In October 2010, Matt Crute and his team at the Saltar Hype booking agency put on a very successful Halloween-themed mini-festival at the Espy. Appropriately dubbed "Creepshow", the night saw a plethora of great local Melbourne acts taking to the three stages at the Espy, with plenty of weird and wonderful costumes present among bands and punters alike. Evidently, the night was a success as Crutey opted to put on another this year, once again with great results!
A standout performance the year before had been instrumental heavy prog trio Anna Salen, or as they had dubbed themselves for the evening, the "Super Anna Salen Brothers". This was due to their Super Mario-themed choice of costumes - guitarist/keyboardist Daiv Morgan was Mario, drummer Shaun Scott was Wario, and bassist/keyboardist Paul Risso was Luigi. But they didn't stop at the costumes - "question mark" boxes were placed on top of amps, coin and pipe sound effects were loaded into Scott's triggers and appeared in random places throughout the Anna Salen set, and the band covered the theme music from the games between their own tunes. This year the boys decided to stick to their winning formula, to the delight of those who had witnessed it the year before and to the delighted surprise of those who hadn't! The band have rapidly become one of Melbourne's most-talked about upcoming bands, no doubt helped by their very unique sound and lack of vocals. The band had just supported Sydney powerhouse Floating Me in Geelong and Melbourne the two nights previous, but they weren't showing any signs of fatigue, as they delivered another solid set from the Espy front bar stage. As another sign of just how much the band is on the up, midway through the set Morgan invited "Jason Vorhees" to the stage to play some guest drums, while Scott took up a second guitar. "Jason" was none other than the event organiser, Matt Crute, and he lent his amazing drum skills to the favourite Karate, appropriately dubbed "Karutey" by Morgan for the occasion. At the set's conclusion, Morgan picked up one of the question mark boxes and threw its contents into the audience, which appropriately were chocolate coins!
SETLIST:
Tit Dirt
-Mario Theme-
Communist Rocket
-Mario Theme 2-
Dinner's On
Karutey (with Matt Crute of Full Scale)
Vehicles
In the Gershwin Room, local djent powerhouse Circles were wowing the crowd with their highly complex brand of heavy syncopated riffs, drawing obvious comparisons to the likes of Meshuggah and recent visitors to our shores, Periphery. The band has achieved some international recognition for their sound, and were performing very well on this particular evening - surprisingly, they got a very good mix on the night too, with every subtle sound perfectly audible in the right amounts. A lot of djent bands (again, Periphery) have been known to dabble in the electronica/industrial side of things, and Circles use these sounds even more than their contemporaries, to great effect. However, like a few of these bands, there's something about the vocals that doesn't really seem to fit the rest of the music. Their performance onstage was of a very high quality though.
Melbourne-based supergroup The Khyber Belt were next to take to the front bar stage, with their debut EP being available to the public for the very first time this evening. Their costumes of choice were decidedly un-scary, with the instrumentalists in the band wearing Wiggles skivvys, and vocalist Forbes McKail dressed as Captain Feathersword. As McKail explained, it was only the band's fifth show in total, due to the fact that the band members live in different cities and they find it difficult to jam together. However, at all of those gigs they've seemed quite well-rehearsed and now they've got quite a few solid tunes written, as tonight's set showed. There were a few among the crowd who looked like they had perhaps attended most or all of these shows, as they were singing along in parts to songs that hadn't even really been released yet! The Khyber Belt still have a bit of a way to go before their songwriting craft reaches that of the bands they came from, but there were certainly some gems in this set, and in time, they might just be an adequate replacement to fill the void for all those still missing Rook.
