of respect for those who had already been familiar with them. For many in the audience, the memories were still fresh from Karnivool's Melbourne shows, when Over-reactor had performed in this very room, and indeed wowed an audience who had probably expected to turn up early and enjoy a few quiet brews - instead they were assaulted by some truly brutal riffs (coming from a laptop no less) and had Ox literally yelling in their faces. Tonight however, the band were a little more subdued, with Ox electing to remain on the stage for the entire duration of the set (not something he does often!) and let the crowd decide whether or not they would get into the Over-reactor sound. Which, for the most part, they did. The setlist was similar to the Karnivool tour, with the best tunes out of the band's double album getting an airing, such as Control of This, Nu Metal Motherfuckers and of course, Something More. Something that was a little different was Ox deciding to get a little artistic during the set - an easel had been set up at the back of the stage, and between songs, Ox picked up a spray can and painted various colorful things on a piece of paper, before auctioning it off at the end of the set. Something you don't see too often, to be sure.
SETLIST:
Control of This
Handfed
Call in the Bombers
Free Music
Naked Words
Word
The Gangbangers
Point to Push
All Shields Down
Something More
The energy levels in the room were continuing to rise, and the next act on the bill were a favourite for many - the former Byron Bay lads now calling Melbourne home, Engine Three Seven. Getting things off to a flying start with older number Win 4 Me, the crowd expected big things of these guys, as their reputation has certainly preceded them and they haven't disappointed on a live stage in recent times. The first part of the show was mostly based on their first EP, but a very special moment came when frontman Casey Dean announced that they were going to play one they hadn't played in a very long time - one of their newer songs that didn't make the cut for the Atmosphere EP, an uptempo rocking number by the name of Erasure that was a staple in sets a few years back, but fell off the radar recently. It had been a while since the fans had heard it, but they recognised the familiar riff and were very happy to welcome it back into their hearts on this evening! They followed it up with another rarely-played-live track, but a favourite nonetheless, in the acoustic-based Retrospect, before the set moved focus to the Atmosphere EP. The show came to its end with the favourites, including the title track, Cops, Have it All and of course, Hysterical Hysteria to close. An accurate description of the crowd, perhaps!
SETLIST:
Win 4 Me
Automatic Everything
Easy Graceful Descent
Erasure (first time since January 2010!)
Retrospect
Atmosphere
Cops
Have it All
Hysterical Hysteria
It was time for the night to take a slightly more reflective and proggy turn, with the next on the bill being Sleep Parade. They have certainly taken their time getting another album out into the world, and in recent live shows they've been testing the waters with a lot of new material, which has gone over well at some shows and not so well at others. Tonight however, they'd play one of their better sets, helped out on second guitar and keys by the amazingly talented Red Black of A State of Flux. His presence really helps the band get a more full sound, certainly evident on tracks like Everyday where his keyboard hammering only served to make frontman Leigh Davies' guitar solo sound even more impressive. As expected, the band's newer and more mature sounding material got a fairly solid go during the set, but for the older fans there was Passengers and of course, the regular set-closing epic Weeping Walls. No matter how many times you've seen it, it's always fun to watch that final moment in the song where Davies sings into his guitar pickups to make that incredible solo. This was one of their best sets from recent memory, and hopefully is an indication of good progress on the forthcoming album!
SETLIST:
Mr Identify
Everyday
Collision
Moments
Passengers
Home
Weeping Walls
It was certainly getting a bit late in the evening (in fact, it was now pushing into the small hours of Sunday) but the punters had plenty of energy left for the final performance - when that band is called Sydonia, there has to be something left over! The band started their set with guitarist Sam Haycroft and bassist Adam Murray positioned at their oversized custom percussion drums, which meant that nobody was surprised that it was Adornment that opened the set! But as one of Sydonia's more popular tunes, it was definitely a good choice to get the crowd amped and ready for what would turn out to be another belter in Sydonia's recent run of excellent shows! Numerous times, the band mentioned their long-awaited second album (apparently they've actually booked studio time now), and were more than willing to air some new material, including not-so-new-anymore favourite Sinner, which hadn't been played for quite some time before this show. Also in the "songs making a comeback" department was a surprise rendition of Dream Kiss, apparently at the request of some hardcore Sydonia fans. Old favourites such as No Woman's Land and 3 Tongues got the crowd singing along, until finally it all wound down, predictably, with a shout of INCOMING! The crowd was pretty wrecked at the end of a long day's rocking, but Sydonia sets have been extremely high on quality lately, and this was no exception. So at the end of the night, the feeling in the room was that it was all totally worth our necks hurting!
