Sunday 22 December 2013

NEOTOKYO - "NEON" Single Launch @ Spectrum

BAND: NEOTOKYO 
VENUE: SPECTRUM
DATE: 20/12/13
SUPPORT: MINUS HOUSE, RED REMEDY, WITCH FIGHT

“Thud! Thud! Thud!” came the sound of the footsteps ascending the aged and wooden stairs leading into Testosterone Manor. I was forced to release The Kraken as she was behaving like an ecstatic puppy whose owner had just come home from an exhausting day of working for the man. The nautical nightmare wrapped her galleon destroying tentacles around the ever smiling Jolly Tomjer whilst I took refuge from the heat amidst the path of the gyrating plastic blades of my twelve dollar K-Mart fan. I extended a lazy handshake to the Western Australian Minister for Water Conservation who came bearing gifts of ice cold apple ciders. We sculled the tart refreshments and with the speed of an alpha males maiden sexual encounter, we found ourselves marinating in the scorching sun we had so desperately tried to avoid all day. It was the type of weather that would have inspired the melting clocks of Salvador Dali’s masterpiece “The Persistence Of Memory”. The (Bon) jovial one espied a pauper’s limo, flagged it down with a skyward facing appendage and signalled us to enter the artic climate of the charcoal rent-a-car. The seductively cool temperature of the cab was negated by the awful top forty sounds of generic artist featuring generic artist but our chauffer Gagandeep ensured we made it to the burrito emporium with good haste. With our stomachs occupied by a splendid amount of salsa and guacamole, we entered Oxford Street’s Happy Meal sized venue, Spectrum.

Sydney’s fuzz heavy, stoner/punk two piece WITCH FIGHT open the show to a handful of early birds who opted to hang by the bar at the back of the room. I was immediately blown away by the biblically huge sound pummelling my senses which constantly caused Neotokyo’s shirts to fall off the walls behind the merch desk. The two members known only as “Boskie” and “Matty” instantly reminded me of the on screen bromance between Bill S Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan. Matty’s guitar sound is huge as it has to play the secondary role of a bass on top of his own instrument. He accomplishes this by utilizing three cabs in his rig and by employing more fuzz than the combined British police forces. The only time he took his eyes off his axe was to exchange occasional loving smiles between himself and his percussionist offsider. Boskie resembled Jay (from Jay and Silent Bob) in his Ninja Turtles cap and had the difficult dual tasks of both drummer and vocalist. He assaults his kit with an intensity akin to a heroine junkie taking his first hit in over a month while his vocals are raspy and full of angst much like Zach de le Rocha of Rage Against The Machine. This combined with a solid throng of vocal echoes only added to their monumental sound. The songs had me tapping my feet while taking notes as I am reminded of tracks such as Queens Of The Stone Age’s “Millionaire”, Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock And Roll” and Beastie Boys “Sabotage”. The set was laden with glorious amounts of sarcasm as Boskie’s stage persona is a cynical fuck who constantly and humourlessly mocks the stagnant audience between songs. Whilst performing he was a child who had gotten a drum kit for Christmas. Every clash of stick versus skin sent a surge of adrenaline through his body which caused him to make more faces than a game of Guess Who? In summary; it was short, it was brash and it was splendid.