There was jubiliation in the air in late 2009 when it was surprisingly announced that legendary Aussie heavy rockers Full Scale would be having a reunion of sorts, with original members Ezekiel Ox and Matt Crute being joined by Tristan Ross and Ben Brennan, who had been involved with the Full Scale journey at some point. After an incredible reunion gig in January 2010, the band decided to undertake a new chapter under the name Full Scale Revolution, but after a few well-received live shows across the year, by September it was all over once again. Surprisingly, a post on the band's Facebook page a few months back revealed that the band would be giving it one more shot at Creepshow this year, and understandably punters in the front bar went absolutely nuts on the evening to see FULL SCALE REVOLUTION back in action again! The power of nostalgia should never be underestimated, and as Ox, Crutey, Ross and Brennan ripped into Rapture, the crowd began suitably losing their shit, and moshing all over the place! Tonight was likely to be the last time that this incarnation of the band would take to the stage, and the opportunities weren't wasted on either side of the stage/audience divide. The band looked genuinely happy to be playing the songs, with Ox remarking "It always feels good when we bring Full Scale back in whatever form"; meanwhile the crowd were certainly in agreement with this statement, as they bounced around wildly and sang along to just about everything! It was slightly disappointing however that the set was a little bit shorter than those they'd played last year, skipping over some favourites such as Where's Your Energy? and Sixteen Today, and completely ignoring the Full Scale Deflection era. The band did manage to play the only song they'd written together in 2010, High on the Feeling, which despite being a good song in itself, seemed a bit unfamiliar to most punters and lowered the energy of the set considerably. Eventually, things had to come to an end, but the band drove it home with the usual double-shot of Five-Six and Party Political! Five-Six featured a stellar guest appearance from The Khyber Belt's Forbes McKail, who did a very capable job helping Ox out with the vocals, while Party Political saw Ox make his way through the crowd before standing up on the bar! In the end, the crowd had really enjoyed seeing these songs being played again, even if it may be the last time with this particular incarnation of the band.
It's fair to say that the crowd were looking a little worse for wear after that high intensity set, and luckily the next act on the bill were able to bring things down just enough, but not too much! It was of course everyone's favourite ex-Byron Bay foursome, Engine Three Seven, and the front bar was packed to the rafters for another great performance from the lads. It all kicked off with the favourite Hysterical Hysteria, which as usual featured the old "getting down on the ground, jumping up and going nuts" routine. Other than a slightly mixed up order than usual, there wasn't a whole lot of change in the E37 setlist that they've been playing in recent times. However, it was nice to hear Erasure for the third show in a row, which is hopefully a good sign that they've decided to bring it permanently back into the set. Another surprise came when vocalist Casey Dean (who had gone with a Bananaman costume for the evening!) declared that there would be a brand new song played immediately after Cops! The song, titled Velociraptor, showed that Engine have certainly got some quality new ideas up their sleeve and hopefully a new album isn't too far away! Other than that, it was a pretty standard set, but "standard" for Engine Three Seven usually means "excellent", and this was no exception! The crowd were really getting into it too, singing along delightedly with just about everything!
The event finally drew to a close at around 1am, with an act that were no strangers to the people still remaining in the front bar, Jericco. They kicked things off with a great little intro featuring bass player Roy Amar doing his thing on an electric Oud, before the familiar pulsing intro to Rujm (Pile of Stones) kicked in over the PA. The band usually puts this one in toward the end of the set, but as an early opener it set the tone for an absolute cracker! The ever-amazing vocalist Brent McCormick had decided to go with the "bearded lady" theme for the evening, something that brought great amusement to the punters. Even though the timeslot was extremely late, those that were willing to stick it out were treated to a typical high-energy Jericco show, with the band delivering on all fronts as they usually do - and the punters didn't look tired either; there was plenty of moshing and pogoing still going on! The setlist was jam-packed with the usual Jericco favourites, in fact, the band played every single song proper they've released so far with the exception of a few from their first EP. New drummer Matt Bray also seems to be settling into the band well after a few solid gigs, playing along with his bandmates like he'd been there all along! There was a bit of a surprise in the middle of the set, where the other members vacated the stage and McCormick delivered a song by himself with an acoustic guitar. This certainly was the only real "low-energy" point in the set, and even then, he still encouraged everyone to get involved with a bit of a singalong! Eventually the set closed with current single Monsters, which was a top way to end a great night!
The Saltar Hype team have been putting on some really stellar events lately, and though only in its second year, it's fair to say that this time around Creepshow was another rousing success! See you all at Rock the Bay!
