As we all know, I attend a LOT of gigs. Some might say an abnormal amount. But whether it's an all-day summer festival in a dustbowl, a quiet free night at the local, an arena spectacular at Rod Laver or Etihad, or even an impromptu generator party held under Citylink (god those were/are? fun!), there's nothing I enjoy more than a good live music outing. And here are the ten gigs that I particularly enjoyed last year!
10. Coffins (Japan), at Hi Fi Bar and Ballroom, September 18. With a MAMMOTH support bill starring Gospel of the Horns, Cauldron Black Ram, The Day Everything Became Nothing, Clagg, Ignivomous and Whitehorse. WHEW!
What a night this turned out to be! I wasn't too familiar with the output of Japanese death/doomsters Coffins, but with a support bill like that I was inspired to just purchase a damn ticket anyway, and of course I would not be disappointed. Earplugs were MANDATORY as some of Australia's finest metal bands warmed the stage before a truly blistering performance from the Japanese visitors! And how could you go wrong with the encore - Scooter Williams from Clagg joined in for a cover of Eyehategod's classic Sister Fucker. BRILLIANCE.
9. Mumford & Sons (UK), at Palace Theatre, July 28. With support from Alberta Cross (USA) and Boy & Bear.
This really was a good night; Mumford & Sons were in the country only a few months prior to this show for the Laneway Festival, but with their profile expanding considerably since their Hottest 100 win, we were only too happy to welcome them back, especially considering they didn't play sideshows during the Laneway visit. What excellent supports too; this gig really kicked off my love of Boy & Bear!
Full review here
8. Silversun Pickups (USA), at Corner Hotel, September 28. With support from Papa vs Pretty.
Definitely very happy with this one, especially seeing no other state got a full headline slot from the band (they were merely curtain-jerkers for Birds of Tokyo). A great setlist from a very energetic and LOUD band.
Full review here
7. Porcupine Tree (UK) performs The Incident in its entirety, at Palace Theatre, February 7. With support (again!) from Sleep Parade.
Well, it's nice to see that after years of basically ignoring Australian fans, the British prog five-piece are making up for lost time, and hightailed it over here after their 2009 release The Incident, to play the whole damn thing from start-to-finish in the lovely surrounds of the Palace Theatre - and then delivering a quality second set filled with other favourites from their back catalogue. A very classy live act, these guys are indeed! Cannot wait to see what Wilson and co. have up their sleeves for their next album!
6. The Mars Volta (USA), at Festering Hole, January 25. NO SUPPORT.
Well, it's fair to say that last time Volta were out (2008, roughly June-July from memory) they were slightly disappointing - we all like it when they get into "the zone" and jam out for ages on certain songs, but when the whole two-and-a-half-hour gig consists of merely EIGHT songs, one of which went for FORTY MINUTES, you can't help but feeling they could've done better. This time around, they did exactly that - in spirit of the back-to-basics ethic that they adopted for 2009 album Octahedron, this gig featured them delivering a classy package of fourteen songs from across their brilliant career, including many old favourites we hadn't seen in a while, and just the right balance of jamming and playing SONGS. Indeed, some of us who didn't get the opportunity to go to Volta gigs in 2006 or 2004 got to hear some songs we'd NEVER heard before, which was most delightful. I knew I was going to see them at the Big Day Out the following day, but really, the promise of a full-length set was too good to resist! If all goes well, album number six from this wonderful band should land sometime this year, and I always look forward to seeing where they'll go next. So should you.
5. Faith No More (USA), at Festering Hole, February 24. With support from AFI (USA), Gallows (UK) and errr, Neil Hamburger (USA).
You have to laugh at the whingeing AFI fans who complained about Soundwave squeezing Faith No More onto this bill, due to the overwhelming demand for them to perform another sideshow. I mean, you're getting a FAITH NO MORE SHOW! With no disrespect to AFI band intended, this night belonged entirely to a show-stopping performance from Patton, Hudson, Gould, Bordin and Bottum, and how could it go any other way? Despite the group's absence from the scene for quite a long time, they came onstage and ripped through their amazing back catalogue that's become so well-loved and appreciated by many over the years, and they were no slouches on the live stage at all. This was well worth the impulse decision I made to attend.
4. Them Crooked Vultures (USA), at Festering Hole, January 22. With support from Sailors & Swine.
Ah yes. I remember being very excited in late 2009, when in a rather clever anticipation-building manoeuvre, Frontier Touring plastered the streets of Melbourne with a poster of "the" Vulture that we'd come to associate with this rock n roll supergroup, simply accompanied with the text "FOLLOW WHAT'S HEARD" and a website address. Said website simply featured a countdown, and when this countdown was up, as expected, touring dates for Them Crooked Vultures WERE ANNOUNCED! Now, it's funny that the tour dates (and indeed, a lot of other shows by this band) were announced before they actually released an album or indeed a full-length song, but then the album came in November and we didn't have to worry about the gig sucking any more! The lineup of the band is Josh Homme, John Paul Jones and Dave Grohl (and also features Alain Johannes in the live format) - now, really, need I say more?! This gig truly lived up to expectations, with the thunderous bluesy riff-rock of their debut album translating very well to the live stage. Let's have more of them!
3. Muse (UK), at Rod Laver Arena, December 14. With support from Biffy Clyro (UK).
There was a little bit of disappointment in the air when Lees and West didn't give this British powerhouse a run of headline dates when they were here in January for the Big Day Out, but then again, their reasoning for doing so was acceptable - Muse were GUARANTEED to return later in the year, bringing their full (and quite over-the-top!) live production with them! So Muse fans said, "OK!", enjoyed them at the BDO nonetheless, and then bought tickets to this. And for doing so, we were rewarded with giant towers, an intense laser show, and a quality set jam-packed with plenty of songs from across their five-album career - and indeed, "jam-packed" it was, the band breaking into several classic riffs throughout the evening. A solid show this was!
2. Cynic (USA), at Billboard the Venue, January 3. Technically, this show was headlined by Edguy (Germany), but quite a lot of the crowd, including myself, left after this truly amazing performance!
I couldn't begin to describe the emotions I felt back in 2009 when the Just Say Rock team announced the lineup for their New Year's Eve and Day extravaganza in Sydney, which they dubbed "Screamfest". There were plenty of quality international acts on the bill, including Ensiferum, Dark Funeral and Rotting Christ, but above all, one name stood out for me and many others, and that name was CYNIC. In 2006, Paul Masvidal announced plans to revive his long-since disbanded progressive-fusion metal project, and with the band actually playing shows in 2007, and recording an album which was released in 2008, the dream of seeing this wonderful band live began to seem not so hopeless after all! After a fantastic show on New Year's Day at the aforementioned Screamfest, plenty of Melbournians couldn't help themselves and thus, we all got ourselves down to Billboard on a Sunday night for a second helping of Cynic. Of course, the setlist was a little different; delighting those that had been disappointed by the absence of said songs in Sydney, the band even ripped out Focus classics Veil of Maya and Textures. It was truly inspiring to see such talented musicians playing in Melbourne after all this time, and they looked genuinely happy and appreciative to be doing so. They even did us the honour of hanging around at the merch desk after the show, more than happy to speak to and take happy snaps with their grateful fans. I don't know why I'm bothering to write about this show; words cannot explain its magic.