SETLIST:
Adornment
Sinner
No Woman's Land
Dream Kiss
TL
3 Tongues
Ocean of Storms
Shame
Taste More
Crash Here Tonight
Incoming
The Corner was looking a little empty though at the start of the day, as Tempting Fate kicked things off, followed by Le Belle, at around 3pm in the afternoon. Unfortunately these bands were somewhat lacking in the originality department, and weren't really impressing the punters that had turned up for some early brews and bands. Both female-fronted, comparisons to the likes of Evanescence came to mind way too quickly, and this is a genre that's just a little bit out of date and wasn't really that interesting in the first place.
The day took a turn for the better though just after 4pm, when Melbourne post-rock luminaries Mushroom Giant took to the stage. The band attracted a mixed response from fans last year when they reintroduced former vocalist/guitarist David Gogerly back into the band, recording an EP and playing several live dates as a five-piece. The "controversy" (if you will) resulted from the fact that the band was most known for their stunningly beautiful album Kuru, which had been recorded without Gog (as he's affectionately known) and had for the most part, been completely devoid of vocals. Fans really appreciated that particular style, and introducing a vocalist into the band had got a few people offside. However, the band have only just recently reverted to their Kuru instrumental lineup (including the return of David Charlton; a show in December last year was billed as his "last" with the group), and fans were very happy to see this lineup back in action on the Corner stage today, with one enthusiastic punter shouting out "Why aren't you headlining?!" A 30 minute set hardly seemed enough for a band whose repertoire is based on pieces that evolve over a gradual time frame - as a lot of post-rock tends to do - rather than just a to-the-point verse-chorus structure. Nevertheless, they did their best and played a good selection of material, including a track which was presumed to be new entitled Comasphere. The quartet concluded the set with the first two parts of the trilogy contained on tracks 8-10 on Kuru, the more reflective and gentle Woman Heroin and its intense conclusion Poor Tom, featuring dizzying blasts of rapid-fire riffs and drumming. As usual, they had set up a projector which displayed various psychedelic imagery which perfectly accompanied their atmospheric soundscapes.
SETLIST:
The Drake Equation
Comasphere
400 and Falling
Woman Heroin / Poor Tom
Up next was more another disappointingly unoriginal set, this time from a band by the name of InVolume. Despite being a very energetic group and appearing very comfortable onstage, their overall sound was more than a little off-putting - it soon became clear that these guys had probably picked up instruments around the same time that nu metal was popular, and in this day and age, that is NOT a good thing. Granted, a lot of bands in the current Melbourne scene have had their sound shaped by that late 90s/early 2000s wave of bands, but the ones that have been most successful are those that have managed to put their own spin on things and create something unique. Hence, a band that sounded an awful lot like Disturbed were never going to impress those who had come to see some more interesting talent. They do deserve points for stage presence though.
After their set it was about 5:30pm, and the bandroom crowd was growing noticeably, in anticipation for some truly awesome acts to come later in the night. The quality of bands on show was starting to grow too, and Branch Arterial got a solid response for their progressive-tinged rock numbers. Despite obvious similarities to their contemporaries such as The Butterfly Effect, there's undoubtedly a whole lot of talent in this band, and being a relatively new band, they still have plenty of opportunity to make a mark in this particular scene. They are definitely one to watch. Following their set, it was the bizarre and unique sounds of Xenograft that left a definite impression on the crowd, even if for a lot of people that impression was one of "...Huh?" For those that haven't seen these guys in action, there's six of them onstage, including saxophone and keyboards, and though their influences aren't immediately apparent, one could assume from their spontaneous free-jazz-meets-metal freakouts that they might perhaps be fans of the likes of Mr Bungle and Frank Zappa. Probably the most forward-thinking band Showdown had to offer, to be sure.
At the 2009 Swarm Festival, a relatively young Melbourne band by the name of Anna Salen won themselves a whole heap of new fans with their highly unique and technical blend of math-rock/progressive metal fusion. Though that microphone onstage is only used for between-song banter (and occasional nonsensical non-lyrical chants), after support slots with the likes of Jericco and Engine Three Seven, the regular Melbourne gig followers have quickly welcomed the instrumental trio affectionately known as Anna into their hearts, as evident tonight with the increasing number of punters adorned with the band's t-shirt. The boys riffed and grooved their way through a stomping set, with some old favourites and potential new classics getting an airing to a very appreciative crowd.
A little while later, Melbourne's very own "supergroup" in The Khyber Belt made their way out onto the stage, with many of the audience looking forward to seeing what they'd deliver, now they've notched up a few shows on their belt (no pun intended). Though they only formed late last year, they drew attention to themselves immediately with a lineup consisting of former members of Rook (vocalist Forbes McKail and guitarist Tyson Fish), Bushido (guitarist Guy Shenfield and drummer Alex Dinic) and Sleep Parade (bassist James Livesy; coincidentally his former band were also on this lineup), and they got a very rousing response at their very first gig earlier this year at Rock the Bay. McKail acknowledged that "some of you might recognise us from other bands we've been in", yet through their set they quickly proved that the new band is a force to reckon with in itself - the five guys were obviously a lot more stage-ready than before (and thankfully the technical problems that plagued Shenfield at RtB were non-existent) and they showed a new level of skill with a fresh batch of new tunes. McKail promised an EP in the works sometime soon, and although it seems like a lot of bands feel obligated to make these kind of statements no matter how much intention they have delivering them, the crowd assembled definitely hoped those words would count for something soon.