Showing posts with label Jericco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jericco. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
"You're nothing to me... except everything" - Sydonia w/Jericco, East Brunswick Club, 19/02/11
It's official, this is the third gig review I've given Sydonia in this little blog, which means they are now my most reviewed band! And one might think that I might be getting a little sick of them, and would be perhaps reaching the point where I'd slow down on attending their gigs, but, hey, have you BEEN to a Sydonia gig lately? They're definitely one of this city's best live bands going around, never disappointing the punters when they step on to a stage! That combined with the fact that they were co-headlining with Jericco, and had Sydney's sleepmakeswaves in the support slot, meant that I was more than keen to head along to the East Brunswick Club on a Saturday night and get my local live music fix!
I was slightly worried about whether I'd enjoy this gig in the proper way, due to the fact that I'd attended a party the night before (in Bellfield of all places, yeah, I didn't know where it was either) and had absolutely minimal sleep as a result. I was feeling pretty drained and was hoping the bands would put on great sets to keep me awake. However, before I even got in the door, the night got off to a good start. As I stepped off the tram and walked across the road, some guy said to me, "Have you got your ticket yet?" When I replied in the negative, he said that his girlfriend had been unable to make it and I could have her ticket. So, in for free! Definitely something that pleased me, given my current financial situation! In the unlikely event you're reading this, THANK YOU to Bradley Dixon! If we run into each other again sometime, I owe you a beer! Anyway, through the door I went and right down the front for a highly anticipated set from the immensely talented post-rockers sleepmakeswaves, who were making the trek down all the way from Sydney for this night. With the room still half empty, they started their set a little early anyway, but the few that were in attendance were genuinely enjoying the sounds coming from the stage. I'd been looking forward to seeing them for quite a while; unfortunately they didn't play anything I recognised (only possessing the In Today Already Walks Tomorrow album) and I think the general consensus is that the entirety of the set was new material. I'm generally against the idea of a band playing too many "new" songs at a gig, for the obvious reason that it's much more enjoyable if you're hearing familiar melodies and riffs, and in the case of bands with vocals, you can sing along! However, if the songs are awesome enough, the rule can be broken and tonight sleepmakeswaves were that exception. Combining beautiful textures and soundscapes (including great use of e-bow, electronic programming and other handy guitar effects) with moments of genuine "heavy" intensity, sleepmakeswaves provided a nice "relaxed" start to the evening, something I definitely needed! The early start to their set was advantageous as their songs tend to be a little longer than usual, and they still played to their allocated finishing time. It was mentioned that the group hope to have a new album released mid-year, and I certainly can't wait for it!
Up next was a set from proggy Melbourne five-piece Branch Arterial, who play in the same vein as your typical Butterfly Effect/Karnivool type of sound. I caught the tail-end of their set last year supporting Jericco's Evelyn Hotel show, and I remember them being enjoyable, so I was looking to the full set this time around. The set opened with the tried-and-true method of the instrumentalists taking to the stage first and delivering a cool intro song, before vocalist Nigel Jackson joined them onstage to play the set proper. Like sleepmakeswaves' set, the material they were playing was all stuff I hadn't heard before - although that's probably because I've NEVER listened to Branch Arterial unlike sleepmakeswaves. However, unlike sleepmakeswaves, their sound didn't immediately appeal to me, and I found it hard to enjoy their set compared to the other bands on offer. Their musicianship was certainly tight and creative, with some cool riffs and progressive ideas, but I didn't particularly like the vocals. Jackson certainly has a good voice, it just seemed a little... I don't know! "Artificial" is perhaps the word I'm looking for? The band were a good fit to the lineup in general, but on the flipside, there are WAY WAY too many of these Australian heavy-prog-ish-rock bands going around at the moment, especially in Melbourne, and Branch Arterial really don't have that extra "zing" or anything that sets them apart from some of the better acts in the scene at the moment. But they're a pretty new band and their sound is off to a good start so far, so give them a few years and they might be doing some pretty good things. After all, I can't write off a band after one set!
