Team Sleep, Long Walk Home @ The Hi-Fi

I’d been wondering who would play support tonight for a while. Having seen some truly terrible matches for support bands recently, I knew it would have to be someone unique, and I wondered whether we had anyone who could step up to the plate.

You would be hard pressed to find a better fit than Long Walk Home. A nice blend of hard edged atmosphere from powerhouse drummer Aidan and bassist Michael overlaid with violin or mandolin by Jake. Singer Charles, appearing like a cross between Billy Corgan circa Ava Adore and the tragic heroine of a bizarre opera, had a voice I wasn’t personally fond of, but was at least distinctive enough to hold its own amongst such a combination. But it was the rhythm section which particularly impressed me from this band, especially Michael’s ability to manipulate his bass sounds to fill in where most bands would have had to resort to a guitar.

The crowd inside the Hi-Fi bar was well below capacity, perhaps due to the short promotion time for this show, which saw it go on sale less than a month ago, with tickets available the day before the first promotions were even made. But such a small crowd turned out to be perfect for the intimate show we were about to receive.

If I have one criticism of the Team Sleep album, it’s that it sounds a little sterile. Live however, they may be one of the best bands I’ve ever seen. With the line-up fleshed out to a full five members, the dynamics of every song become far more apparent. The most immediate difference is the impact of drummer Zach Hill. From the very beginning, his kick-and-tom led barrages drove the band to new levels.

Also joining the core group of Chino Moreno (guitar, vocals), Todd Wilkinson (guitar) and DJ Crook (turntables, samples and programming), was bass/keyboardist Rick Verret. And it was the musical interaction between band members which really allowed the songs to grow and change, and feel alive. This was especially noticeable on the few non-album tracks played such as Ice Ache, which became one of the highlights of the set.

Also adding to the overall experience of the night was giant projection screen behind the band which displayed old horror, sci-fi, soft-porn, monster and art-house movies throughout the set. Verret also added a few backing vocals, helping to round out the sound of tracks like Princeton Review and the single Ever (Foreign Flag) which, like so many others, really came into its own in a live environment.

A surprise inclusion was the song King Diamond (the album version is a duet between Moreno and Mary Timmony). The guitars were abandoned and Verret and Wilkinson left the stage, leaving Moreno to sing over the backing of Crook and Hill in a version of the song which more closely resembled the leaked demo, but halfway through saw an impromptu and possibly freeform rap from the singer, which seemed to reference all his band members, as well as the support act.

Moreno weathered the calls for tracks from his other, more prominent band (Deftones, in case you didn’t already know) good naturedly, responding with a “Don’t even joke about that shit, ‘cause I’ll do it, but it’ll just be me and you’ll get a headache” as he lazily strummed the first few bars of 7 Words. But it was his vocals that became the other truly noticeable aspect of the night. Moreno is one of the few singers in modern rock with a unique voice which sounds just as good live as it does on record. The intensity the band added musically also gave him the ability to experiment vocally, and a few well placed screams near the end of the set had the crowd really excited.

The encore break consisted of an amazing drum solo from Hill, accompanied by Crook, before the band returned for what really was the crowning moment. Live From The Stage showed off everything the band version of Team Sleep is all about. The instrumental sections saw Moreno, Wilkinson and Verret group around Hill’s kit, the four of them playing off each other, as Crook layered extra levels of ethereal sound over the top.

“Dance with us now,” Moreno had crooned earlier over the end of Mercedes, “’cause I bet you like our song.” We did, and so we danced.

live from the stage

team sleep was...


AWESOME.





that is all.

zombie dogs

creepy, creepy, creepy, wrong.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15739502-13762,00.html

mudvayne reviews

my mudvayne review is up.
while i really enjoyed the show and i'm still a big fan of the band, i do think they have a long way to go to be a truly good live band. and i tried to be honest about this.
but compare my review (http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/events/2548/) to the fawning review of their sydney show (http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/events/2540/). i'd be willing to bet that both shows were pretty much the same. weird.

Mudvayne, Walk The Earth @ The Palace, 24/06/05

(Originally published on FasterLouder)

I first saw Walk The Earth back in January, and in the time between then and now, nothing much has changed. They’re still really tight, they still get the people down the front moshing, and they still put a lot of energy into their performance, but there’s still something missing. For a band of their pedigree, I would expect more to justify the level of hype and praise I’ve seen them receive. Their music may be good pit fodder, but good, original song writing it sadly isn’t. The fact that they consistently get such high profile support slots leads me to believe that we need some more Australian metal bands of varied styles to fill this void. There is an audience out there for Walk The Earth, but I don’t believe the Mudvayne audience is it.

I first saw Mudvayne at Big Day Out back in 2001. At that time I really knew nothing about them, but had heard enough hype to pique my curiosity. I was really impressed. Impressed enough to buy their album L.D. 50 when it came out, and to buy all their consequent releases. In that time two big differences have struck between the Mudvayne live show I witnessed, and the bands recorded output. Firstly, singer Chad Gray’s voice is a lot stronger on recordings. Live, Gray screamed his way through a lot of the more melodic vocal parts I later discovered on the album. Secondly, the band seem to play slower in a live environment.