If there was any doubt about the bands that had taken to the stages up until this point, the next act on the bill proved that it was now very much the business end of the evening - it was the no-nonsense death-hop fury of Over-reactor. Fresh off a national tour with Perth heroes Karnivool, vocalist Ezekiel Ox and drummer/studio-guitarist-meets-live sample-man Cory Blight had gained themselves a whole lot of new fans and a new level of respect for those who had already been familiar with them. For many in the audience, the memories were still fresh from Karnivool's Melbourne shows, when Over-reactor had performed in this very room, and indeed wowed an audience who had probably expected to turn up early and enjoy a few quiet brews - instead they were assaulted by some truly brutal riffs (coming from a laptop no less) and had Ox literally yelling in their faces. Tonight however, the band were a little more subdued, with Ox electing to remain on the stage for the entire duration of the set (not something he does often!) and let the crowd decide whether or not they would get into the Over-reactor sound. Which, for the most part, they did. The setlist was similar to the Karnivool tour, with the best tunes out of the band's double album getting an airing, such as Control of This, Nu Metal Motherfuckers and of course, Something More. Something that was a little different was Ox deciding to get a little artistic during the set - an easel had been set up at the back of the stage, and between songs, Ox picked up a spray can and painted various colorful things on a piece of paper, before auctioning it off at the end of the set. Something you don't see too often, to be sure.
SETLIST:
Control of This
Handfed
Call in the Bombers
Free Music
Naked Words
Word
The Gangbangers
Point to Push
All Shields Down
Something More
The energy levels in the room were continuing to rise, and the next act on the bill were a favourite for many - the former Byron Bay lads now calling Melbourne home, Engine Three Seven. Getting things off to a flying start with older number Win 4 Me, the crowd expected big things of these guys, as their reputation has certainly preceded them and they haven't disappointed on a live stage in recent times. The first part of the show was mostly based on their first EP, but a very special moment came when frontman Casey Dean announced that they were going to play one they hadn't played in a very long time - one of their newer songs that didn't make the cut for the Atmosphere EP, an uptempo rocking number by the name of Erasure that was a staple in sets a few years back, but fell off the radar recently. It had been a while since the fans had heard it, but they recognised the familiar riff and were very happy to welcome it back into their hearts on this evening! They followed it up with another rarely-played-live track, but a favourite nonetheless, in the acoustic-based Retrospect, before the set moved focus to the Atmosphere EP. The show came to its end with the favourites, including the title track, Cops, Have it All and of course, Hysterical Hysteria to close. An accurate description of the crowd, perhaps!
SETLIST:
Win 4 Me
Automatic Everything
Easy Graceful Descent
Erasure (first time since January 2010!)
Retrospect
Atmosphere
Cops
Have it All
Hysterical Hysteria
It was time for the night to take a slightly more reflective and proggy turn, with the next on the bill being Sleep Parade. They have certainly taken their time getting another album out into the world, and in recent live shows they've been testing the waters with a lot of new material, which has gone over well at some shows and not so well at others. Tonight however, they'd play one of their better sets, helped out on second guitar and keys by the amazingly talented Red Black of A State of Flux. His presence really helps the band get a more full sound, certainly evident on tracks like Everyday where his keyboard hammering only served to make frontman Leigh Davies' guitar solo sound even more impressive. As expected, the band's newer and more mature sounding material got a fairly solid go during the set, but for the older fans there was Passengers and of course, the regular set-closing epic Weeping Walls. No matter how many times you've seen it, it's always fun to watch that final moment in the song where Davies sings into his guitar pickups to make that incredible solo. This was one of their best sets from recent memory, and hopefully is an indication of good progress on the forthcoming album!
SETLIST:
Mr Identify
Everyday
Collision
Moments
Passengers
Home
Weeping Walls
It was certainly getting a bit late in the evening (in fact, it was now pushing into the small hours of Sunday) but the punters had plenty of energy left for the final performance - when that band is called Sydonia, there has to be something left over! The band started their set with guitarist Sam Haycroft and bassist Adam Murray positioned at their oversized custom percussion drums, which meant that nobody was surprised that it was Adornment that opened the set! But as one of Sydonia's more popular tunes, it was definitely a good choice to get the crowd amped and ready for what would turn out to be another belter in Sydonia's recent run of excellent shows! Numerous times, the band mentioned their long-awaited second album (apparently they've actually booked studio time now), and were more than willing to air some new material, including not-so-new-anymore favourite Sinner, which hadn't been played for quite some time before this show. Also in the "songs making a comeback" department was a surprise rendition of Dream Kiss, apparently at the request of some hardcore Sydonia fans. Old favourites such as No Woman's Land and 3 Tongues got the crowd singing along, until finally it all wound down, predictably, with a shout of INCOMING! The crowd was pretty wrecked at the end of a long day's rocking, but Sydonia sets have been extremely high on quality lately, and this was no exception. So at the end of the night, the feeling in the room was that it was all totally worth our necks hurting!