One of those aforementioned better acts is Jericco, who have rapidly become one of my favourite bands ever since I saw them on a rather drunken evening at the Espy front bar about two years ago now. This set was always going to be a big one, especially seeing as it's been a while between shows, and when they came onstage and opened with a brand new song, the tone was set for an absolute belter. It was a fantastic song too! Following that, the immensely talented five-piece dived headfirst into a crowd-pleasing set of favourites from their two EPs, with nearly every song they've recorded getting an airing. The typical Jericco energy was in full display, with man-mountain bassist Roy Amar and keyboard wizard Fetah Sabawi hopping around onstage enthusiastically as usual; now that I think about it I wasn't even really looking at guitarist Jordan Nagle much on the night, but I'm sure he was getting into it too! And at the front of it all was the ever awesome Brent McCormick, staring down punters and singing directly to them (while they sang right back), and of course utilizing a megaphone to deliver some of his lyrics. In between all that, the band managed to fit in another new song; the crowd was so fired up that it made little difference that nobody had heard the song before, the response was just the same! The set concluded with an awesome trio of Sun, B-Song (where McCormick led the crowd in a singalong of "sloooooowww, doowwwn") and traditional closer Rujm (Pile of Stones), with the eager crowd left wanting more! They did finish a little bit early, but looked absolutely drained and decided that they were done.
SETLIST:
(New song)
Always
Nice to See You
No Solution No Problem
Promises Made of Glass
Safe to Say (new)
Cause and Effect
Sun
B-Song
Rujm (Pile of Stones)
(I've had to stretch the old memory here, I planned to take a setlist from the stage seeing I was in the front row, but Brent picked them up too quickly. I think the order's pretty close to being correct.)
"They're opening with Life in a Cup!" exclaimed some excited punters in the front row, as the members of Sydonia made their way onstage and began set-up, which included some setlists being placed on the stage (written on the back of beer slab cardboard, of course). It was indeed an event worthy of creating such excitement, as it's been quite a while since this particular song has been featured at a Sydonia show. The rest of the setlist was looking particularly interesting too. However, as we were all enjoying watching the band drag out Sean Bailey's massive drum kit, and of course the extra custom percussion on the stage, someone decided to close the friggin curtain! Eventually the curtain opened again, and yes, it was the very mellow Life in a Cup that opened the set - before it finished and the band stepped up the pace a hundredfold with the thrashing madness of 3 Tongues getting everyone suitably revved up! As I've said, I've seen Sydonia quite a lot lately, I think this was the fourth time in the past 12 months (and 3rd in only 4 months), but really, their live shows are always something exciting and tonight was no exception. They're pretty good at mixing up the setlist too, and tonight was a good example, with Shame and Elbow making a return for the first time in ages, and the almost-debut of yet another song, Nobodies. Vocalist-guitarist Dana Roskvist explained that they'd only played it once, in Perth. If you've been to a Sydonia show before, you know that the interaction between the band (especially guitarist Sam Haycroft) and the crowd is always particularly hilarious, and tonight was no exception. "Go work in a Mercedes dealership!" someone yelled out to bassist Adam Murray. "Please don't bring work here!" he replied. As always, there were a few friends on hand to help out with the percussion jam Bateria; tonight it was Murray's brother Zack (who's been at the last few shows), along with Darren Hurford from Branch Arterial, and someone else I didn't quite catch. Zack Murray also helped out with the brilliant newie Here. As the set drew to a close, it became clear that they had a bit of extra time. The crowd favourite Incoming was on the setlist as an encore, yet the band didn't even bother to leave the stage, as Haycroft asked the crowd to help out on that evergreen opening shout of "INCOMING!" Certain excited punters had already been doing so pretty much since the beginning of the set! The mosh pit reached absolute fever pitch during what's undoubtedly one of the heaviest numbers in Sydonia's bag of tunes. With the extra time they had, the band took a quick breather on the side of the stage before being coaxed back on to play one more, which delightedly was Rubber Bullet, featuring more percussive madness from Haycroft and Murray. As the band wrapped up yet another brilliant set, punters in the front row leaned forward to grab the setlists and various drum sticks that scattered the stage (as you might imagine, there were quite a few!) It was another great evening for one of Melbourne's hidden talents; hopefully that new album is coming soon, it's well overdue!
SETLIST (what was played!):
Life in a Cup
3 Tongues
No Woman's Land
Shame
Here (with Zack Murray)
Bateria (with Zack Murray, Darren Hurford and ?)