The room had started to fill out like a post pubescent girl by the time Sydney’s neo punk/rock quartet RED REMEDY hit the stage. The show opened with a tom intro similar to the one used in The Offspring’s “Gone Away” which led into the instantly memorable anthem “Love This Machine”. From the opening note there were some serious issues with the mix. The guitars were superfluously loud and the vocals were buried beneath them. Sadly it took Mr Sound Man until their second last song to rectify this situation. This was a massive shame as Red Remedy have shown me before that they know how to steal the show from the overcards (case in point, Like Thieves at the Annandale a few weeks ago). This might have explained why the crowd seemed so reluctant to occupy the front of the room during the performance and why they were so unreceptive to vocalist Zach Evans' usual charm. The sound the boys produce is heavily inspired by the like of Grinspoon, Shihad and Deftones with a teaspoon of Sevendust and System Of A Down thrown in. The result is catchy and ballsy and would satiate the appetites of even the most prudish of alternative music fans. Guitarist Leigh Czerwonka is a statue on stage; his eyes navigating the ocean of pedals sprawled out at his feet. Bassist Adrian Booth oscillated back and forth over the same patch of stage like a kelpie wearing a dirt path into a backyard lawn. Jess Rossiter has a percussion style very similar to Sevendust’s Morgan Rose; constantly throwing his whole body into every collision he had with the drums. Evans, who resembles a young Billy Corgan, was as cocky and charismatic as ever. He seemed to have a hand gesture for every word and was still better at sign language than the interpreter from Nelson Mandela’s memorial service. His vocals are a blend of Grinspoon’s Phil Jameson and Shihad’s Jon Toogood with some screamo thrown into the mix to keep it fresh. As if they weren’t already plagued with enough technical difficulties that were completely out of their control, the second last song saw the failure of the on stage lights which forced the band to play in total darkness for the duration of the tune. Final track “The Butcher” was easily the strongest of the set and saw some nice syncopation between the bass and toms. Its proven formula of fast paced heavy verses and soft choruses was a solid way to end the set.

The floor had become a fly trap due to the amount of spilt drinks it had lapped up throughout the course of the night and Sydney’s ethereal/alternative foursome MINUS HOUSE came out of the gates sounding crisper than a chocolate wafer. They opened their set with a vocal sample and counted in the music on the rim of the snare. The room came alive with a menagerie of reverbs and vocalist Rowan Cane’s signature airy falsetto. Stand out track “Animals” had the room ebbing and flowing like a winter ocean tide. My gaze was constantly drawn to guitarist Liam Clark who was dressed as the love child of Mick “Crocodile” Dundee and a Ming vase. He’s lost in his own little world when he plays and sings along to himself with his eyes closed. Peter Calvert’s effectless bass laid the foundation for the reverb heavy twin Stratocasters on stage, playing the role of BFF with the kick and often meandering off on its own which reminded me of the riff from “Seven Nation Army” (The White Stripes). It’s impossible not to picture Coldplay, Oceansize and Cog nodding their heads with approval for the raw talent they’ve inspired as I watch on in wonderment. Barney Hudswell continued the trend of show stealing drummers tonight up the back of the dais. He grit his teeth together every time without fail whenever he performed a drum roll and constantly licked his lips throughout the set.  He also provided some surprisingly angelic backup vocals from behind the skins which intertwined perfectly with Cane's wispy and warble tones. Cane's vocals seemed a bit strained and a tad weaker than a week ago when I saw them open for Melbourne’s rock heavyweights Sleep Parade but other than that I can’t find a single way to fault them. Minus House are as consistent as the sunrise and I expect massive things of them in the future.

I took the opportunity between bands to drain Bear Grills’ tangy, hydrating elixir from my body and stumbled into the wrong part of a conversation between the visibly excited and/or nervous members of NEOTOKYO doing the same thing. The Sydney prog/rock quartet were the men of the hour and were here to celebrate the release of their delicious single “Neon”. I wasn’t familiar with the song they chose to open their set with but fuck me it packed Tyson powered punch. The mix was perfect from the start with all the instruments in their arsenal getting their turn to shine in the spotlight. Chris Tantchev’s Silverchair-esque vocals exploded out of the previously dormant volcano as he eyed off the individual members of the hungry horde that had gathered before him. The band as a whole were visibly looser and more comfortable on stage than I had ever seen them before. Bassist Michael Bargache bounced around on stage like Happy Gilmore after his first win. The bass lines created by his floundering fingers were beefier than a muscle bound cow with a grudge eating a t-bone. Adam Furness was grooving whilst singing along to the music and feeding off the incredible vibe I could sense coming from the stage. The onslaught of his clean reverb and crunchy Cog-like guitars providing a solid canopy of atmospheric sounds. Both guitarists turned to serenade the drummer at a point early on in the set which unbelievably got the excitement levels of the percussionist even higher than what they were already at. Jason Ludwig is always an absolute pleasure to watch. He is the entirety of Disneyland encapsulated within a six year old kid that has been placed behind a drum kit. He was obviously feeling the energy on stage as he kept trying to goad Furness and Bargache to turn around so they could jam together. Even his eyebrows were in on the action, moving up and down with the swinging of his appendages. Tantchev really stepped up tonight and put on the performance of his life. He still comes across as awkward when he has nothing in his hands as they come up in front of his chest like the arms of a t-rex but the look of pure passion displayed on his face when holding a guitar or microphone truly is a spectacular thing to behold. Debut EP “Pillars” opening track “Speak” had the throng of punters bobbing like buoys in the water and when the chorus was upon us, Tantchev confidently ordered us to sing. And sing we did. The drum and bass syncopation at the origin of the Hoobastank flavoured “Red” was mightier than Mr T’s Mohawk during his glory days. The only real downside to the set was that every time Tantchev’s megaphone effect pedal was used it wailed in pain, letting out a piercing aural stab to the eardrums. It was quickly remedied but it always managed to snap me out of my trance which had the same effect as waking up from a dream where you ruled the seven seas on your stalwart pirate ship, The Rusty Cutlass. Ludwig sprayed out a fine mist of water from his gob in a display of Triple H fandom before the boys kicked into the closing track of the night “Neon”. The solid single ditches Neotokyo’s prog roots and pursues a more direct and straight up rock approach. Its sound is a unification of Rage Against The Machine’s “Wake Up” and The Butterfly Effect’s “In A Memory”. It’s solid, catchy, full of vocal and musical hooks and will be sure to turn a few unsuspecting heads in the months to come. It was a brilliant tune to end the night which left me more gratified than Mick Jagger finally getting some satisfaction.