SETLIST:
Adornment
Sinner
No Woman's Land
Dream Kiss
TL
3 Tongues
Ocean of Storms
Shame
Taste More
Crash Here Tonight
Incoming
Thursday, July 7, 2011
"It's nice to know you're with us today..." - Karnivool, Corner Hotel, 06-07-2011
Even though the Ian Kenny-related focus has shifted noticeably toward Birds of Tokyo after the release of their very pop-friendly third album, his other (and much more talented, let's just put it out there straight away because it's a FACT) band Karnivool are still doing their thing. However, they have taken the foot off the touring pedal a bit since the end of 2009, the year in which their mammoth Sound Awake was released, in order to get back to writing mode for their third album (which we will hopefully not have to wait five years for!). Despite this, the Perth fivesome knows that the fans love their live shows, and therefore announced another round of dates for the middle of 2011, with the promise of showcasing some of the new material the quintet have been working on for their upcoming third album. Naturally, fans responded in earnest to this news, with most shows on the tour selling out quite quickly and more shows being added - which also sold out. Kenny, Goddard, Hosking, Stockman and Judd had already booked two consecutive nights in June at the Corner Hotel (as well as a few regional shows in Victoria), but with Melbournians being arguably their biggest fanbase outside of their native Perth, it was clear that they needed to do another, and returned to the Victorian capital in July to entertain for one last time! Along for the ride for the entire duration of the tour was fellow Perth-ian, dubstep/drum n bass DJ Shockone, and Over-reactor, a unique self-proclaimed "death hop" duo that call Melbourne home.
Two-piece Over-reactor had the unenviable task of getting an initially sluggish Wednesday night crowd to do something other than just stand around drinking and treating them as "the support act" - but when the frontman of the support act is Ezekiel Ox, it's a task that they are more than capable of tackling. Starting off with a slower number Control of This, the pace soon picked up with the thrashy Nu Metal Motherfuckers, and so did the energy, as Zeke leapt over the barrier and into the crowd, stalking around the circle that had formed in front of him and doing a great job of steadily gaining crowd interest - meanwhile, you had to feel sorry for drummer/sample cue-er Cory Blight, who despite being quite a talented and very precise musician, was basically ignored as the punters fixed their attention on the very energetic Ox. After a couple of songs, he decided a makeshift stage/podium was required, so he bounded over to the venue's sidestage, grabbed a gear case presumably belonging to Shockone, and took it to the middle of the room, standing atop it for most of the remainder of the set - although he did still roam around the room plenty. After a few songs, the crowd was quickly warming up to the massive riffs and vicious vocals emanating from the venue's speakers, although many were a little confused at exactly where those riffs were coming from. "I know what you're thinking!" Ox exclaimed, followed by a slight chuckle as he realised the self-reference he'd just inadvertently made. "Where's the guitarist!?" For those not in the know, the guitars on Over-reactor's two-volume album Lose Your Delusion were recorded entirely by Blight, and they've decided to simply use a laptop to play them back live, rather than drag along another guitarist. It's a strange thing to get used to, but as I mentioned, most people in the room were genuinely getting into the spirit of things, save for a section of people up the back which Ox noticed, singling them out and calling them his "pocket of disappointment". The set concluded with standout track Something More, although unfortunately it did not feature a live appearance from Chris Cheney as the previous two shows at the Corner had. Nevertheless, it's safe to say Over-reactor had a few new fans by the end of the night, and definitely would have gained plenty on this tour.
SETLIST (actually from first night, but as far as I recall, they played similar sets each night)
Control of This
Handfed
Nu Metal Motherfuckers
Call in the Bombers
Free Music
Naked Words
Word
The Gangbangers
Best of Worst
Point to Push
The Chemical Sound
Something More (featured Chris Cheney on guitar at first two shows!)