Nobodies
Ocean of Storms
Elbow
Sinner
Incoming
----Encore----
Rubber Bullet
ACTUAL SETLIST (written by Sam, who else?)
By the way, if you read this blog regularly you might recall in December that I said I was going to start recording shows around Melbourne, thanks to a very generous gift from a friend of mine. And yet, it doesn't seem to have happened yet. Well, to cut a long story short, there's been some technical difficulties. First of all, I took the gear on the understanding that the mics were a little screwed up and one of them probably wouldn't work. Which, when I took them out for the first time to My Disco's gig, I learnt firsthand. Second, while trying to recover the recordings the next day, the iRiver froze and then ran out of battery, and I had nothing to charge it with. Well, I gave it back to Chris recently and he managed to get it fixed, now I have it back. I REALLY wanted to take it for a spin for this particular gig, but during the afternoon I thought I'd test it out, and again the microphones were playing up, so I thought I wouldn't bother. Considering the intensity of that moshpit, and me being up the front, it was probably for the best! Chris has ordered some new microphones and it was cheaper for him to order two pairs, so I get one. Hopefully, after the false start to my "career" as a bootlegger, I can get this show on the road soon. There's some killer shows coming up!
I was slightly worried about whether I'd enjoy this gig in the proper way, due to the fact that I'd attended a party the night before (in Bellfield of all places, yeah, I didn't know where it was either) and had absolutely minimal sleep as a result. I was feeling pretty drained and was hoping the bands would put on great sets to keep me awake. However, before I even got in the door, the night got off to a good start. As I stepped off the tram and walked across the road, some guy said to me, "Have you got your ticket yet?" When I replied in the negative, he said that his girlfriend had been unable to make it and I could have her ticket. So, in for free! Definitely something that pleased me, given my current financial situation! In the unlikely event you're reading this, THANK YOU to Bradley Dixon! If we run into each other again sometime, I owe you a beer! Anyway, through the door I went and right down the front for a highly anticipated set from the immensely talented post-rockers sleepmakeswaves, who were making the trek down all the way from Sydney for this night. With the room still half empty, they started their set a little early anyway, but the few that were in attendance were genuinely enjoying the sounds coming from the stage. I'd been looking forward to seeing them for quite a while; unfortunately they didn't play anything I recognised (only possessing the In Today Already Walks Tomorrow album) and I think the general consensus is that the entirety of the set was new material. I'm generally against the idea of a band playing too many "new" songs at a gig, for the obvious reason that it's much more enjoyable if you're hearing familiar melodies and riffs, and in the case of bands with vocals, you can sing along! However, if the songs are awesome enough, the rule can be broken and tonight sleepmakeswaves were that exception. Combining beautiful textures and soundscapes (including great use of e-bow, electronic programming and other handy guitar effects) with moments of genuine "heavy" intensity, sleepmakeswaves provided a nice "relaxed" start to the evening, something I definitely needed! The early start to their set was advantageous as their songs tend to be a little longer than usual, and they still played to their allocated finishing time. It was mentioned that the group hope to have a new album released mid-year, and I certainly can't wait for it!
Up next was a set from proggy Melbourne five-piece Branch Arterial, who play in the same vein as your typical Butterfly Effect/Karnivool type of sound. I caught the tail-end of their set last year supporting Jericco's Evelyn Hotel show, and I remember them being enjoyable, so I was looking to the full set this time around. The set opened with the tried-and-true method of the instrumentalists taking to the stage first and delivering a cool intro song, before vocalist Nigel Jackson joined them onstage to play the set proper. Like sleepmakeswaves' set, the material they were playing was all stuff I hadn't heard before - although that's probably because I've NEVER listened to Branch Arterial unlike sleepmakeswaves. However, unlike sleepmakeswaves, their sound didn't immediately appeal to me, and I found it hard to enjoy their set compared to the other bands on offer. Their musicianship was certainly tight and creative, with some cool riffs and progressive ideas, but I didn't particularly like the vocals. Jackson certainly has a good voice, it just seemed a little... I don't know! "Artificial" is perhaps the word I'm looking for? The band were a good fit to the lineup in general, but on the flipside, there are WAY WAY too many of these Australian heavy-prog-ish-rock bands going around at the moment, especially in Melbourne, and Branch Arterial really don't have that extra "zing" or anything that sets them apart from some of the better acts in the scene at the moment. But they're a pretty new band and their sound is off to a good start so far, so give them a few years and they might be doing some pretty good things. After all, I can't write off a band after one set!
