Review: JD Garrahy
How was Hammersonic a week ago already? Suffering from severe amounts of post festival depression, to which there is only one known cure. More live music! Prove to me that I’m wrong and ill buy you dinner. But make that case strong, as I’m not shelling out money for unjust reasoning that could’ve come out of the mouth of a 10-year-old trying to get their way. Without further adieu let’s kick off this review from one of the greatest Sunday nights ever!
Strolling into The Triffid on a Sunday night is always incredible. But tonight is special. Tonight, we have a triple bill of heavy hitters. Now, I had never heard of Patient Sixty-Seven before tonight and under my rigorous researching, I thought they weren’t actually a real band and just a page for memes. But let me tell you this, and allow me to quote Seinfeld here, “They’re real, and they’re spectacular”.
What I witnessed was a band that has every bit of clout to be a national support for this tour. Busting straight onto the stage with some intensely heavy riff work, the Perth locals waste no time in giving the crowd a performance worthy of its own headlining tour. With only 6 songs on the setlist, every moment is utilised to its fullest potential. With break-neck percussives, hefty amounts of riffage and vocals that would leave a grow man cowering in the corner with their brutality, Patient Sixty-Seven came to show us East Coasters exactly what we have been missing by not visiting our largest state. Damn you Perth! Stop keeping bands like this all to yourself.
As we await the audible feast, we are about to be blessed with, Crystal Lake drummer Gaku takes the stage to soundcheck his kit. Now, you would think it would just be mind numbing ‘snare, snare, bass, tom, bass, tom’, oh god no! What Gaku does next as Sweet Caroline pipes through the PA is simply insane. The most epic of drum solos ensues and the whole crowd is now a little more prepared for a CL set to be unleashed upon us. Once again, I had no influence in this, but starting off with Everblack is masterful. With PK from Prompts stepping into the vocal slot on this run of shows, nothing has felt like a better fit.
Bring this man back with Prompts well, promptly! Hammering through a massive set with SIX FEET UNDER and Lost In Forever thrown in the mix, it was hard for me not to get emotional again during the back-to-back-to-back of Watch Me Burn, The Weight of Sound and Lost In Forever. These three songs mean the absolute world to me and showcase 3 different eras of this band. Finishing it all off with an insanely good version of Apollo, our visitors from Japan take a snap with the crowd and depart the stage leaving a lasting impression on every single person within the Triffid walls. I hope that we can see them back here soon, as the energy they bring to their live set is highly infectious and you can’t help but feel like this is a band on the rise again after so many years already in the scene. Crystal Lake Forever!
If Hammersonic was what a festival slot feels like for Of Mice & Men, then I have been awaiting this headline show like nothing before. When the tour was announced after the release of their brilliant latest album Another Miracle, I couldn’t wait to see the boys tear it up in a large, yet intimate venue like The Triffid. What I was not prepared for was how incredible they are not only as composers, but the energy that their live show brings to the masses.
The plethora of devoted fans tonight is hefty tonight, but as they launch into the title track of their album, there isn’t a voice box in the whole venue that won’t be sore tomorrow. Now, you would think that being the album tour that the setlist would be dominant with those songs? Not at all, the OM&M lads know where their bread is buttered and treat the crowd to more songs off Restoring Force than the afore mentioned. Couple this with a peppering of Echo, Defy and The Flood (O.G. Loco, you have my heart), there is not one wasted moment in the set and judging by the smile on drummer Tino’s face, this was all pre-meditated and so, so appreciated.
Aaron’s voice is truly flawless tonight and with Alan and Phil just absolutely shredding, there isn’t anywhere on stage you could look to avoid their sheer magnificence. Even as they round out their encore with a combo of Bones Exposed and Second & Sebring, there is no down time for these guys.
You would think that the intensity they put into their craft and their stage show would make them weary towards the end, but the Energizer Bunny was being channeled by each and every one of them to give the final night of this tour the grandeur and brilliance it so rightly deserved. With the crowd at absolute peak, it was sadly time for this show to come to an end. what will never be forgotten however, is the memory of being at this show. If you were there, you know. If you weren’t, well I don’t really now what to tell you apart from “sucks to be you”.
Spilling out into the streets, our heads are high and our spirits higher, with a gig that will go down in Triffid history as one of the most intense, heartfelt shows of the year. The next time you see ANY of these bands pop up on a bill, get to that show! There will only be the regret of not going, deep within your core.
– GALLERY –