But at the end of the year, there was one gig that clearly stood out above the rest, and what a show it was. That honour goes to...
1. Om (USA), at Hi Fi Bar and Ballroom, July 16. With support from Lichens (USA; he also played in Om), Blarke Bayer / Black Widow and Breathing Shrine.
Even though the legendary Sleep have reformed, owing to financial constraints I still rate my chances of actually seeing them slim-to-none, so when this gig was announced I jumped at the opportunity to be in the same room as the MIGHTY Al Cisneros. Om's performance on this night really showed that you don't need a massive stage/venue or a flashy lightshow to deliver the goods - sometimes, all you need is a bassist, guitarist and drummer to just play to a medium-capacity room and let the music do the talking. Which it certainly did - the bass-heavy drone-y stoner metal reverberating through the room and pleasing the ears of all in attendance. Just a simple yet powerful performance, delivered with a surprisingly great live mix. I really enjoyed this one.
Well then, that just about covers it! 2010 certainly did have some beauties didn't it? 2011, you've got a lot to live up to!
NOW PLAYING: The Mars Volta - Festival Hall bootleg. I thought it appropriate!
Friday, January 7, 2011
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!
Monday, December 6, 2010
"There are others, others just like me - it has come to this" - My Disco, Hi Fi Bar and Ballroom, 03/12/2010 - "Little Joy" album launch
I first encountered this wonderful Melbourne trio last year, when they supported Texan powerhouse ...Trail of Dead at their two sold-out shows at the Corner Hotel. At the time I had mixed feelings about them - while their songs were very catchy at times and showed undeniable talent, I just couldn't get over how damn repetitive they were. I believe I said to a friend, describing the song "An Even Sun", something along the lines of "That isn't a song, that's one riff being played for 8 minutes". And a very boring 8 minutes it was! However, I revisted those shows through the Fan Made Recordings blog and found the band growing on me a lot. I picked up a copy of their third album a few weeks ago, and that was definitely all I needed to attend this. On a very warm Friday evening, My Disco took to the stage at the Hi Fi Bar and Ballroom, a venue which I was surprised they booked; I didn't think they had that large a fanbase. But obviously they do these days; there was quite a respectable crowd who enjoyed watching them play their new album from start to finish. I'm one of those people who believes a strong support bill is a vital part of any gig, and with Robin Fox, KES Band and Marco Fusinato warming the stage before My Disco, that criteria was certainly fulfilled tonight!
I arrived at the venue a bit late, due to having to meet my friend Chris at Etihad Stadium, where a much bigger concert was taking place! This was to pick up his old recording gear (see previous post). By the time I descended the stairs to the Hi Fi basement, it was already about 8:50; I'd been under the impression that Marco Fusinato would start at 8:30 so I assumed I'd missed him. Then after a few minutes I realised that what looked like Fusinato's typical setup was remaining intact at the front of the stage, and sure enough he soon headed out to assault our eardrums, in the nicest possible way, with his typical glitch guitar barrage. I said in a review of the last time I saw him that I don't particularly care for his style of noise music and unfortunately, he did nothing to change that opinion on this occasion. It's not that I don't like noise, in fact I find some of it very enjoyable, but in my opinion it's very hard to get much enjoyment out of a guy sitting down, manipulating muted notes and some feedback with a table full of pedals, in a random abstract fashion. It's not terrible to watch and listen to, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see him if he played his own show. Oh well, it takes all kinds I guess.
Up next were a very recent discovery of mine, Karl E Scullin's KES Band. I first saw this group only two nights prior to this at the Corner Hotel, and enjoyed them immensely. On this occasion they were playing in "big band" mode, which essentially amounted to them having an extra guitarist and a harmonicist who occasionally played a percussion block thing. Like I said, I'd really enjoyed them at the Corner Hotel and tonight was no exception, as they delighted the room with a set of slow-burning post-rock-based tunes. There is one criticism I do have of this band, and that is that they don't do endings very well - quite a few of their songs, especially the instrumental pieces which appeared sporadically throughout the set, just seemed to be getting going before abruptly being cut off. I'm not saying that bands should stick to a verse-chorus-verse formula, quite the opposite, but some of the songs just ended at a seemingly arbitrary point in the song, which I found quite frustrating. That being said, I WILL go out of my way to see them again, as they're a talented lot, and maybe this won't bother me after a few viewings.
The familiar hiss of a smoke machine soon could be heard, and a large bearded fellow made his way to a laptop on the side of the stage, and then the whole room went silent as a bright green laser beam illuminated the room. Of course, it was time for Robin Fox. I stated in a review a few months ago that a Fox live performance is a truly amazing spectacle and he certainly delivered another beauty tonight, as glitchy pops, clicks and noisy static were accompanied in perfect synchronicity by the movements of his laser. Something I did notice about halfway through the set, which disappointed me a little, is that some of the "musical" ideas that cropped up during the set were pieces that I had definitely heard before at his previous outings, with laser movements to match. This leads me to wonder exactly how much of his set is actually played "live" and how much was a playback of pre-recorded bits and pieces. I know it's unavoidable for some acts, but I personally find it a little disappointing when a band or musician is obviously not "playing" what is coming out of the speakers. But I don't know anything about how Fox's music works, so I won't go jumping to such conclusions as he really is a joy to watch and listen to (but mainly watch haha). It was pretty frustrating during his set that some sections of the crowd continued to carry on lively conversation, which could quite clearly be heard during the more quieter moments, and at one point I think I may have heard someone have the balls to yell out "Hurry up!" As Bill Hicks once said, "See, the fact that you don't get it or like it is fine. The fact that you want to ruin it for everybody else, that's why you're a cocksucker!"It's perfectly understandable for someone not to like someone making such abstract music as Fox, but if you insist on being in the room during his performance, and quite close to the front of the venue at that, just shut up and let him do his thing, and let those people who are enjoying it do so in the proper fashion. This kind of disrespect really annoys me at gigs, and I if I were ever in a band, I don't mind admitting I'd probably do a Roger Waters and yell at them to STFU. Anyway.
