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
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