There is no better way of getting back at your critics then by proving them wrong. Neotokyo invited me tonight to do just that. They listened to the criticisms Imade about their performance at The Locies and ironed the majority of the kinks from their live show. They went above and beyond what I’ve ever seen them do before and proved to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have the right mental aptitude and raw talent it takes to conquer Australia’s perilous alternative music scene.

Don’t be a dick, Sydney! Support the live music scene.

Joshua Towney

Sunday 15 December 2013

SLEEP PARADE @ THE LANSDOWNE w/ supports

BAND: SLEEP PARADE
VENUE: THE LANSDOWNE
DATE: 13/12/13
SUPPORT: MINUS HOUSE, VILLAGE ECHOES

Moses Belamy stood at the base of the M4 motorway to part the perilous Sydney traffic, allowing the star struck and doe eyed Israelites that shadowed him to make their mass exodus towards the asylum of Fort All Phones. Only the rich and opportunistic were chosen to make the pilgrimage to witness the combined aural onslaught of Muse and Birds Of Tokyo. This meant that my Padawan and I were left to brave the muggy city weather in hopes of locating a more economical form of musical entertainment. Word soon hit our hungry ears of a free event being held at iconic music hovel The Lansdowne Hotel, which fell well into our paper thin budget. We hastily made tracks towards the econo-savvy dive, making sure to always travel in single file to hide our numbers. Arriving quicker than Leonardo Dicaprio’s journey to secure his inaugural Oscar, we enter the carpetless room where the beading, steel beer pipes were adorned with Yuletide tinsels of red, silver and green. The kitchen gods upstairs served up an animal friendly feast of vegetable sandwich towers, sticks of fried potato and flagons of gelid amber able to break our fast. After our stomachs had deemed themselves satisfied, I escorted my eager apprentice back downstairs into the musty band room where we awaited the advent of the preliminary performers.