Liam Andrews, Ben Andrews and Rohan Rebeiro made their way onstage at a little after 11, to much applause from the now-sizeable crowd. Ben began the set with a few gentle strums on his Travis Bean guitar, suggesting that maybe the set would open with Sun Bear. However, this proved to be just a little warmup, as he soon picked up the pace for the predictable opener Closer. I'd suspected that tonight the band would play the new album from start to finish, as they did an intimate Melbourne gig earlier in the year (albeit with a slightly different order), and as the set wore on, it became clear that this was exactly what they were going to do. I'd been wondering whether I'd perhaps find myself a little bored during their gig like I did last year because of the whole repetition thing. However, there was absolutely no danger of that happening on this occasion - I think it's because I'm now used to what they sound like, and of course with the set consisting entirely of their new album, it was material I was very familiar with. Also, the band were putting a whole lot of energy into their set, especially Ben who was constantly thrashing his head up and down. Rohan Rebeiro was also incredible on the drumkit, delivering some truly dazzling fill work during the midsections of many songs. A real highlight of the set came during Sunray - the lights went completely out and of course, Robin Fox made his way back to the stage to deliver more perfectly accompanied laser brilliance. The band were really in top form tonight, just delivering a solid no-nonsense set, Little Joy translating brilliantly to the live format. It shows the talent of these musicians when you realise that most of their songs are based on very few riffs, yet through subtle clever variations and expansion, they can really deliver a great performance. This was particularly evident during an epic version of Rivers; while I wasn't timing I am pretty sure that this performance may have stretched out to about 15 minutes! With the final groove of A Turreted Berg, the band finally wound down, with Liam saying a simple "Thank you", which incidentally were the ONLY words he spoke all night. Applause and cheers for the band to do an encore went on long after the band departed the stage, even over the house music, but it was clear that the night had come to its end. What a talented bunch this band is.
SETLIST: (Little Joy from start to finish)
Closer
Young
Turn
Sun Bear
Sunray (with Robin Fox laser show)
Lil' Joy
With Age
Rivers (extended)
A Turreted Berg
I arrived at the venue a bit late, due to having to meet my friend Chris at Etihad Stadium, where a much bigger concert was taking place! This was to pick up his old recording gear (see previous post). By the time I descended the stairs to the Hi Fi basement, it was already about 8:50; I'd been under the impression that Marco Fusinato would start at 8:30 so I assumed I'd missed him. Then after a few minutes I realised that what looked like Fusinato's typical setup was remaining intact at the front of the stage, and sure enough he soon headed out to assault our eardrums, in the nicest possible way, with his typical glitch guitar barrage. I said in a review of the last time I saw him that I don't particularly care for his style of noise music and unfortunately, he did nothing to change that opinion on this occasion. It's not that I don't like noise, in fact I find some of it very enjoyable, but in my opinion it's very hard to get much enjoyment out of a guy sitting down, manipulating muted notes and some feedback with a table full of pedals, in a random abstract fashion. It's not terrible to watch and listen to, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see him if he played his own show. Oh well, it takes all kinds I guess.
Up next were a very recent discovery of mine, Karl E Scullin's KES Band. I first saw this group only two nights prior to this at the Corner Hotel, and enjoyed them immensely. On this occasion they were playing in "big band" mode, which essentially amounted to them having an extra guitarist and a harmonicist who occasionally played a percussion block thing. Like I said, I'd really enjoyed them at the Corner Hotel and tonight was no exception, as they delighted the room with a set of slow-burning post-rock-based tunes. There is one criticism I do have of this band, and that is that they don't do endings very well - quite a few of their songs, especially the instrumental pieces which appeared sporadically throughout the set, just seemed to be getting going before abruptly being cut off. I'm not saying that bands should stick to a verse-chorus-verse formula, quite the opposite, but some of the songs just ended at a seemingly arbitrary point in the song, which I found quite frustrating. That being said, I WILL go out of my way to see them again, as they're a talented lot, and maybe this won't bother me after a few viewings.
The familiar hiss of a smoke machine soon could be heard, and a large bearded fellow made his way to a laptop on the side of the stage, and then the whole room went silent as a bright green laser beam illuminated the room. Of course, it was time for Robin Fox. I stated in a review a few months ago that a Fox live performance is a truly amazing spectacle and he certainly delivered another beauty tonight, as glitchy pops, clicks and noisy static were accompanied in perfect synchronicity by the movements of his laser. Something I did notice about halfway through the set, which disappointed me a little, is that some of the "musical" ideas that cropped up during the set were pieces that I had definitely heard before at his previous outings, with laser movements to match. This leads me to wonder exactly how much of his set is actually played "live" and how much was a playback of pre-recorded bits and pieces. I know it's unavoidable for some acts, but I personally find it a little disappointing when a band or musician is obviously not "playing" what is coming out of the speakers. But I don't know anything about how Fox's music works, so I won't go jumping to such conclusions as he really is a joy to watch and listen to (but mainly watch haha). It was pretty frustrating during his set that some sections of the crowd continued to carry on lively conversation, which could quite clearly be heard during the more quieter moments, and at one point I think I may have heard someone have the balls to yell out "Hurry up!" As Bill Hicks once said, "See, the fact that you don't get it or like it is fine. The fact that you want to ruin it for everybody else, that's why you're a cocksucker!"It's perfectly understandable for someone not to like someone making such abstract music as Fox, but if you insist on being in the room during his performance, and quite close to the front of the venue at that, just shut up and let him do his thing, and let those people who are enjoying it do so in the proper fashion. This kind of disrespect really annoys me at gigs, and I if I were ever in a band, I don't mind admitting I'd probably do a Roger Waters and yell at them to STFU. Anyway.
Liam Andrews, Ben Andrews and Rohan Rebeiro made their way onstage at a little after 11, to much applause from the now-sizeable crowd. Ben began the set with a few gentle strums on his Travis Bean guitar, suggesting that maybe the set would open with Sun Bear. However, this proved to be just a little warmup, as he soon picked up the pace for the predictable opener Closer. I'd suspected that tonight the band would play the new album from start to finish, as they did an intimate Melbourne gig earlier in the year (albeit with a slightly different order), and as the set wore on, it became clear that this was exactly what they were going to do. I'd been wondering whether I'd perhaps find myself a little bored during their gig like I did last year because of the whole repetition thing. However, there was absolutely no danger of that happening on this occasion - I think it's because I'm now used to what they sound like, and of course with the set consisting entirely of their new album, it was material I was very familiar with. Also, the band were putting a whole lot of energy into their set, especially Ben who was constantly thrashing his head up and down. Rohan Rebeiro was also incredible on the drumkit, delivering some truly dazzling fill work during the midsections of many songs. A real highlight of the set came during Sunray - the lights went completely out and of course, Robin Fox made his way back to the stage to deliver more perfectly accompanied laser brilliance. The band were really in top form tonight, just delivering a solid no-nonsense set, Little Joy translating brilliantly to the live format. It shows the talent of these musicians when you realise that most of their songs are based on very few riffs, yet through subtle clever variations and expansion, they can really deliver a great performance. This was particularly evident during an epic version of Rivers; while I wasn't timing I am pretty sure that this performance may have stretched out to about 15 minutes! With the final groove of A Turreted Berg, the band finally wound down, with Liam saying a simple "Thank you", which incidentally were the ONLY words he spoke all night. Applause and cheers for the band to do an encore went on long after the band departed the stage, even over the house music, but it was clear that the night had come to its end. What a talented bunch this band is.