Up next was the inclusion to the tour that got quite a lot of people talking, and when you throw a dubstep DJ onto a bill with one of Australia's most loved prog/hard rock bands, there's going to be a few raised eyebrows. Shockone is probably not without some talent in his field, but his style of music just doesn't do it for me, and it didn't for a lot of other people either - the room emptied considerably when he played, with me and the group of people I was with heading to the rooftop to escape his horribly generic DJ set. Well, I'm assuming it was - at the first 'Vool show which I attended, we stayed for his whole set and the only time I could actually tell when a different song was playing was when different vocals came in - the beats and synth patterns were EXACTLY the same, for about half an hour, before it sped up and began to sound exactly like a friggin' Pendulum song. I know that Karnivool were trying to do something a bit different here and I'm assuming because they're all from the Perth music scene they might've known this guy for quite a while, but really, there should have been a point where someone said, "Perhaps this isn't the best sort of music for our general audience." It would have been a lot more entertaining to have another band or actual performing act on the bill - even Over-reactor, with one vocalist, one drummer and the ever-present laptop are far more engaging to watch than one guy spinning discs or whatever he was doing.
But with all that aside, it was time for the final Melbourne show, and the second last show all up of this 2011 tour, and the sold-out room definitely had high expectations for the Perth fivesome. As the ambient intro came on and lights went down, the tension in the room went up a hundredfold, and when the band members made their way onto the stage, they certainly got a warm welcome! The familiar chugging riff of Goliath got the set off to a flying start, and it was clear that the Perth boys were going to deliver another ripper tonight. As the heavy riffs boomed out of the Corner PA, vocalist Ian Kenny wandered around the stage doing his usual space cadet routine, and not missing a single vocal note. The man's talent is rivalled by very few in the Australian music scene. The band followed it up with the familiar vibraphone intro to Simple Boy, and the crowd got even more excited. In fact, throughout the entire night, this pattern persisted - Karnivool are a band that do have some very distinctive intro sections to their music, and the crowd only needs to hear a few seconds to know EXACTLY what's coming and respond accordingly.
Gutiarist Mark Hosking (who I didn't really have much of a view of on the night, being that I was standing on the far left) then did the obligatory thank-you to the crowd, and stated that there were three reasons to celebrate tonight - one being their last show in Melbourne for 2011, another being that it was guitarist Drew Goddard's and drummer Steve Judd's joint birthday, and the third one which he conveniently forgot. The band then moved onto a sure-fire pair of crowd-pleasers from their debut album Themata, C.O.T.E. and of course, the always-popular title track. The remainder of the set intially seemed like pretty standard Karnivool stuff; it was a little bit disappointing they didn't mix it up a little bit more, especially for people like me who had attended all three nights at the Corner (and some friends had even done trips interstate!). The band are an IMMENSELY talented and tight live band, and of course, the songs are amazing, but with this being my eighth Karnivool gig, I was hoping for a bit more of a change (no pun intended) in the setlist. However, it was great to hear the band's new song The Refusal making it in again, as this particular track is really awesome and tells us that album number three from Karnivool is shaping up to be another ripper.
The Drew and Steve birthday celebrations got a few more mentions throughout the night, including the obligatory crowd singing Happy Birthday during a break between songs, and shots of Jager being downed by the band. Later on, the crowd was getting a little bit rowdy and of course decided to yell out the particular song that they would like to hear (from various crowd members: "SLEEPING SATELLITE! BOX! FREE BIRD! WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT!"). The band didn't seem bothered by the extra attention, with Drew laughing and singing "It's my birthday and I'll play what I want to!" It was the end of the set that yielded a pair of excellent surprises - first off, a bit of a forgotten gem on Sound Awake, Illumine, got its first airing in Melbourne since the Sine Waves and Mirrors tour of late 2009, and then, with Kenny leading the charge, it was time for an unexpected airing of Fade. Every band has their "first EP" type of songs, and Karnivool have certaininly come a long way musically since the release of their self-titled EP (which they pretty much disown now) and its follow-up Persona, but every now and again, they bring out this gem and the fans absolutely love it. The singalong in the venue was quite something! Following that, the main set concluded with a typically ripping performance of Roquefort, before the band took a quick breather and returned for two more songs - it's been really great to see them bring back Synops to the set this year. I believe they've only played it on one other tour before, and that was in 2007, so it's definitely been great for some of the younger fans of the band to get an opportunity to experience it, as it is a great track. By this point, they had already played a considerably longer set than advertised, which is probably why they opted to close the show with New Day as opposed to the epic Change. But nobody was complaining, and at the end of the night, Karnivool had delivered another beauty, and I think all in the room left very satisfied. They've only played two new songs live (and one of those has only been played once, the elusive Sky Machine getting its only airing in Frankston) on this tour, so I expect that they still have quite a bit of work ahead of them, but with shows like this, the anticipation for album number three continues to grow!
SETLIST:
Goliath
Simple Boy
C.O.T.E.
Themata
All I Know
Umbra
Deadman
The Refusal
Set Fire to the Hive
Illumine
Fade
Roquefort
----Encore----
Synops (YAY)
New Day
(And for those of you following my "career" on Fan Made Recordings, yes, I did record this show and it turned out a lot better than the previous show (which, apart from the mix not being as good as this show, prominently featured my enthusiastic singing). I will endeavour to post it ASAP.)
