The Palace is the only venue in Melbourne that holds around the 2000 mark, and the opening night of the Karnivool/Dead Letter Circus tour was damn near sold out; the following night of the double header already was. There’s good views from balconies and floor, heaps of bars and a cracking sound setup, but it’s also like an oven even on a mild night and no pass-outs to grab some air.
Playing the first notes of the tour was Sydney support band sleepmakeswaves, who had been invited back after touring with the Perth outfit last year. This meant a few of the crowd were already prepared for their short set of post rock /post metal songs – the lack of a singer can often confuse punters. Opening with ‘to you they are birds to me they are voices in the forest’, next stop was a fucking killer version of an early track; ‘we sing the body electric’, and by this time those who had been unfamiliar with the band were getting the point – hardly surprising because this crowd likes its music heavy and thick with guitar, bass and drums. The new song soon to be formerly known as 'Kid Song' followed before leaving 'a gaze blank and pitiless as the sun’ to close the 40 minute set. I needed a drink after that!
I did get a drink – pretty much over my back – courtesy of a happy drunk lad who had driven a couple of hours from the country for the show. I’m not sure why some guys who turn up at gigs on their own think that everyone, except of course other guys on their own, wants to be their best mate all of a sudden. Another one took the 10 seconds between two Dead Letter Circus songs to show me the cup in his hand and say; “Have you ever had a tequila sunrise?” “No.” “It’s tequila, orange juice and raspberry. It’s fucking delicious.” At least the first guy had wanted to talk about the music.
Perth and Brisbane may be the two most distant capital cities in Australia but it's hard to imagine a more appropriate pairing of home grown hard rock bands than Karnivool and Dead Letter Circus. Not only do they possess great singers and musicians, both bands play technical, inventive, dynamic, progressive music that tests the listener and gives them so more more to work with than so many others. 'The Cure' is a great example with it's layers of guitar, powerful rhythm and that great release at the end to the resigned closing lines “Hopelessly gazing through that hole They're fed their only light”.
The light show was cranking up at this stage and boosted the band's presence, particularly during the full on sections of songs like 'Alone Awake'. The pit joined singer Kim Benzie in bouncing around, the song so much fuller and intense than on record – drums and bass in full flight and guitar screaming up and down the scales. As the song closed Benzie adopted a pose we would see often in the set – standing there shirtless in his skinny jeans, colourful full upper body tattoo design, leaning to the crowd making intense, deliberate eye contact as he connected with them over the photographer moat. He would bow, hands held with palms together in genuine gratitude after each song as the fans showed their appreciation – an amazing contrast of showmanship and humility.
Songs like 'Lodestar' and 'I Am' got the mosh going and there was the occasional sing along like the closing refrains of 'Say Your Prayers, but the mix wasn't working at its best in many parts of the room – vocals in particular buried, and oscillating in volume at times. In the end the anticipation of Karnivool and the muddiness of the sound made a one hour set a couple of songs longer than it needed to be. Still, fans of the band who I spoke to were pretty stoked, and a punch to the air signified the end of the set and the crowd made it clear they appreciated what they'd just been given.
Having recently returned from overseas, Karnivool came armed with the confidence of having settled in a good swag of songs from “Asymmetry”, but it was 'Goliath' that led the set after the anticipation-building intro from laptop and guitars. Singer Ian Kenny proceeded to own the crowd for the rest of the night, something only possible with the strength of the songs and the guys on the stage with instrument, the great sound, and the lighting helped as well.
Discordant guitars signaled the start of 'A.M. War' and even though fans are still getting the hang of the new songs the reception was enthusiastic but not undying commitment. Seconds later though the crowd was let off the leash as 'Themata' was launched – the pit swayed, lurched and bounced and the 2000 back-up singers joined in to help Kenny. The band followed up with C.O.T.E., a song almost ignored on the European tour, and kept the sweaty mass in overdrive. The older tunes continued for a while before Asymmetry took control for most of the second half. Songs came from both the front and back halves of the album and in doing so took an axe to any idea the album is two EPs stuck together.
The main set ended with 'New Day' and the band showed their confidence by taking out the encore with 'Aeons', probably the song most loved off the new disk. The set had around the same balance of old and new that was heard on the Asymmetry tour here last year but it's probably during the next tour that the new stuff is familiar enough to be fully part of the Vooligan singalong.
The tour continues and if you're one of the fans who has decided not to go because you nailed your colours to the mast in rejection of Asymmetry, all I can say is get over it, you know what a 'Vool gig is like.
Footnote:
The Palace looks sure to close some time soon with the venue likely to be turned into luxury apartments. It’s terribly sad, but that alone doesn’t beat market forces. In a wonderful show of support for the old place a guy from the Save the Palace action group gave a talk to the crowd before Karnivool came on, stirring the emotions and seeking recruits to the cause. We wish them the best of luck – this is an issue around the world.