SETLIST: (Little Joy from start to finish)
Closer
Young
Turn
Sun Bear
Sunray (with Robin Fox laser show)
Lil' Joy
With Age
Rivers (extended)
A Turreted Berg
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Fan Made Recordings...
Hey all, I'm not really sure how many people actually read this thing on a regular basis, I suspect that most of you only just click on whenever I alert you to a post via Facebook, but anyway. Just a short note to say that I've just joined the Fan Made Recordings team, a great little blog put together by a small bunch of people that record the gigs they go to and share them online for public enjoyment. I've been following the blog for quite some time now, first finding out about it through the Mammal forum, where Chris (seancemascara) was a mod - at the time, he was the only contributor to FMR. Anyway, I see Chris out and about at quite a few shows, and he knows that I've been very keen to start recording shows for myself! Well, a few months ago he told me he was buying new gear to record with and that he would give his old stuff to me - I cannot stress how grateful I am for this, this is extremely generous of him as he knows how keen I am to get involved with this. Hopefully I'll have the gear in a few days, in time to record My Disco's album launch on Friday night which I'm very excited for. So in the meantime, check out fanmaderecordings.blogspot.com, there's a great little collection of shows there already, and in a few days you'll get to see me posting! Once again, thank you SO MUCH to Chris, this is very very exciting for me!
NOW PLAYING: The Butterfly Effect - Final Conversation of Kings. I thought I might add this little section to the end of my blogs, after all, this is all about music so why not share with you what I'm listening to hey?
NOW PLAYING: The Butterfly Effect - Final Conversation of Kings. I thought I might add this little section to the end of my blogs, after all, this is all about music so why not share with you what I'm listening to hey?
Monday, November 1, 2010
A great night of local rock 'n' roll... with added costume craziness - Creepshow Festival, Esplanade Hotel, 30-10-10
St Kilda's iconic Esplanade Hotel has three separate stages capable of holding bands, and recently some clever promoters have taken on board the idea of using the multi-stage setup to hold small festivals in the venue. Following on from the success of their Rock the Bay event earlier this year, the Saltar Hype crew decided to hold a somewhat smaller but no less exciting mini-rock-fest on the last weekend of October. Falling on the night before Halloween, the event was appropriately dubbed Creepshow, with punters and players alike dressing up in all sorts of weird and wonderful costumes for the evening. Even the venue was given a suitably "creepy" makeover!
A late withdrawal from one band saw the event's starting time pushed back an hour, but it was worth the wait, because at 7:30 it was one of Melbourne's most promising young bands in Anna Salen, who took to the Front Bar stage - which had been renamed "Field of the Living Dead" for the evening. This would be the first of many inspired costume choices from the bands on the night, as Daiv Morgan (guitar/keys), Shaun Scott (drums) and Paul Risso (bass/keys) took to the stage dressed as Nintendo heroes Mario, Wario and Luigi respectively. However, the theme didn't stop at the costumes - the stage was also decorated with some homemade replicas of the iconic "question mark" boxes from the game, and the band's prog/math-rock numbers were augmented by plenty of triggered sound effects from the game. Punters couldn't help but smile whenever the very familiar coin or pipe sound effects popped up in the middle of the band's groovy instrumental rock riffs. The familiar music from the game was also replicated very faithfully by the band in between their own songs. The front bar was actually quite packed for such an early timeslot, and the crowd was very receptive to the band's sound, seemingly not fazed by the lack of vocals in the songs. "WHAT'S IN THE BOX!?" shouted out one eager punter at one point, to which Daiv responded, "You'll find out later!" And indeed, toward the end of the set, Daiv picked up one of the boxes and began throwing its contents into the audience - which turned out to be, appropriately, chocolate coins! Packing plenty of awesome riffs and clever musical ideas into their short set, it was another good performance from a band that just keeps getting better with every show. Keep an eye out for these guys :)
Up next on the Field stage was a typically hilarious performance from I Am Duckeye; for the uninitiated, they are a side project of sorts for Sam Haycroft and Sean Bailey, the guitarist and drummer of Sydonia (incidentally the evening's headliners). Haycroft takes the frontman duties in the band which also includes his brother Matt on guitar, and Julian Medor on bass guitar. One might think from Medor's pirate attire and Sam's goggles that they too were getting into the spirit of dressing up, but of course, fans of the band knew that this was the usual performance get-up for the group. Their set featured humourous groovy riff-driven numbers such as Time Worms and Ride the Clutch, interspersed with typically hilarious banter between songs, and also featuring some amusing choreography! Do these guys have an album? If so, I want it!
I then wandered down into the basement - or The Furnace - to catch a little of Nine of Swords, who had also done quite well in the costume department - Sesame Street was their theme, with Trav, Al, Oz and Nubs dressed as Oscar, the Count, Elmo and Cookie Monster. Not having heard them before this I wasn't sure what to expect; the band ended up delivering a pretty good set of heavy rock that fit in well with the rest of the line-up. I'll give these guys a proper review next time; I can never really think what to say of a band I'm seeing for the first time when I haven't heard their stuff before.
A little while later, it was time for Engine Three Seven to take to the Field stage, and there was definitely a lot of anticipation in the room for their set. They launched their quality second EP Atmosphere in the venue's Gershwin Room last month, and really put on a good show then, so there was a high expectation of them this time around. The band - who had also got into the Halloween spirit with some face and body paint - did not disappoint, opening their set with a fantastic rendition of Hysterical Hysteria, which saw vocalist Casey Dean get the majority of the front bar to sit down on the floor during a slow part in the song, before jumping up and pogoing their way to the conclusion. Perhaps it's not a very original move these days, but it was still enjoyed by the crowd! The set certainly lived up to expectations, as the band ripped through a slew of tracks from Atmosphere and a handful of favourites from their self-titled debut EP. The crowd was only too happy to lend their voices to the band's great rock anthems, especially the older favourites. As the set closed with a rousing rendition of Easy Graceful Descent, I found myself wondering, "Why the hell aren't these guys more well known?" They really deserve something more with the amazing talents they keep showing at shows like this.
SETLIST:
Hysterical Hysteria
Cops
Have it All
Atmosphere
Adults Only
Automatic Everything
Win 4 Me
Easy Graceful Descent
Up next was the increasingly-popular Twelve Foot Ninja, using the night as a platform to launch their fantastic new EP Smoke Bomb which hit the stores a few weeks prior. The Melbourne quartet came from nowhere in late 2008 with the release of the New Dawn EP, impressing many with their daring fusion of metal, reggae, dub and hints of electronica. Touring relentlessly throughout the past two years has really paid off, as they now appear extremely comfortable onstage, and have a pretty impressive lot of tunes under their belt. Not surprisingly, Smoke Bomb got a good airing on the night, in fact, they played every track off it, as well as a handful of New Dawn favourites and even some other new tunes that vocalist Kin declared would appear on the band's forthcoming debut album, planned for release next year. The band's usual ninja attire was of course present, but for the occasion they'd gone a bit extra, with some convincing looking wounds! All in all, it was another fantastic performance from these local favourites, and the enthusiastic crowd really showed their appreciation of the group - the mosh pit got VERY intense! A guest vocalist joined in for a few songs, as did the group's friend Monty to play the saxophone parts during Manufacture of Consent. The set concluded with the storming Clarion, which saw the crowd absolutely losing their sense of self-control!