Two-piece Over-reactor had the unenviable task of getting an initially sluggish Wednesday night crowd to do something other than just stand around drinking and treating them as "the support act" - but when the frontman of the support act is Ezekiel Ox, it's a task that they are more than capable of tackling. Starting off with a slower number Control of This, the pace soon picked up with the thrashy Nu Metal Motherfuckers, and so did the energy, as Zeke leapt over the barrier and into the crowd, stalking around the circle that had formed in front of him and doing a great job of steadily gaining crowd interest - meanwhile, you had to feel sorry for drummer/sample cue-er Cory Blight, who despite being quite a talented and very precise musician, was basically ignored as the punters fixed their attention on the very energetic Ox. After a couple of songs, he decided a makeshift stage/podium was required, so he bounded over to the venue's sidestage, grabbed a gear case presumably belonging to Shockone, and took it to the middle of the room, standing atop it for most of the remainder of the set - although he did still roam around the room plenty. After a few songs, the crowd was quickly warming up to the massive riffs and vicious vocals emanating from the venue's speakers, although many were a little confused at exactly where those riffs were coming from. "I know what you're thinking!" Ox exclaimed, followed by a slight chuckle as he realised the self-reference he'd just inadvertently made. "Where's the guitarist!?" For those not in the know, the guitars on Over-reactor's two-volume album Lose Your Delusion were recorded entirely by Blight, and they've decided to simply use a laptop to play them back live, rather than drag along another guitarist. It's a strange thing to get used to, but as I mentioned, most people in the room were genuinely getting into the spirit of things, save for a section of people up the back which Ox noticed, singling them out and calling them his "pocket of disappointment". The set concluded with standout track Something More, although unfortunately it did not feature a live appearance from Chris Cheney as the previous two shows at the Corner had. Nevertheless, it's safe to say Over-reactor had a few new fans by the end of the night, and definitely would have gained plenty on this tour.
SETLIST (actually from first night, but as far as I recall, they played similar sets each night)
Control of This
Handfed
Nu Metal Motherfuckers
Call in the Bombers
Free Music
Naked Words
Word
The Gangbangers
Best of Worst
Point to Push
The Chemical Sound
Something More (featured Chris Cheney on guitar at first two shows!)
Up next was the inclusion to the tour that got quite a lot of people talking, and when you throw a dubstep DJ onto a bill with one of Australia's most loved prog/hard rock bands, there's going to be a few raised eyebrows. Shockone is probably not without some talent in his field, but his style of music just doesn't do it for me, and it didn't for a lot of other people either - the room emptied considerably when he played, with me and the group of people I was with heading to the rooftop to escape his horribly generic DJ set. Well, I'm assuming it was - at the first 'Vool show which I attended, we stayed for his whole set and the only time I could actually tell when a different song was playing was when different vocals came in - the beats and synth patterns were EXACTLY the same, for about half an hour, before it sped up and began to sound exactly like a friggin' Pendulum song. I know that Karnivool were trying to do something a bit different here and I'm assuming because they're all from the Perth music scene they might've known this guy for quite a while, but really, there should have been a point where someone said, "Perhaps this isn't the best sort of music for our general audience." It would have been a lot more entertaining to have another band or actual performing act on the bill - even Over-reactor, with one vocalist, one drummer and the ever-present laptop are far more engaging to watch than one guy spinning discs or whatever he was doing.
But with all that aside, it was time for the final Melbourne show, and the second last show all up of this 2011 tour, and the sold-out room definitely had high expectations for the Perth fivesome. As the ambient intro came on and lights went down, the tension in the room went up a hundredfold, and when the band members made their way onto the stage, they certainly got a warm welcome! The familiar chugging riff of Goliath got the set off to a flying start, and it was clear that the Perth boys were going to deliver another ripper tonight. As the heavy riffs boomed out of the Corner PA, vocalist Ian Kenny wandered around the stage doing his usual space cadet routine, and not missing a single vocal note. The man's talent is rivalled by very few in the Australian music scene. The band followed it up with the familiar vibraphone intro to Simple Boy, and the crowd got even more excited. In fact, throughout the entire night, this pattern persisted - Karnivool are a band that do have some very distinctive intro sections to their music, and the crowd only needs to hear a few seconds to know EXACTLY what's coming and respond accordingly.