I first scouted Sydney indie 3 piece VILLAGE ECHOES a few weeks ago at the Locies where I picked up a copy of their debut EP “Evolve” and I was curious to see how it would transition live now that I knew the songs. They demonstrate an abundance of influences throughout their performance with the likes of Bloc Party, Foo Fighters and Good Charlotte tickling my giddy eardrums. I immediately notice the absence of second guitarist Lauren Shapiro both in presence and in the richness of their sound. The songs all have the potential to be certified pop hits but they lack the punch that they possessed at the Locies without Shapiro there to chunk it up. Ridiculously catchy single “Another Thought” which is heavily influenced by the likes of Arctic Monkeys and The Living End seemed to suffer the most from her absence. Dominating stage presence Steve Parfitt wields his bass as if it were an extension of his own body and makes great use of his effects pedals to essentially turn a chisel into a jackhammer. He is by far the most comfortable on stage and seems to have a blast playing the music regardless of how lacking the crowd were during their set. Guitarist/vocalist Alex Almasi seemed distracted and uncomfortable whilst singing throughout the set, possibly due to his inexperience onstage or maybe because his father was videotaping the performance on his phone. When he moved away from the microphone and was purely focused on just playing guitar, his performance improved tenfold. The vocals of Almasi and Parfitt are almost identical and add no real diversity when both are singing at the same time. Up the back of the stage, powerhouse percussionist James Pounsett never took his eyes off the toms of his kit. The volume of his snare was set to eleven and the muscle memory of his arms ensured that they never missed their targets. He made great use of 16/4 beats and the cowbell whilst a single tuft of his fringe seemed to be trying to perform the role of a third drumstick. Slower track “In Memory” was by far the strongest of their performance as it was the first song to sound rich and full. Village Echoes are still quite a young band who show a lot of promise and are definitely a group to keep your eyes on. Every aspect of their performance will improve with a steady run of live shows and the sorely needed re-addition of a second axe into the group.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Sydney’s ethereal/alternative rock outfit MINUS HOUSE were on the bill. I first caught the boy’s open for Dead Letter Circus last year and was instantly hooked. Their sound is huge from the first note and the abundance of icy reverb coming from both guitars reminded me of Donkey Kong Country’s dreaded water levels. Coldplay was the most obvious influence throughout the set with some Oceansize and Cog thrown into the mix to keep it interesting. Rowan Cane’s stage persona seems disinterested in the performance, which oddly enough makes it all the more compelling. His captivating vocals ranged from airy and wispy falsettos through to some very sparingly used screams at the apex of huge crescendos in the music. Guitarist and Van Helsing impersonator Liam Clark was in another place the majority of the set, seemingly being lost in the music he was creating. Hirsute bassist Peter Calvert provided a rock solid foundation for the multitude of layered effects created by Cane and Clark. He did this without the use of a single effects pedal and by getting the deep humming drones of his instrument to waltz in time with the kick of the drums. He kept trying to sweep the mane from his bearded face which only angered his curly, chestnut locks. Drummer Barney Hudswell is an intense force on stage. He utilized his cymbals brilliantly and possessed great skills on the toms. Hudswell added an interesting level of fervour to the quartet by letting out a roar with every forth beat of the music and throwing in sporadic bursts of head twitches to let the room know he meant business. Minus House never announced their last song, so I was completely caught up in the atmospheric tunes when the set seemed to end without warning, leaving me disappointed and wanting more. I have no idea if it was a brilliant move by Cane or if they simply forgot to mention it. Either way, I’m gagging to catch them again.