SETLIST (quite possibly inaccurate, this is a bit of a stretch of the memory):
(New)
Beneath the Smiles
(New)
Endless
Molotov Brother
Apocolypstik
War
Manufacture of Consent
Clarion
Finally, at the very late time of 1:20, which had luckily resulted in the crowd calming down, Melbourne experimental metal quartet Sydonia took to the stage. I've genuinely developed a major obsession with this band just in the past few months and despite the late timeslot, I was more than awake for another great performance from this band. The costumes came out again, with bass player Adam Murray looking particularly snappy dressed as Vince Noir from The Mighty Boosh. The band did as much as they could in their hour set, mixing up old favourites from Given to Destroyers such as Adornment and No Woman's Land with some of their brilliant newer tunes such as Ocean of Storms and Sinner, all of which the crowd sang with great enthusiasm. And even if you've seen them live numerous times before (as I have), there's still something awesome about those incredible percussion jams, where guitarist Sam Haycroft and bassist Murray put down their instruments and bang away at the various custom percussion pieces laid out around the stage. The all-drumming spectacular Bateria saw them joined by yet another stick-wielder; this evening it was Murray's brother Zack. But the highlight of the set came toward the very end, when the band introduced a masked special guest onto the stage - and when the mask came off, there was gasps and cheers of appreciation as it became apparent that it was none other than Randy Blythe of American modern metal heroes Lamb of God! Somewhat surprisingly for Sydonia, the song they chose to do together was none other than a cover of the Sex Pistols' classic Pretty Vacant. And after that, the crowd was more than happy to oblige Haycroft's request that they help introduce the thrashing madness of Incoming, always a favourite to conclude the Sydonia set. Blythe helped out on this too, and then finally, at 2:20am, it was all over! Saltar Hype had really delivered the goods on this, an extremely fun evening of local rock talent.
SETLIST (again, questionable accuracy):
Adornment
3 Tongues
Ocean of Storms
No Woman's Land
Drag You Out
Bateria (with Zack Murray)
Here
Sinner
Enemy
Pretty Vacant (Sex Pistols cover, with Randy Blythe of Lamb of God)
Incoming (with Randy Blythe)
A late withdrawal from one band saw the event's starting time pushed back an hour, but it was worth the wait, because at 7:30 it was one of Melbourne's most promising young bands in Anna Salen, who took to the Front Bar stage - which had been renamed "Field of the Living Dead" for the evening. This would be the first of many inspired costume choices from the bands on the night, as Daiv Morgan (guitar/keys), Shaun Scott (drums) and Paul Risso (bass/keys) took to the stage dressed as Nintendo heroes Mario, Wario and Luigi respectively. However, the theme didn't stop at the costumes - the stage was also decorated with some homemade replicas of the iconic "question mark" boxes from the game, and the band's prog/math-rock numbers were augmented by plenty of triggered sound effects from the game. Punters couldn't help but smile whenever the very familiar coin or pipe sound effects popped up in the middle of the band's groovy instrumental rock riffs. The familiar music from the game was also replicated very faithfully by the band in between their own songs. The front bar was actually quite packed for such an early timeslot, and the crowd was very receptive to the band's sound, seemingly not fazed by the lack of vocals in the songs. "WHAT'S IN THE BOX!?" shouted out one eager punter at one point, to which Daiv responded, "You'll find out later!" And indeed, toward the end of the set, Daiv picked up one of the boxes and began throwing its contents into the audience - which turned out to be, appropriately, chocolate coins! Packing plenty of awesome riffs and clever musical ideas into their short set, it was another good performance from a band that just keeps getting better with every show. Keep an eye out for these guys :)
Up next on the Field stage was a typically hilarious performance from I Am Duckeye; for the uninitiated, they are a side project of sorts for Sam Haycroft and Sean Bailey, the guitarist and drummer of Sydonia (incidentally the evening's headliners). Haycroft takes the frontman duties in the band which also includes his brother Matt on guitar, and Julian Medor on bass guitar. One might think from Medor's pirate attire and Sam's goggles that they too were getting into the spirit of dressing up, but of course, fans of the band knew that this was the usual performance get-up for the group. Their set featured humourous groovy riff-driven numbers such as Time Worms and Ride the Clutch, interspersed with typically hilarious banter between songs, and also featuring some amusing choreography! Do these guys have an album? If so, I want it!
I then wandered down into the basement - or The Furnace - to catch a little of Nine of Swords, who had also done quite well in the costume department - Sesame Street was their theme, with Trav, Al, Oz and Nubs dressed as Oscar, the Count, Elmo and Cookie Monster. Not having heard them before this I wasn't sure what to expect; the band ended up delivering a pretty good set of heavy rock that fit in well with the rest of the line-up. I'll give these guys a proper review next time; I can never really think what to say of a band I'm seeing for the first time when I haven't heard their stuff before.
A little while later, it was time for Engine Three Seven to take to the Field stage, and there was definitely a lot of anticipation in the room for their set. They launched their quality second EP Atmosphere in the venue's Gershwin Room last month, and really put on a good show then, so there was a high expectation of them this time around. The band - who had also got into the Halloween spirit with some face and body paint - did not disappoint, opening their set with a fantastic rendition of Hysterical Hysteria, which saw vocalist Casey Dean get the majority of the front bar to sit down on the floor during a slow part in the song, before jumping up and pogoing their way to the conclusion. Perhaps it's not a very original move these days, but it was still enjoyed by the crowd! The set certainly lived up to expectations, as the band ripped through a slew of tracks from Atmosphere and a handful of favourites from their self-titled debut EP. The crowd was only too happy to lend their voices to the band's great rock anthems, especially the older favourites. As the set closed with a rousing rendition of Easy Graceful Descent, I found myself wondering, "Why the hell aren't these guys more well known?" They really deserve something more with the amazing talents they keep showing at shows like this.