Gutiarist Mark Hosking (who I didn't really have much of a view of on the night, being that I was standing on the far left) then did the obligatory thank-you to the crowd, and stated that there were three reasons to celebrate tonight - one being their last show in Melbourne for 2011, another being that it was guitarist Drew Goddard's and drummer Steve Judd's joint birthday, and the third one which he conveniently forgot. The band then moved onto a sure-fire pair of crowd-pleasers from their debut album Themata, C.O.T.E. and of course, the always-popular title track. The remainder of the set intially seemed like pretty standard Karnivool stuff; it was a little bit disappointing they didn't mix it up a little bit more, especially for people like me who had attended all three nights at the Corner (and some friends had even done trips interstate!). The band are an IMMENSELY talented and tight live band, and of course, the songs are amazing, but with this being my eighth Karnivool gig, I was hoping for a bit more of a change (no pun intended) in the setlist. However, it was great to hear the band's new song The Refusal making it in again, as this particular track is really awesome and tells us that album number three from Karnivool is shaping up to be another ripper.
The Drew and Steve birthday celebrations got a few more mentions throughout the night, including the obligatory crowd singing Happy Birthday during a break between songs, and shots of Jager being downed by the band. Later on, the crowd was getting a little bit rowdy and of course decided to yell out the particular song that they would like to hear (from various crowd members: "SLEEPING SATELLITE! BOX! FREE BIRD! WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT!"). The band didn't seem bothered by the extra attention, with Drew laughing and singing "It's my birthday and I'll play what I want to!" It was the end of the set that yielded a pair of excellent surprises - first off, a bit of a forgotten gem on Sound Awake, Illumine, got its first airing in Melbourne since the Sine Waves and Mirrors tour of late 2009, and then, with Kenny leading the charge, it was time for an unexpected airing of Fade. Every band has their "first EP" type of songs, and Karnivool have certaininly come a long way musically since the release of their self-titled EP (which they pretty much disown now) and its follow-up Persona, but every now and again, they bring out this gem and the fans absolutely love it. The singalong in the venue was quite something! Following that, the main set concluded with a typically ripping performance of Roquefort, before the band took a quick breather and returned for two more songs - it's been really great to see them bring back Synops to the set this year. I believe they've only played it on one other tour before, and that was in 2007, so it's definitely been great for some of the younger fans of the band to get an opportunity to experience it, as it is a great track. By this point, they had already played a considerably longer set than advertised, which is probably why they opted to close the show with New Day as opposed to the epic Change. But nobody was complaining, and at the end of the night, Karnivool had delivered another beauty, and I think all in the room left very satisfied. They've only played two new songs live (and one of those has only been played once, the elusive Sky Machine getting its only airing in Frankston) on this tour, so I expect that they still have quite a bit of work ahead of them, but with shows like this, the anticipation for album number three continues to grow!
SETLIST:
Goliath
Simple Boy
C.O.T.E.
Themata
All I Know
Umbra
Deadman
The Refusal
Set Fire to the Hive
Illumine
Fade
Roquefort
----Encore----
Synops (YAY)
New Day
(And for those of you following my "career" on Fan Made Recordings, yes, I did record this show and it turned out a lot better than the previous show (which, apart from the mix not being as good as this show, prominently featured my enthusiastic singing). I will endeavour to post it ASAP.)
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Happy new year...
Well then, we've come to the end of another year! Hard to believe really, and it's almost been a year since I started this blog, so yeah. Anyway, the last post I made was a day off a month ago, and in that time, as one might imagine, I've been to numerous gigs since! I did intend to at least post reviews of Meredith and Muse, but time got away from me and by the time I was ready to sit down and recount them, I realised it would be a little redundant and besides, some of the memories weren't so clear anymore! So I'll just quickly run through my final month of gigs right now!
So yes, on the weekend of the 10-12th December, me and some friends attended the absolutely wonderful 20th edition of the Meredith Music Festival - for the four of us that went, it was our first time, and I think I can speak for the other three when I say we'll all be returning this year! A great and very diverse lineup, a wonderful location and very friendly crowd all ticked the boxes in requirements of a good festival, something I think the mainstream festivals are really failing to deliver these days. Yes, I'm looking at you Big Day Out.
Anyway, after that wonderful weekend wrapped up, I had just two days to recover before Tuesday night, when a little British trio (plus backing assistance from a fourth) by the name of Muse dazzled a sold-out crowd at Rod Laver Arena with their bombastic brand of cosmic progressive rock. With a grandiose light-and-visual extravaganza centred on the three giant skyscrapers stretching from stage floor to roof, with each occupied by a band member, Muse tore their way through an epic two-hour setlist spanning their brilliant five album career. YES, they even played something from Showbiz, the piano-led Sunburn a real treat for all the loyal old-school fans in the crowd. Ahh, what a show. I think it's safe to say you might see a mention of it in a blog coming soon...