One of those aforementioned better acts is Jericco, who have rapidly become one of my favourite bands ever since I saw them on a rather drunken evening at the Espy front bar about two years ago now. This set was always going to be a big one, especially seeing as it's been a while between shows, and when they came onstage and opened with a brand new song, the tone was set for an absolute belter. It was a fantastic song too! Following that, the immensely talented five-piece dived headfirst into a crowd-pleasing set of favourites from their two EPs, with nearly every song they've recorded getting an airing. The typical Jericco energy was in full display, with man-mountain bassist Roy Amar and keyboard wizard Fetah Sabawi hopping around onstage enthusiastically as usual; now that I think about it I wasn't even really looking at guitarist Jordan Nagle much on the night, but I'm sure he was getting into it too! And at the front of it all was the ever awesome Brent McCormick, staring down punters and singing directly to them (while they sang right back), and of course utilizing a megaphone to deliver some of his lyrics. In between all that, the band managed to fit in another new song; the crowd was so fired up that it made little difference that nobody had heard the song before, the response was just the same! The set concluded with an awesome trio of Sun, B-Song (where McCormick led the crowd in a singalong of "sloooooowww, doowwwn") and traditional closer Rujm (Pile of Stones), with the eager crowd left wanting more! They did finish a little bit early, but looked absolutely drained and decided that they were done.
SETLIST:
(New song)
Always
Nice to See You
No Solution No Problem
Promises Made of Glass
Safe to Say (new)
Cause and Effect
Sun
B-Song
Rujm (Pile of Stones)
(I've had to stretch the old memory here, I planned to take a setlist from the stage seeing I was in the front row, but Brent picked them up too quickly. I think the order's pretty close to being correct.)
"They're opening with Life in a Cup!" exclaimed some excited punters in the front row, as the members of Sydonia made their way onstage and began set-up, which included some setlists being placed on the stage (written on the back of beer slab cardboard, of course). It was indeed an event worthy of creating such excitement, as it's been quite a while since this particular song has been featured at a Sydonia show. The rest of the setlist was looking particularly interesting too. However, as we were all enjoying watching the band drag out Sean Bailey's massive drum kit, and of course the extra custom percussion on the stage, someone decided to close the friggin curtain! Eventually the curtain opened again, and yes, it was the very mellow Life in a Cup that opened the set - before it finished and the band stepped up the pace a hundredfold with the thrashing madness of 3 Tongues getting everyone suitably revved up! As I've said, I've seen Sydonia quite a lot lately, I think this was the fourth time in the past 12 months (and 3rd in only 4 months), but really, their live shows are always something exciting and tonight was no exception. They're pretty good at mixing up the setlist too, and tonight was a good example, with Shame and Elbow making a return for the first time in ages, and the almost-debut of yet another song, Nobodies. Vocalist-guitarist Dana Roskvist explained that they'd only played it once, in Perth. If you've been to a Sydonia show before, you know that the interaction between the band (especially guitarist Sam Haycroft) and the crowd is always particularly hilarious, and tonight was no exception. "Go work in a Mercedes dealership!" someone yelled out to bassist Adam Murray. "Please don't bring work here!" he replied. As always, there were a few friends on hand to help out with the percussion jam Bateria; tonight it was Murray's brother Zack (who's been at the last few shows), along with Darren Hurford from Branch Arterial, and someone else I didn't quite catch. Zack Murray also helped out with the brilliant newie Here. As the set drew to a close, it became clear that they had a bit of extra time. The crowd favourite Incoming was on the setlist as an encore, yet the band didn't even bother to leave the stage, as Haycroft asked the crowd to help out on that evergreen opening shout of "INCOMING!" Certain excited punters had already been doing so pretty much since the beginning of the set! The mosh pit reached absolute fever pitch during what's undoubtedly one of the heaviest numbers in Sydonia's bag of tunes. With the extra time they had, the band took a quick breather on the side of the stage before being coaxed back on to play one more, which delightedly was Rubber Bullet, featuring more percussive madness from Haycroft and Murray. As the band wrapped up yet another brilliant set, punters in the front row leaned forward to grab the setlists and various drum sticks that scattered the stage (as you might imagine, there were quite a few!) It was another great evening for one of Melbourne's hidden talents; hopefully that new album is coming soon, it's well overdue!