SETLIST:
Hysterical Hysteria
Cops
Have it All
Atmosphere
Adults Only
Automatic Everything
Win 4 Me
Easy Graceful Descent
Up next was the increasingly-popular Twelve Foot Ninja, using the night as a platform to launch their fantastic new EP Smoke Bomb which hit the stores a few weeks prior. The Melbourne quartet came from nowhere in late 2008 with the release of the New Dawn EP, impressing many with their daring fusion of metal, reggae, dub and hints of electronica. Touring relentlessly throughout the past two years has really paid off, as they now appear extremely comfortable onstage, and have a pretty impressive lot of tunes under their belt. Not surprisingly, Smoke Bomb got a good airing on the night, in fact, they played every track off it, as well as a handful of New Dawn favourites and even some other new tunes that vocalist Kin declared would appear on the band's forthcoming debut album, planned for release next year. The band's usual ninja attire was of course present, but for the occasion they'd gone a bit extra, with some convincing looking wounds! All in all, it was another fantastic performance from these local favourites, and the enthusiastic crowd really showed their appreciation of the group - the mosh pit got VERY intense! A guest vocalist joined in for a few songs, as did the group's friend Monty to play the saxophone parts during Manufacture of Consent. The set concluded with the storming Clarion, which saw the crowd absolutely losing their sense of self-control!
SETLIST (quite possibly inaccurate, this is a bit of a stretch of the memory):
(New)
Beneath the Smiles
(New)
Endless
Molotov Brother
Apocolypstik
War
Manufacture of Consent
Clarion
Finally, at the very late time of 1:20, which had luckily resulted in the crowd calming down, Melbourne experimental metal quartet Sydonia took to the stage. I've genuinely developed a major obsession with this band just in the past few months and despite the late timeslot, I was more than awake for another great performance from this band. The costumes came out again, with bass player Adam Murray looking particularly snappy dressed as Vince Noir from The Mighty Boosh. The band did as much as they could in their hour set, mixing up old favourites from Given to Destroyers such as Adornment and No Woman's Land with some of their brilliant newer tunes such as Ocean of Storms and Sinner, all of which the crowd sang with great enthusiasm. And even if you've seen them live numerous times before (as I have), there's still something awesome about those incredible percussion jams, where guitarist Sam Haycroft and bassist Murray put down their instruments and bang away at the various custom percussion pieces laid out around the stage. The all-drumming spectacular Bateria saw them joined by yet another stick-wielder; this evening it was Murray's brother Zack. But the highlight of the set came toward the very end, when the band introduced a masked special guest onto the stage - and when the mask came off, there was gasps and cheers of appreciation as it became apparent that it was none other than Randy Blythe of American modern metal heroes Lamb of God! Somewhat surprisingly for Sydonia, the song they chose to do together was none other than a cover of the Sex Pistols' classic Pretty Vacant. And after that, the crowd was more than happy to oblige Haycroft's request that they help introduce the thrashing madness of Incoming, always a favourite to conclude the Sydonia set. Blythe helped out on this too, and then finally, at 2:20am, it was all over! Saltar Hype had really delivered the goods on this, an extremely fun evening of local rock talent.
SETLIST (again, questionable accuracy):
Adornment
3 Tongues
Ocean of Storms
No Woman's Land
Drag You Out
Bateria (with Zack Murray)
Here
Sinner
Enemy
Pretty Vacant (Sex Pistols cover, with Randy Blythe of Lamb of God)
Incoming (with Randy Blythe)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
"We made plans to..." actually no, that title's too obvious :) - Birds of Tokyo w/Silversun Pickups, Festival Hall, 01/10/10
There's something somewhat rewarding about watching a band you've liked for ages suddenly achieving some serious recognition, and recently it's been Birds of Tokyo that have risen out of the underground to make a major dent in the mainstream. Their recent self-titled third album has been going great guns in the ARIA charts, and Plans has become a very successful tune for the band. And to think, three years ago when the band's first album Day One was released, a lot of people knew them as "Ian Kenny from Karnivool's other band". So on a very pleasant spring Friday night in Melbourne, they took to the stage at Festival Hall - a major achievement in itself - with support from noisy LA rockers Silversun Pickups and fellow WA rockers The Chemist. The near-sold out crowd enjoyed immensely!
The Chemist were up first, but as usual, hardly anyone had bothered to turn up yet, and those that had were a little bit indifferent to the fact that there was a band up on the stage - quite a talented band though if I do say so myself. ...To be honest, it's now been four days since I saw them and I had never heard them previously, so I now can't remember exactly what they sounded like, but I did enjoy them :) I will be seeing them again in a few weeks when they warm the stage for Boy & Bear (and how I am looking forward to that!), so they might get a more detailed review then...
Following that, we had our international visitors Silversun Pickups, who I'd seen just three days earlier but was nevertheless looking forward to catching again. I was aware however that their set would only be half of the 90 minute+ marathon that they did at the Corner (see previous blog), something a lot of people in other states (who didn't get SSPU headline shows) complained about bitterly. Nevertheless, they had more than a few vocal fans inside Festival Hall this evening, and delivered the best set they could in 45 minutes - although they were somewhat shortchanged by the sound guy. Again, frontman Brian Aubert was full of love for Melbourne, noting that it was the only city in Australia where they've played three times before. The set was pretty much the more well-known half of their full set, but still played extremely well by a very energetic band. Again, a class act!
SETLIST:
Growing Old is Getting Old
Well Thought Out Twinkles
There's No Secrets This Year
The Royal We
Future Foe Scenarios
Substitution
Panic Switch
Lazy Eye
Now, this was the sixth time I'd seen Birds of Tokyo, so one might expect I'd be a little less enthusiastic for them this time around. However, it had been close to a year since I'd last seen them perform; that particular event being the Broken Strings tour which saw them reinvent their back catalogue in acoustic-and-strings format. As awesome as that tour was, I was looking forward to them returning to the standard big ol rock 'n' roll format, and with an EXCELLENT new album to boot with songs I'd never seen live before! And they burst into life just after 9pm, with a great rendition of grandiose new track The Unspeakable Scene - however, that particular choice of song to open left a few people a bit stunned and the crowd didn't really get into it until the next song dropped, which was everyone's favourite Black Sheets. As usual, frontman Ian Kenny was particularly animated, several times declaring the night to be a "party", and thanking us all for being in attendance. And when he wasn't endearing himself to the fans with banter, he was doing that amazing space cadet dance we all know and love, all around the spacious Festival Hall stage. I've seen Birds' stage production increase steadily with each tour, and tonight they'd really gone all-out, with a giant visual screen up the back complementing the likes of Circles and Silhouettic very nicely. And as for the setlist? You couldn't ask for a better mix of old and new - in amongst the likes of The Saddest Thing I Know and Murmurs, there were plenty of crowd singalongs to the likes of White Witch, Off Kilter and even VERY old song Believer, from the Birds of Tokyo EP. Such was the crowd's enthusiasm that at one point Kenny noted that he'd like to bring us all on tour next time to be Birds of Tokyo's official choir. The show just went from strength to strength, until finally, with that familiar gentle drum intro, it was time for Plans, which was when the voices really got going! But what to follow it with? Silhouettic of course, and the ENTIRE crowd joined in during the first rendition of that last chorus after the jam! After disappearing for a quick breather, the demands for an encore would see them return to close the show with The Gap and the ever-popular Broken Bones. Some people might grumble about the pop-friendly direction the band took with the new album, but on this night, Kenny, Spark, Jackson, Weston and Sarangapany really took flight with an amazing show that left everyone satisfied.