The last week of 2010 wrapped up in a big way; on Monday night it was a good ol free music night at the Espy, starring post-hardcore oddballs In Tongues, rock n roll youngsters and Unearthed High winners Stonefield and lovable Beatles/general 60s awesomeness-esque trio The Basics, who of course have a rather famous drummer (Wally DeBacker aka Gotye for those of you playing at home). Thursday night it was back to the Espy for a truly interesting blend of styles - stoner sludge from Swidgen (featuring Sammy Crawford from Clagg), fun-time garage-y rock from Freaks of the Deep, funky rock-rap from Adelaideians Poetikool Justice, and finally, some no nonsense punk and hip-hop from Over-reactor. THEN THERE WAS FRIDAY. What better way to bring in the New Year than by heading to Etihad Stadium with a sizeable bunch of mates to witness Armin Only - the latest live extravaganza from the world's reigning number 1 DJ (voted in yet again in 2010, his 4th year in a row at the top) Mr Armin van Buuren, celebrating his latest trance opus Mirage. As is the tradition with these shows, he played a massive NINE HOUR marathon set, complete with spectacular visuals and lighting and of course a sizeable entourage of live guests, including Rank 1, his guitarist brother Eller, and numerous vocal contributors, among them Christian Burns and Nadia Ali. From 9pm til 6am, the world's greatest had the happy punters bouncing on their feet, bringing in the New Year in great style. What a show.
So yeah, that was how the year ended. And I have to say, one of my resolutions this year will be to keep this thing a little bit more updated on a regular basis. I'd like to say at this point that at the very least, every major international artist gig that I go to will get a review, and I'd really like to bring back the band of the month blog - back in the day, I used to pick a band at random every month that I'd been particularly enjoying, and just give a brief run-down of their history and releases up until that point. It was fun. Now then, my next blog/s, which I aim to have up by the end of the week, will be my top 10 gigs and albums of 2010. I've already got a pretty good idea of what's going to be in it, so now I just have to write up a few nice words about each and we'll be away! Happy new year everyone, may 2011 bring us just as much musical awesomeness as the previous year!
So yes, on the weekend of the 10-12th December, me and some friends attended the absolutely wonderful 20th edition of the Meredith Music Festival - for the four of us that went, it was our first time, and I think I can speak for the other three when I say we'll all be returning this year! A great and very diverse lineup, a wonderful location and very friendly crowd all ticked the boxes in requirements of a good festival, something I think the mainstream festivals are really failing to deliver these days. Yes, I'm looking at you Big Day Out.
Anyway, after that wonderful weekend wrapped up, I had just two days to recover before Tuesday night, when a little British trio (plus backing assistance from a fourth) by the name of Muse dazzled a sold-out crowd at Rod Laver Arena with their bombastic brand of cosmic progressive rock. With a grandiose light-and-visual extravaganza centred on the three giant skyscrapers stretching from stage floor to roof, with each occupied by a band member, Muse tore their way through an epic two-hour setlist spanning their brilliant five album career. YES, they even played something from Showbiz, the piano-led Sunburn a real treat for all the loyal old-school fans in the crowd. Ahh, what a show. I think it's safe to say you might see a mention of it in a blog coming soon...
The last week of 2010 wrapped up in a big way; on Monday night it was a good ol free music night at the Espy, starring post-hardcore oddballs In Tongues, rock n roll youngsters and Unearthed High winners Stonefield and lovable Beatles/general 60s awesomeness-esque trio The Basics, who of course have a rather famous drummer (Wally DeBacker aka Gotye for those of you playing at home). Thursday night it was back to the Espy for a truly interesting blend of styles - stoner sludge from Swidgen (featuring Sammy Crawford from Clagg), fun-time garage-y rock from Freaks of the Deep, funky rock-rap from Adelaideians Poetikool Justice, and finally, some no nonsense punk and hip-hop from Over-reactor. THEN THERE WAS FRIDAY. What better way to bring in the New Year than by heading to Etihad Stadium with a sizeable bunch of mates to witness Armin Only - the latest live extravaganza from the world's reigning number 1 DJ (voted in yet again in 2010, his 4th year in a row at the top) Mr Armin van Buuren, celebrating his latest trance opus Mirage. As is the tradition with these shows, he played a massive NINE HOUR marathon set, complete with spectacular visuals and lighting and of course a sizeable entourage of live guests, including Rank 1, his guitarist brother Eller, and numerous vocal contributors, among them Christian Burns and Nadia Ali. From 9pm til 6am, the world's greatest had the happy punters bouncing on their feet, bringing in the New Year in great style. What a show.
So yeah, that was how the year ended. And I have to say, one of my resolutions this year will be to keep this thing a little bit more updated on a regular basis. I'd like to say at this point that at the very least, every major international artist gig that I go to will get a review, and I'd really like to bring back the band of the month blog - back in the day, I used to pick a band at random every month that I'd been particularly enjoying, and just give a brief run-down of their history and releases up until that point. It was fun. Now then, my next blog/s, which I aim to have up by the end of the week, will be my top 10 gigs and albums of 2010. I've already got a pretty good idea of what's going to be in it, so now I just have to write up a few nice words about each and we'll be away! Happy new year everyone, may 2011 bring us just as much musical awesomeness as the previous year!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)