Fortunately, in the four years since, Mudvayne have fixed one of those issues. Tonight Gray’s voice seemed on top form, singing with no problems where required, while still putting full intensity behind his screaming voice. They’ve also ditched the stage makeup and costumes in that time. But the issue of speed still remains. For whatever reason, just about every song the band played tonight seemed slowed down, often irritably so. The slower speed suited certain moments, such as the quieter verses of -1, but without speeding up for the chorus, the full barrage of distortion and drums didn’t have quite the sense of release it could have.

The slower speed meant that the bands playing was impeccable, I don’t recall one wrong note from the performance, but unreleased tension leads to frustration. Without the speed, the music seemed to lose some of its urgency and passion. This seemed at odds with Gray’s statement that “every night I tell myself to pace it, pace it, but we’re only five song in and you mother-fuckers are killing me!” and the energy with which bassist Ryan Martinie propelled himself around stage.

That’s not to say they weren’t good. Tracks such as Death Blooms, Determined and World So Cold were all highlights, showing off the breadth of musicianship in this band, and causing a huge stir in the crowd. It was also good to see the band delve so deeply into all three of their albums as this is only their second visit Down Under. (It would have been nice to hear Severed as well, but that’s just a personal favourite). The usual lines about this being the best crowd they’ve ever played for were trotted out, along with a promise that it would not be so long before their next visit, but in this case Mudvayne did seeme strangely genuine. Especially when the pace finally picked up (but only a little) for highlights such as Nothing to Gein, Internal Primates Forever and the closing double of Not Falling and Dig. Having ended with their biggest singles, it was no surprise that the band didn’t come back for an encore, but the smiles on their faces, and celebratory post-set crowd surfs from all members (Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett also went for a surf during the closing numbers) provided a sense it may actually have been one of the most enjoyable shows they’d played for a while.

Hopefully in the time before we next see them (currently rumoured for a return to Big Day Out next year), Mudvayne pick up their speed, both in their travelling back here, and their on stage performance.

volume 2

1. Sonic Youth - Bull In The Heather (3:04)
2. Catherine - Make Me Smile (3:53)
3. Team Sleep - King Diamond (3:45)
4. Refused - Liberation Frequency (4:08)
5. The Dresden Dolls - Bad Habit (3:01)
6. Nirvana - Drain You (3:43)
7. Interpol - Slow Hands (3:04)
8. Blonde Redhead - Misery is a Butterfly (3:25)
9. 1000 Homo DJs - Supernaut (Black Sabbath cover) (6:40)
10. Nina Gordon - Straight Outta Compton (1:49)
11. A Gun Called Tension - Treason (3:16)
12. Black Sabbath - Paranoid (2:53)
13. The Icarus Line - On the Lash (4:00)
14. Katastrophy Wife - Busiest Shopping Day Of The Year (3:47)
15. At The Drive-In - One Armed Scissor (4:20)
16. Liars - Mr., You're On Fire, Mr. (2:27)
17. Autolux - Robots In The Garden (2:05)
18. Tomahawk - Capt. Midnight (3:14)
19. Tweaker - It's Still Happening (3:16)
20. Tori Amos - Talula (4:10)
21. theredsunband - Take Down (7:05)

volume 1

1. Dwarves - Bleed On (2:43)
2. Queens Of The Stone Age - Little Sister (2:54)
3. The Cure - Close To Me (3:41)
4. Nine Inch Nails - Only (4:23)
5. Death From Above 1979 - Blood On Our Hands (2:11)
6. The Grates - Message (1:57)
7. Bloc Party - This Modern Love (4:25)
8. Murder by Death - Until Morale Improves, the Beatings Will Continue (3:57)
9. The Blood Brothers - Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck (3:16)
10. The (International) Noise Conspiracy - Capitalism Stole My Virginity (3:38)
11. Bikini Kill - Rebel Girl (2:37)
12. Bright Eyes - At The Bottom Of Everything (4:34)
13. Le Tigre - Deceptacon (3:04)
14. Ramones - The KKK Took My Baby Away (2:31)
15. Mark Lanegan Band - Methamphetamine Blues (3:16)
16. Modest Mouse - the ocean breaths salty (3:44)
17. pretty girls make graves - bring it on golden pond (2:56)
18. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Rich (3:36)
19. The Shins - we will become silhouttes (postal service cover)(3:01)
20. Auf Der Maur - I'll Be Anything You Want (2:57)
21. tirany - Jeapordy (3:15)
22. Interpol - Slow Hands (3:04)
23. Spoon - Something To Look Forward To (2:17)
24. Sleater-Kinney - Entertain (4:55)
25. The Postal Service - Clark Gable (4:56)

star wars

i just watched star wars episode 2 because i hadn't seen it yet so someone gave me the divx to watch. here's my review in point form, written as i was watching it:

- annakin gon' get her
- star wipe, and fade. (lucas loves his cheesey wipes)
- animated monsters don't look like puppets.
- lucas cannot script romance. *cringe*
- the cloning aliens are the only cool cg aliens so far
- i keep expecting natalie portman to behave like sam in garden state. (that movie was better)
- are those things dinosaur cows?
- whut es et daid? (he's from neiw zuland, ey?)
- circle wipe! OMG! (star wipe can't be far behind)
- floating pears?
- natalie portman is hot... piss off annakin, you're embarrasingly corny.

and that's about it i think.