SETLIST:
The Unspeakable Scene
Black Sheets
Wild Eyed Boy
White Witch
Believer
Circles
Wayside
The Saddest Thing I Know
Wild At Heart
Off Kilter
In the Veins of Death Valley
Get Out
The Bakers Son
Murmurs
Plans
Silhouettic
---Encore----
The Gap
Broken Bones
The Chemist were up first, but as usual, hardly anyone had bothered to turn up yet, and those that had were a little bit indifferent to the fact that there was a band up on the stage - quite a talented band though if I do say so myself. ...To be honest, it's now been four days since I saw them and I had never heard them previously, so I now can't remember exactly what they sounded like, but I did enjoy them :) I will be seeing them again in a few weeks when they warm the stage for Boy & Bear (and how I am looking forward to that!), so they might get a more detailed review then...
Following that, we had our international visitors Silversun Pickups, who I'd seen just three days earlier but was nevertheless looking forward to catching again. I was aware however that their set would only be half of the 90 minute+ marathon that they did at the Corner (see previous blog), something a lot of people in other states (who didn't get SSPU headline shows) complained about bitterly. Nevertheless, they had more than a few vocal fans inside Festival Hall this evening, and delivered the best set they could in 45 minutes - although they were somewhat shortchanged by the sound guy. Again, frontman Brian Aubert was full of love for Melbourne, noting that it was the only city in Australia where they've played three times before. The set was pretty much the more well-known half of their full set, but still played extremely well by a very energetic band. Again, a class act!
SETLIST:
Growing Old is Getting Old
Well Thought Out Twinkles
There's No Secrets This Year
The Royal We
Future Foe Scenarios
Substitution
Panic Switch
Lazy Eye
Now, this was the sixth time I'd seen Birds of Tokyo, so one might expect I'd be a little less enthusiastic for them this time around. However, it had been close to a year since I'd last seen them perform; that particular event being the Broken Strings tour which saw them reinvent their back catalogue in acoustic-and-strings format. As awesome as that tour was, I was looking forward to them returning to the standard big ol rock 'n' roll format, and with an EXCELLENT new album to boot with songs I'd never seen live before! And they burst into life just after 9pm, with a great rendition of grandiose new track The Unspeakable Scene - however, that particular choice of song to open left a few people a bit stunned and the crowd didn't really get into it until the next song dropped, which was everyone's favourite Black Sheets. As usual, frontman Ian Kenny was particularly animated, several times declaring the night to be a "party", and thanking us all for being in attendance. And when he wasn't endearing himself to the fans with banter, he was doing that amazing space cadet dance we all know and love, all around the spacious Festival Hall stage. I've seen Birds' stage production increase steadily with each tour, and tonight they'd really gone all-out, with a giant visual screen up the back complementing the likes of Circles and Silhouettic very nicely. And as for the setlist? You couldn't ask for a better mix of old and new - in amongst the likes of The Saddest Thing I Know and Murmurs, there were plenty of crowd singalongs to the likes of White Witch, Off Kilter and even VERY old song Believer, from the Birds of Tokyo EP. Such was the crowd's enthusiasm that at one point Kenny noted that he'd like to bring us all on tour next time to be Birds of Tokyo's official choir. The show just went from strength to strength, until finally, with that familiar gentle drum intro, it was time for Plans, which was when the voices really got going! But what to follow it with? Silhouettic of course, and the ENTIRE crowd joined in during the first rendition of that last chorus after the jam! After disappearing for a quick breather, the demands for an encore would see them return to close the show with The Gap and the ever-popular Broken Bones. Some people might grumble about the pop-friendly direction the band took with the new album, but on this night, Kenny, Spark, Jackson, Weston and Sarangapany really took flight with an amazing show that left everyone satisfied.
SETLIST:
The Unspeakable Scene
Black Sheets
Wild Eyed Boy
White Witch
Believer
Circles
Wayside
The Saddest Thing I Know
Wild At Heart
Off Kilter
In the Veins of Death Valley
Get Out
The Bakers Son
Murmurs
Plans
Silhouettic
---Encore----
The Gap
Broken Bones
Thursday, September 30, 2010
"I've been waiting... I've been waiting for this moment, all my life" - Silversun Pickups, Corner Hotel, 28/09/10
It was the show that wasn't really supposed to happen, but thank FUCK it did. Los Angeles' highly acclaimed dreamy noisemakers Silversun Pickups were announced as part of the bill for the Coaster Festival in Gosford, NSW, but I think there was a very large amount of people who couldn't really make it there who were PRAYING they'd be putting in a few capital city appearances. However, in a miscalculated move to say the least, the promoter decided that the ideal way to tour them across this country would be to have them warming up the stage before a headlining performance from Birds of Tokyo. Now, with no disrespect to Birds intended because I'm sure it wasn't their fault (I'm actually a massive fan), but seriously, it's a bit of an insult to a TOURING BAND FROM AMERICA, who have only been here once and on that tour only played TINY venues, to have them playing a pathetic eight-song set before some band from Perth that everyone's probably seen before come onstage and play for almost two hours. There's just some logic missing there. To say nothing of the fact that musically, the two bands are worlds apart. Thankfully, Frontier Touring did a bit of damage control, at least for the Melbournians, and booked Silversun Pickups into the Corner Hotel, for an amazing headline set that sold out in, I believe, about 20 minutes. Papa vs Pretty opened the night; because I got there a bit late and only caught about 3-4 of their songs I'm not going to give them their own paragraph, but they were very good and I'd like to check them out again.
Maybe it was because it was a very un-rock and roll Tuesday night, maybe it was because they wanted to make up for lost time, but whatever the reason was, we only had to wait until 9:30 before the curtain pulled back and Brian Aubert (vocals/guitar), Nikki Monninger (bass/vocals), Joe Lester (keys/effects) and Christopher Guanlao (drums) kicked into a beautiful rendition of Growing Old is Getting Old from last year's brilliant Swoon album. Even from this opening song it was clear that we were going to be in for a good night - and when that "heavy" section in the middle kicked in, the crowd responded accordingly! After that song was done, Monninger hit a very familiar few bars, introducing my personal favourite SSPU song Well Thought Out Twinkles. This favourite from their first album Carnavas had the effect of really getting the crowd going, not that they needed encouragement. Everyone was really excited for this very special opportunity that the other states were not getting. I was surprised at how energetic the band are onstage too - not that their songs are dull, but they aren't exactly ultra-high intensity either. Still, that didn't stop Monninger from bouncing around the stage with a huge grin on her face, while Aubert made the most of the non-singing bits in the songs by leaning out over the barrier and thrashing the hell out of his guitar. Up the back of the stage, Guanlao was absolutely belting that kit; he even had a cymbal towering way above the rest of the kit, John Stanier-style.