Before tonight, Melbourne’s alternative rockers SLEEP PARADE were a band whose hype I just couldn’t fathom. They have gained the respect of Australia’s most prominent alternative artists with Cog, Karnivool and Dead Letter Circus amongst their supporters. I’d seen them play as a three piece a few times and I even walked out of their set the last time they were in Sydney when they opened for The Butterfly Effect. My opinion of them was about to change. Matt Delaney, the tenth member of the Weasly family, had made the move from bass to guitar and he was a much stronger performer because of it. He was utilizing some synth as well but it was completely lost in the mix until the end of the set. Taking his place was Silent Bob look alike Braiden Michetti who single-handedly shifted the dynamic of Sleep Parade from pub rock band to guaranteed stadium fillers. His bass lines played an integral role to the new format and made the overall sound a thousand times more vibrant. Think how important Chi Cheng’s bass line was in Deftones “Change (In The House Of Flies)”. This is what he brings to the table. Leigh Davies was sporting his trademark fedora and vest combo; he had no shoes but was all class. The charismatic front man brought along a legion of guitars with enough glitter in them to out sparkle the twilight universe. His vocals are the result of Jon Hume (Evermore) being thrown into a boiling cauldron with a half sprinkle of Craig Nicholls (The Vines) and Matt Belamy (Muse). Delaney on the other hand reaches notes only achievable by a castrated cherub which provides a nice contrast to Davies’ raspy vocals. Influences such as Muse, Radiohead and Coldplay rang clear throughout the set with hit track “Carry On” causing every head in the room (including the trio of bar tenders) to bob along to the beat of the song. No piece of the drum kit was safe from Dan Teng who had a look on his face as if he was in mid orgasm the entire duration of the set. The man really enjoys hitting shit with sticks. The distortion was sharp, crunchy and echoless while the clean guitars littered the room with copious amounts of reverb. A great moment in the set came when all four members repeatedly chanted “Ooyawayah” which served as a really powerful opening for the Cog-like anthem that followed it. Everyone in this band can sing in tune which is so god damned refreshing. The resulting harmonies that come from it are light-years ahead of what most bands are capable of and only serve to further increase the monumental wall of sound that was being displayed before me. Davies’ smile on stage whenever they played any new material was infectious; it was a grin of pure pride. A new song in the set which reminded me of Hed (P.E.)’s “I Got You” made me tilt my head like a confused dog, as it took me a while to wrap my head around it. It kept changing direction like a shuttle run, showcasing simple tom poundage and sludgy, note-bending guitar work akin to a spaghetti western. On the other end of the spectrum, song of the set “Passenger” roused a huge crowd reaction and was the strongest way possible to finish their gargantuan show. It opened with a jaw dropping bass line which continually danced scales up and down the stings of the brown noter and ended with the entire band engaged in glorious orchestrated chaos reminiscent of a raging thunderstorm. Sleep Parade left the stage having played a near flawless show chock full of anthems from start to finish. After the initial applause, the thirty or so people in the crowd chatted amongst themselves without a cheer to be heard which is why I was completely shocked to the point of almost being disgusted by the fact that they returned for an encore. The whole purpose of an encore is to make the fans demand it not to force it down our throats. However I quickly forgave them as the final song was a corker of prog rock splendour. Davies left me speechless when he screamed into the humbuckers of his guitars to create an amazing soaring effect similar to the sample of the baby used in Rammstein’s “Mutter”. It left me foaming like a teenage girl at a Justin Bieber concert and made me instantly forget about the poorly incorporated encore from before. This demonstrated without question, just how ambitious and epic these rocking Melbournite’s are.

Once again the turnout to support touring Aussie bands was beyond disappointing. Sydney’s support of live music is infamous for being next to non-existent. I understand Muse were playing on the same night but this was a free gig which barely managed to get 40 people to the venue. This had nothing to do with the quality of bands on show (which was phenomenal), just the attitudes of Sydney’s elitist music fans who won’t watch a band unless they’re signed. Every band that played tonight have the potential to be something huge and I’ll be proud to say that I was there for them when no one else would give them the time of day.

Don’t be a dick, Sydney! Support the live music scene.

Joshua Towney

Sunday 1 December 2013

Bellusira @ Spectrum w/supports

BAND: BELLUSIRA
VENUE: SPECTRUM
DATE: 29/11/13
SUPPORT: STELLAR ADDICTION, BONNEY READ, WE WITHOUT

Like rats escaping a sinking pirate galleon, we poured out of the sandstone and marble prison in droves, determined to make it to the comfort of our happy place in order to wash the stink of the weeks drudging work from our corporate tainted bodies. The early deserters chose to disappear into the subterranean train mines of Moria while the stragglers opted to seek out the refuge of the nearest watering hole. My journey required a bit of backtracking as I had received a raven from Westfield Keep informing me of my protégés early parole. I swam against the current of escapees like a salmon ready to release its spawn onto the gravel beds of Pitt Street. I narrowly avoided the grasp of a few strategically placed grizzlies along the river bank and crossed the keeps foreboding portcullis where I received two banana smoothies for the steep price of a golden dragon. My protégés eyes opened wide as I bestowed her with the arctic gift and she rewarded me with her knowledge of a shortcut to our destination. She guided me around the Minotaur’s stone labyrinth, through the hobo scented Sherwood Forest and into the quirky mayhem of Oxford Street. We arrive at Spectrum nightclub without delay and ascend the booze hazard stairs into the bite size venue for a night of fem heavy rock.