Evermore, theredsunband, The Panda Band, The Vasco Era @ The Hi-Fi

Turning up, it was pretty obvious we were out of place. Doors had been open for ten minutes, and already the line to get in to The Hi-Fi stretched for at least 15 metres. Out of everyone there, it was us the man asking for change approached, because he thought we may have been old enough to actually have some money. Conversations around us consisted of The OC, and how many drinks the young girls had consumed before heading into the city.

We made it inside just in time to miss The Panda Band, which is a shame, because we’d made an effort to arrive early in the hopes of catching them. What we did see though, was not your usual rock crowd. And worse, they were all sitting down. This gig featured three bands I’ve never seen before, one of my favourite bands, two bands I had heard a lot about and wanted to check out, and one band I had no real desire to see, but obviously my priorities were not shared with the majority of the crowd.

Fortunately The Vasco Era managed to get people on their feet. One of the bands I was hoping to check out, like many others I was vastly impressed with their set. A madman for a drummer, gravely but tuneful vocals and strong rhythms saw a lot of people dancing. Guitarist Sid O’neil likes the occasional solo twiddle, but also seems happy to just join in rhythmic pounding with bass player Ted O’neil. The highlight of the set came when Sid ditched the guitar altogether and joined drummer Micheal Fitzgerald on percussion. The size of the smiles on all members’ faces during this breakdown is one of the outstanding memories of this night. Not only are they doing what they love, it was great to see them enjoying themselves so much. A typical conversation following the band consisted of “Who WAS that band?”, and no doubt they won many fans tonight.

theredsunband were placed in a difficult position following such a set. This is not at all a slight on their value as a band, but where The Vasco Era are a raucous Friday night out, theredsunband’s biggest strength is their ability to evoke a lazy Sunday afternoon in bed. They also suffered from bad sound mixing, especially during their signature tune Devil Song, during which the guitar was all but inaudible much of the time. As well as usual highlights such as Sleep Forever and Astrovisionary, there were a few new songs sprinkled through the set. Whatever the track they opened with is called, it had better be on their next album because every time I hear it live, I sing the chorus for days. Conversation overheard during theredsunband: “Who’s this?” “I don’t know, I didn’t know they were playing. She’s gorgeous though.” It’s a shame their music wasn’t loud enough to make a full impression.

Whether the bad sound during rsb was a deliberate sabotaging to ensure the headliners were not completely eclipsed by the support bands I can’t be sure, but when Evermore came on stage, they sounded perfect. The production was crystal clear, the playing was flawless and the video screen behind the band provided a nice ethereal touch. There were no conversations during the start of Evermore’s set, just some screaming. But aside from the singles For One Day and It’s Too Late, nothing in their set seemed to stand out. Drummer Dann Hume was by far the most energetic and interesting member of the group to watch, but while the songs are competent and easy to listen to, they all merge together a little too easily. Keyboardist Peter Hume spent the entire set doing the same head-flopping/making-passionate-love-to-his-keyboard dance. Near the end of the set some of the audience members had even resumed their seats, and it was only the chorus of It’s Too Late which got them standing again, and the majority of the crowd finally bopping along. Some audience reactions were in the other extreme though, with one girl behind me dancing with her arm extended, eyes closed and swaying slowly for the whole show. Whatever mystical sounds Evermore were giving her, I just didn’t hear it. The skill is clearly there, but the song writing has a long way to go before it becomes worthy of an astral experience.

random thoughts from watching rage

i'm just gonna put any random thoughts that come into my head in here, since nobody's reading it yet anyway.

so watching rage last night, i came to the conclusion that still remains are what happens when the people from the oc form a metal band. the song was pretty average (although i only came in halfway through), but boy are they perty:

i also came to these conclusions:
the following bands and songs suck:
Minion - BLEED THE SKY Riot
Loyalty - AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE Shock
Stabbing The Drama - SOILWORK Riot
Rewind It All - DISBELIEF Riot
We Wait 4 No-one - LUMP Independent

especially lump.... oh boy do they suck. it was cheap amatuer dodgy video work, with five older guys doing their best to look TUFF METAL with leather vests and no shirts and tight pants etc. but the funniest part was, the song just wasn't tuff... AT ALL. if you're gonna be a metal band, at least put some bite into your guitars so you don't just sound like an average rock band with a dying cat for a singer.

the following songs and bands are AWESOME:
The Hand That Feeds - NINE INCH NAILS Universal
Panasonic Youth - DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN Riot
My Enemy - COG Independent

surprise, surprise, they're already bands i like.
it's hard to impress me these days. (i'm such a jaded little rock kid).