SETLIST (what was played!):
Life in a Cup
3 Tongues
No Woman's Land
Shame
Here (with Zack Murray)
Bateria (with Zack Murray, Darren Hurford and ?)
Nobodies
Ocean of Storms
Elbow
Sinner
Incoming
----Encore----
Rubber Bullet
ACTUAL SETLIST (written by Sam, who else?)
By the way, if you read this blog regularly you might recall in December that I said I was going to start recording shows around Melbourne, thanks to a very generous gift from a friend of mine. And yet, it doesn't seem to have happened yet. Well, to cut a long story short, there's been some technical difficulties. First of all, I took the gear on the understanding that the mics were a little screwed up and one of them probably wouldn't work. Which, when I took them out for the first time to My Disco's gig, I learnt firsthand. Second, while trying to recover the recordings the next day, the iRiver froze and then ran out of battery, and I had nothing to charge it with. Well, I gave it back to Chris recently and he managed to get it fixed, now I have it back. I REALLY wanted to take it for a spin for this particular gig, but during the afternoon I thought I'd test it out, and again the microphones were playing up, so I thought I wouldn't bother. Considering the intensity of that moshpit, and me being up the front, it was probably for the best! Chris has ordered some new microphones and it was cheaper for him to order two pairs, so I get one. Hopefully, after the false start to my "career" as a bootlegger, I can get this show on the road soon. There's some killer shows coming up!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Nice to See You? It certainly was! - Jericco, Evelyn Hotel, 14-05-2010
It was about a year ago that I saw Jericco play probably their best show yet in this exact location, to a packed-out and enthusiastic crowd. Suffice to say, I had high hopes for this one, as they launched their new single "Nice to See You", and was not let down by one of Melbourne's finest examples of this Australian hard rock scene that's been developing so rapidly over the past few years.
I arrived a bit later on in the evening and only caught the last few songs of Branch Arterial, who seemed like a good choice for support. But it was the next act Geamala who I was very keen to see. I'd heard many good things about them and I was a little disappointed I missed them at the aforementioned Jericco gig last year, so it was good to see them tonight. Their sound is quite unique and not one that's easy to describe, but in amongst their melting pot of influences were world music, progressive rock, and even a very cool take on the Sepultura classic Territory at the end of the set. Their lineup includes an acoustic guitarist, a drummer, a guy who switches between shaku hachi (Japanese flute), computer samples and vocals, and a female vocalist who also doubles as a belly dancer. As you can see, this lineup obviously yields a very unique sound. I'd love to see these guys play live again.
Up next were another Melbourne favourite, Twelve Foot Ninja. This was probably about the 8th or 9th time I'd seen the boys in action, but their live shows are always high on energy and their songs don't ever get boring no matter how many times you've heard them. The old songs from their New Dawn EP got the biggest crowd response on the night because the crowd knew them the best, but some of the newer songs in the set have been played quite a lot recently and they're starting to become familiar to a few of the regulars. All in all, a solid support slot from a very talented young band. I had a brief chat to the band's vocalist after the set, and he informed me that the band are soon taking some time off from the live shows to record their debut album. I know I'm not the only one that awaits said album with extreme anticipation.