It’s always nice to see a crowd show up for the first band as it is sadly viewed as taboo these days to arrive before the headliner hits the stage. I posted a rather scathing review of Sydney alternative rock/grunge act WE WITHOUT a few weeks ago and I was curious to see how much of my criticism came down to the mixing on the night. Their set was heralded by a choir of bomb sirens overlapped by a vocal sample akin to the one used in Metallica’s “One”. From the first note I noticed a definite improvement and even began tapping my foot along to the opening track. The mix was good except for the samples which couldn’t be heard for the entire duration of the set. Vocalist Chad Kemp demonstrates a naturally lax tone to his voice on the bands EP but every note seemed to be a monumental effort for him to reach during the live performance. Regardless of this, his natural mic skills and comfort on stage made him a decent driving force for the band. His vocals are a mixture of Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) and Scott Stapp (Creed) and suit the nineties style, hard rock music to a “T”. Rick Thomas was having a blast on stage as he grinded away at his bass whilst singing along to himself. Guitarists Cameron Roberts and Rob Chapple provided polar opposite sounds which layered into an effective wall of Breed 77 style distortion and flange fuelled, icy solos. There was a lot of static from Chapple’s guitar whilst idle but this didn’t seem to affect the sound during the performance. Percussionist Adam Ruggeri is an equal opportunity drummer, applying liberal amounts of poundage to every piece of his kit. Each song announced its influences as the performance progressed; Soundgarden, Queens Of The Stone Age, Powderfinger and even “Road House Blues” by The Doors. Kemp announced mid set that it was “National Australian Band Shirt Day” and that they were willing to supply some to anyone in the room not wearing one……… available from the merch stand. Cheeky bastard. He then jumped offstage and brilliantly used a megaphone from within the crowd mid verse which I’ll admit, brought a smile to my face. The set ended with an ample cover of Ou Est Le Swimming Pool’s “I Just Dance The Way I Feel” which drew the biggest crowd reaction of their show. Much, much better performance from We Without this time around.

The venue was filling up and the boys in the room were being outnumbered by the ladies at a ratio of nine to one.  Sydney fem fronted, punk rock foursome BONNEY READ were donning matching, sleeveless denim vests and were ready to annihilate the claustrophobic, nightmare inducing room. After a rather lengthy set up, the extremely alluring group kicked off to a great reception. Jess Cooper, who wore a scowl for the duration of the sound check, pulled out an incredibly feisty, husky and pitch perfect voice which I really didn’t expect from her. Her visage, a sanctuary of piercings and obsidian eyeliner, projected an element of cool rarely seen in front women these days. Strategically placed winks were liberally thrown out into the vagina heavy horde whilst her eyebrows rivalled The Rocks and seemed to be able to portray whole sentences without ever uttering a word. The voice in itself screamed of Joan Jett with a dollop of country vixen and fit the music like a jigsaw puzzle piece; nothing else would have worked. The mix caused the trio of guitars to sound weak in the beginning and wasn’t remedied until after they had played most of their show. Bassist Jeremy Goldfinch wielded his fringe like a weapon, ferociously slicing any piece of air foolish enough to get in front of him. Kat Ayala bounced around like an eight week old puppy on ecstasy. Her guitar work was fast and gritty yet polished like a brass door knob. The onstage chemistry of Ayala and Goldfinch was phenomenal with a photo albums worth of smiles being shared between them. Coopers guitar was hollow to my ears and desperately needed a lot more body to it in order to maximise the potential of their live show. Astrid Holz drummed like an ADHD kid who had swapped her Ritalin for glucose based placebos; she just wouldn’t sit still. She bounced around like Pamela Anderson’s tits on the set of Baywatch and was beaming the whole set. The three girls in the band utilized their massively contrasting vocal range to create incredible harmonies which sent tingles throughout the spines filling the room. The final three songs were noticeably stronger than the first half of the set which didn’t matter in the slightest as it was still loaded with fast-paced and accessible jukebox anthems.