After about five songs, the band finally took a break to allow Aubert to speak. He was pretty quiet earlier on in the set, but gradually got more and more chatty as the night wore on. Punters weren't afraid to voice their disapproval of the tour's mismanagement either, with one yelling out, "Where's your headline shows, what's wrong with your promoter?" Aubert grinned and replied, "This is the headline show motherfucker. The tour starts and ends tonight!" Later on, someone chimed in with "Fuck Birds of Tokyo!" to which Aubert responded "If you want me to, it's your town!" Birds-bashing aside, the crowd and band alike showed their appreciation of the other being present. Not letting it go to his head, Aubert showed his genuine modesty when recalling that on their last tour, the band played in the relatively tiny Ding Dong Lounge. He said that when they had been asked to play the Corner this time around, upon hearing that the venue had a capacity of 800, he'd replied "Good luck selling that shit out!" Aubert also played up the typical city-to-city interstate rivalry card, but had to backpedal when he realised that some hardcore fans had made their way from other cities to witness this special show.
And what a show it was. Despite assurances actually coming from Adam Spark himself (see the Fasterlouder thread), as openers for Birds, the SSPU set was criminally trimmed down to 45 minutes - tonight, despite the Corner website advertising that the show was to finish at 10:45, it stretched past 11pm! The crowd enjoyed all that the band had to give, but were particularly responsive to Carnavas tracks getting an airing - Little Lover's So Polite and Future Foe Scenarios were particular highlights, and for the diehards in the room there was even Kissing Families from the band's pre-Carnavas EP Pikul. It wouldn't be right of me not to extend my highest compliments to the sound guy on the night - as we know from listening to their albums, Silversun Pickups do enjoy their feedback-drenched pedal-driven noisefests, but this comes across so much better in their live show, although I was extremely thankful I'd brought earplugs! This was particularly evident during an epic version of Lazy Eye which closed the main set. After it, an encore seemed a bit redundant, but the curtain remained opened and those roadies onstage just seemed to be tuning instruments, so we knew there was something more coming. It was two slightly more chilled-out numbers, Substitution from Swoon and from Three Seed from Carnavas - before Christopher Guanlao amazed once more with an extended version of that intense beat that begins Common Reactor. As the song drew to a close, Monninger and Guanlao made their way offstage, leaving Aubert and Lester to conclude by deafening us all with blasts of feedback and effects, until finally it was over. Melbourne's Silversun Pickups fans knew they were extremely lucky to get this show, and the band rewarded us many times over.
SETLIST:
Growing Old is Getting Old
Well Thought Out Twinkles
Sort Of
There's No Secrets This Year
The Royal We
Little Lover's So Polite
It's Nice to Know You Work Alone
Future Foe Scenarios
Kissing Families
Catch and Release
Panic Switch
Lazy Eye
----Encore----
Substitution
Three Seed
Common Reactor
Maybe it was because it was a very un-rock and roll Tuesday night, maybe it was because they wanted to make up for lost time, but whatever the reason was, we only had to wait until 9:30 before the curtain pulled back and Brian Aubert (vocals/guitar), Nikki Monninger (bass/vocals), Joe Lester (keys/effects) and Christopher Guanlao (drums) kicked into a beautiful rendition of Growing Old is Getting Old from last year's brilliant Swoon album. Even from this opening song it was clear that we were going to be in for a good night - and when that "heavy" section in the middle kicked in, the crowd responded accordingly! After that song was done, Monninger hit a very familiar few bars, introducing my personal favourite SSPU song Well Thought Out Twinkles. This favourite from their first album Carnavas had the effect of really getting the crowd going, not that they needed encouragement. Everyone was really excited for this very special opportunity that the other states were not getting. I was surprised at how energetic the band are onstage too - not that their songs are dull, but they aren't exactly ultra-high intensity either. Still, that didn't stop Monninger from bouncing around the stage with a huge grin on her face, while Aubert made the most of the non-singing bits in the songs by leaning out over the barrier and thrashing the hell out of his guitar. Up the back of the stage, Guanlao was absolutely belting that kit; he even had a cymbal towering way above the rest of the kit, John Stanier-style.
After about five songs, the band finally took a break to allow Aubert to speak. He was pretty quiet earlier on in the set, but gradually got more and more chatty as the night wore on. Punters weren't afraid to voice their disapproval of the tour's mismanagement either, with one yelling out, "Where's your headline shows, what's wrong with your promoter?" Aubert grinned and replied, "This is the headline show motherfucker. The tour starts and ends tonight!" Later on, someone chimed in with "Fuck Birds of Tokyo!" to which Aubert responded "If you want me to, it's your town!" Birds-bashing aside, the crowd and band alike showed their appreciation of the other being present. Not letting it go to his head, Aubert showed his genuine modesty when recalling that on their last tour, the band played in the relatively tiny Ding Dong Lounge. He said that when they had been asked to play the Corner this time around, upon hearing that the venue had a capacity of 800, he'd replied "Good luck selling that shit out!" Aubert also played up the typical city-to-city interstate rivalry card, but had to backpedal when he realised that some hardcore fans had made their way from other cities to witness this special show.
And what a show it was. Despite assurances actually coming from Adam Spark himself (see the Fasterlouder thread), as openers for Birds, the SSPU set was criminally trimmed down to 45 minutes - tonight, despite the Corner website advertising that the show was to finish at 10:45, it stretched past 11pm! The crowd enjoyed all that the band had to give, but were particularly responsive to Carnavas tracks getting an airing - Little Lover's So Polite and Future Foe Scenarios were particular highlights, and for the diehards in the room there was even Kissing Families from the band's pre-Carnavas EP Pikul. It wouldn't be right of me not to extend my highest compliments to the sound guy on the night - as we know from listening to their albums, Silversun Pickups do enjoy their feedback-drenched pedal-driven noisefests, but this comes across so much better in their live show, although I was extremely thankful I'd brought earplugs! This was particularly evident during an epic version of Lazy Eye which closed the main set. After it, an encore seemed a bit redundant, but the curtain remained opened and those roadies onstage just seemed to be tuning instruments, so we knew there was something more coming. It was two slightly more chilled-out numbers, Substitution from Swoon and from Three Seed from Carnavas - before Christopher Guanlao amazed once more with an extended version of that intense beat that begins Common Reactor. As the song drew to a close, Monninger and Guanlao made their way offstage, leaving Aubert and Lester to conclude by deafening us all with blasts of feedback and effects, until finally it was over. Melbourne's Silversun Pickups fans knew they were extremely lucky to get this show, and the band rewarded us many times over.
SETLIST:
Growing Old is Getting Old
Well Thought Out Twinkles
Sort Of
There's No Secrets This Year
The Royal We
Little Lover's So Polite
It's Nice to Know You Work Alone
Future Foe Scenarios
Kissing Families
Catch and Release
Panic Switch
Lazy Eye
----Encore----
Substitution
Three Seed
Common Reactor
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