Jericco put together a slightly unorthodox setlist, opening with Promises Made of Glass, one of the newer tracks we've seen over the past few years. It was a bit unusual not to have the traditional opener that's been in every prior Jericco gig before this - and in fact the first three songs played were newer songs - but the crowd soon got over this and the moshing began! I was actually very disappointed in the behaviour of a few select crowd members - don't get me wrong, I love a good circle pit just as much as the next person, but imo it's not really appropriate to do it at a Jericco gig. Especially not when some genuine fans are actually standing up the front trying to watch and enjoy the band and suddenly find themselves being knocked into the foldbacks at the front of the stage! Even vocalist Brent McCormick had to tell the crowd to settle down at one point. With that slight downer on the evening pushed aside, it was an otherwise fantastic performance from the boys. About halfway through the set, keyboardist Fetah Sabawi announced, somewhat unsurprisingly, that the gig had been declared a sell-out, understandably looking quite happy as he did so! As it was for Twelve Foot Ninja, the crowd delighted in the tracks from the band's self-titled EP, and the newer ones also went down very well, including a solid rendition of the single being launched, Nice to See You. The band concluded with Rujm (Pile of Stones), always a crowd favourite, and you only had to look at the faces of the crowd as they made their way out of the venue, to know that it had been a very high quality gig. I don't expect this band to remain in the underground scene for much longer, they're just too damn talented.
SETLIST
Promises Made of Glass
No Solution, No Problem
Cause and Effect
Sun
Home (Where Did We Go Wrong)
--Intermission-- Dahab played over PA
Jericco (instrumental)
Always
B Song
Nice to See You
Rujm (Pile of Stones)
I arrived a bit later on in the evening and only caught the last few songs of Branch Arterial, who seemed like a good choice for support. But it was the next act Geamala who I was very keen to see. I'd heard many good things about them and I was a little disappointed I missed them at the aforementioned Jericco gig last year, so it was good to see them tonight. Their sound is quite unique and not one that's easy to describe, but in amongst their melting pot of influences were world music, progressive rock, and even a very cool take on the Sepultura classic Territory at the end of the set. Their lineup includes an acoustic guitarist, a drummer, a guy who switches between shaku hachi (Japanese flute), computer samples and vocals, and a female vocalist who also doubles as a belly dancer. As you can see, this lineup obviously yields a very unique sound. I'd love to see these guys play live again.
Up next were another Melbourne favourite, Twelve Foot Ninja. This was probably about the 8th or 9th time I'd seen the boys in action, but their live shows are always high on energy and their songs don't ever get boring no matter how many times you've heard them. The old songs from their New Dawn EP got the biggest crowd response on the night because the crowd knew them the best, but some of the newer songs in the set have been played quite a lot recently and they're starting to become familiar to a few of the regulars. All in all, a solid support slot from a very talented young band. I had a brief chat to the band's vocalist after the set, and he informed me that the band are soon taking some time off from the live shows to record their debut album. I know I'm not the only one that awaits said album with extreme anticipation.
Jericco put together a slightly unorthodox setlist, opening with Promises Made of Glass, one of the newer tracks we've seen over the past few years. It was a bit unusual not to have the traditional opener that's been in every prior Jericco gig before this - and in fact the first three songs played were newer songs - but the crowd soon got over this and the moshing began! I was actually very disappointed in the behaviour of a few select crowd members - don't get me wrong, I love a good circle pit just as much as the next person, but imo it's not really appropriate to do it at a Jericco gig. Especially not when some genuine fans are actually standing up the front trying to watch and enjoy the band and suddenly find themselves being knocked into the foldbacks at the front of the stage! Even vocalist Brent McCormick had to tell the crowd to settle down at one point. With that slight downer on the evening pushed aside, it was an otherwise fantastic performance from the boys. About halfway through the set, keyboardist Fetah Sabawi announced, somewhat unsurprisingly, that the gig had been declared a sell-out, understandably looking quite happy as he did so! As it was for Twelve Foot Ninja, the crowd delighted in the tracks from the band's self-titled EP, and the newer ones also went down very well, including a solid rendition of the single being launched, Nice to See You. The band concluded with Rujm (Pile of Stones), always a crowd favourite, and you only had to look at the faces of the crowd as they made their way out of the venue, to know that it had been a very high quality gig. I don't expect this band to remain in the underground scene for much longer, they're just too damn talented.
SETLIST
Promises Made of Glass
No Solution, No Problem
Cause and Effect
Sun
Home (Where Did We Go Wrong)
--Intermission-- Dahab played over PA
Jericco (instrumental)
Always
B Song
Nice to See You
Rujm (Pile of Stones)
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