The next band on the bill utilized a piece of marketing genius that I have never seen before at a gig. Scantily clad promo girls patrolled the room handing out branded STELLAR ADDICTION G-Bangers to the audience; because if history has taught the world anything, it’s that sex sells. Imagine this; you’re about to get a glimpse of your lady’s bits and the last thing you witness are the words “Stellar Addiction” which will permanently be branded into your subconscious as a direct link to poon. The band used the start of their performance as an opportunity to launch the film clip for their new single “Second On Your Mind”. Technical difficulties delayed the proceedings and after what felt like an eternity, the band were ready to prove to the room why they deserved the main support slot. Stacy Abdila opened her gob………. HOLY FUCKING PIPES BATMAN! Think Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Kay Hanley of Letters To Cleo (the band that performs on the roof in the credits of 10 Things I Hate About You). She is a powerhouse of a front woman who oozes confidence and has a vocal range that could compete with the most accomplished of divas. The music is influenced by the punk rock bands of the turn of the millennium such as No Doubt, The Offspring and to a lesser extent Killing Heidi. Michael Giameos’ guitar solos were completely lost for the first half of the set but when the mix evened out, he demonstrated incredible musical fortitude. Session bassist David Rice never took his eyes of the frets of his instrument and hid at the back of the stage the whole set. Guitarist Goldwyn Tagud was an entertaining specimen; Geeing up the crowd by incorporating himself into it and leading the clapping from within. He wasn’t content with his half of the dais either, constantly swapping sides to be with Giameos and trying to give Rice some time in the spotlight. Tanya Carboni performed like a demon on the skins and brilliantly introduced a large amount of double kick into a style of music that normally shies away from it. The crowd were livid during the performance with a few adorably smitten couples swing dancing and dipping each other in the front row. Stand out track “The Promise” continued to satiate the appetite of the rabid fans with the incredibly humble Abdila shouting praises for all in attendance tonight. Stellar Addiction ended their set with a larger than life cover of Spice Girls “Wannabe”. It was everything a cover should be; they made it their own whilst respecting the original and it sent the already foaming throng of punters ballistic. Definitely a band to keep on your radar as they are destined for bigger things.

I first stumbled across Melbourne alternative rock Spartans BELLUSIRA when they opened for Sydney’s Breaking Orbit on their “Silence Seekers” tour earlier in the year. They were yet another band who I had put off watching for the last 8 years and kicked myself immediately after finally doing so. Everything about them is epic, gargantuan and sexually charged. The sound is crispier than a freshly fallen granny smith apple from the count in. Crystal Ignite has natural, effortless charisma and you can’t help but swoon over her. Her punchy, raspy and authoritative vocals are the envy of punk rock girls everywhere as they emulate and sometimes surpass the likes of Gwen Stefani (No Doubt) and the aforementioned Hayley Williams of Paramore. She commands the attention of the room in her candy striped top and constantly thanks the audience for coming. When easily excited bassist Mark Dalbeth isn’t lost in a daydream, he is winding up the dawdlers of the mob that Ignite somehow managed to overlook. The sound of his weapon is beefy and his on stage chemistry with his wife (Ignite) is incredible to watch. Chris Zoupa’s guitars were solid and chunky, forfeiting the need for a second guitarist. He wasn’t a slouch on his instrument either with his fingers bouncing off the strings like mallets off a xylophone. The tone was influenced by heavier bands Korn, Sevendust and a splash of Guns n Roses which slotted nicely into the slightly softer tones of Bellusira. In the interest of creating feng shui on stage, Dalbeth wore his bass as low as Mark Hoppus (Blink 182) while Zoupa had his guitar as high as Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine). Up the back of the stage, percussionist James Mileto had the impossible task of trying to compete with the trio of massively noticeable personalities in front of him. He constantly played off Dalbeth throughout the set, his kick frequently unifying with the bass to help create a solid pulse for the music. Bellusira pulled the most receptive crowd of the night because after ten years of playing together, they are more solid than a fibreless turd. The highlight of the set for me came from a moment when Ignite made a comment about lesbians, realised what came out of her mouth than apologetically said that she used to be one before she met her husband. The sheer smug look that blanketed Dalbeth’s face was comedy gold and was probably the proudest moment of his life. Ignite thanked the fans one more time before announcing that it would probably be their last Australian show for a while because they had been signed and were heading off to do bigger things. The final song of the set was an absolute corker which screamed of Dead Letter Circus and was a delicious way to end an epic night.

This was the first gig I’ve been to in a very long time where the first band were able to pull a crowd and every group stayed to watch each other play. All four bands killed it tonight and no one was out of place on the bill. It has helped restore a lot of my faith in the local music scene and the stability of it going forward.

Don’t be a dick, Sydney! Support the live music scene.

Joshua Towney

https://www.facebook.com/wewithout