#19 The Barwon Club 09.02.2014

Desecrator

Not a great turnout due to being a Sunday but Desecrator were really good as they usually are. Solid cheesy thrash and they put on a fun show.

Havok

This band was fun to watch, another kind of standard modern thrash band (though still plenty of old style present), they all seemed really happy to be able to play one last show in Australia. Live show was ok, maybe it was a little toned down due to tiredness/end of the tour/etc. Still good enough to buy a shirt (if they had my size!)

King Parrot

Ideally located in headliner position (kind of felt sorry for Havok at the shows where they had to play after King Parrot!). Always an amazing live show, music is decent but nothing special. Just such energy and humour from all members, in particular of course Matt the vocalist. Probably the first show I've ever seen him with a corded microphone, thankfully it was a long cord so he could get up to his usual in your face antics, even use it to lassoo others to get into it! A fight briefly broke out after an incredibly angry hardcore-looking late arriving dude got bumped by the circle pit. He pushed the bumper to the ground, then punched as he tried to get up. Thankfully I don't think anyone was too hurt. Stupid angry cunt, why the fuck would you be up the front for Kind Parrot if you don't like being knocked? I love watching a fight as much as the next guy, I just hate when it is at a gig - just helps emphasise the ignorant stereotype that live music is violent. Rant over.

Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/DESECRATORAUS http://www.desecrator.net/
https://www.facebook.com/HavokOfficial http://www.havokband.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kingparrotband http://kingparrot.bandcamp.com/

#17 The Tote Hotel & #18 The Bendigo Hotel 08.02.2014

Sailormouth

Just one girl with her acoustic guitar and voice. Really not my thing, but I appreciated the fact she was interacting with the crowd between songs.

Colostomy Baguette?

This was fun, only saw the first minute as I then got onstage for vocalnoise duties. Really impressed with how it went, just as good or even better than we rehearsed. Holy fuck was it hot! I think we left a few people speechless too, which is understandable since both other acts on the night were acoustic.

Plastic Knife

Another acoustic guitar/singer, this time male and this time with a signing translator - a nice way to mix things up. Again not really my thing but was still entertaining.

Whitehorse

A great way to finish the night - Whitehose really are a great live band, their sound is amazing, so full and meaty. Crushing noisy doom but enough punk elements to attract a lot of punks. And heavy as fuck to boot.

Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/sailormouthmusic http://sailormouthmusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/colostomybaguette http://colostomybaguette.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/getonthehorse http://whitehorsedestroys.bandcamp.com/

#16 Village Green Hotel 06.02.2014

Crimson Rawk

This band played some pretty straight forward rock, and quite a few covers. Guitars were acoustic however, which I am not much of a fan of.

The Deep End

Their real last show before touring Europe! Shame the turnout was so poor, but aside from a couple of jokes about it the band played like it was a full house anway. Fantastic energy, great dirty rock, lead guitarist and vocalist running about and playing/singing directly in front of most of the crowd individually.

Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/CrimsonRawkMusic http://www.youtube.com/TheCrimsonRawk
https://www.facebook.com/thedeependrock http://www.thedeependrock.com/music

#14 The Bendigo Hotel & #15 The Espy Gershwin Room 02.02.2014

Drifter

Had been wanting to see this band for a while and sadly only caught the last couple of songs due to it being an early gig and me being busy earlier. What I saw was pretty good, fuzzy garage stoner rock, and the band were full of energy.

Cryptic Abyss

This band were a kind of groove/thrash/death metal band. A little bit ordinary, just not my thing.

Decimatus

Had been curious to see this band for a long time. Pretty average thrash metal, not bad but there's a lot better competition within Melbourne.

Chronoltyh

This band was probably good but frankly I hate melodic death metal (bit of a contradiction in terms right?). But they had lots of energy and crowd interaction and have invested in making the stage their own.

Scar the Surface

Pretty damn professional sounding, but again it's melodic death metal. I would actually enjoy bits of songs and then the melodic bit takes over and I just lost all interest. Seemed to be a few traces of metalcore in there too (or maybe I'm just confusing genres I hate).

Armoured Earth

Should have gone home earlier. I stayed waiting to hear this band thinking it was that great old thrash band from Canberra - nope that's Armoured Angel. As they came on stage I was surprised how young they looked, though it's not uncommon for bands to continue with new members of course. Wasn't until the set was half over I realised that they hadn't changed their sound it was a totally different fucking band! They were at least a solid live band, but again that modern death/melodic death metal I dislike.


Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/MelbourneDrifter http://drifterband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CrypticAbyss http://crypticabyss.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DecimatusMetal http://www.reverbnation/decimatus
https://www.facebook.com/chronolythband http://www.chronolyth.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/scarthesurface http://www.reverbnation.com/scarthesurface
https://www.facebook.com/ArmouredEarth http://armouredearth.bandcamp.com/album/your-own-hell-ep-2

#13 The Espy Front Bar 01.02.2014

Hellhounds

Pretty decent bluesy rock, I can see why they have a residency at The Espy. Pretty tight.

Sudden State

These guys were pretty cool. Hard rock/metal, bits reminded me of some of Megadeth's better material. Vocalist was the only thing that didn't quite seem to fit - just didn't seem as ballsy as the music. The on stage beer bong was a novelty too.

Dead City Ruins

Definitely a high quality band, I can see why they were chosen to support Skid Row/Ugly Kid Joe. Fun to watch, good stage prescence. Vocals weren't particularly to my liking but not bad either.

The Deep End

Playing their "farewell" show before touring Europe, the band were fired up and proving they were ready to tour internationally. Fantastic energy all around, in particular from vocalist and lead guitarist. Both were wandering around different parts of the bar at some point, and ended up both jumping on top of the side bar at the espy that rarely seems to be in use. Great performance and really entertaining.


Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/Hellhounds.music http://reverbnation.com/hellhoundsmusic
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialSuddenState http://suddenstate.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/deadcityruins https://deadcityruinsofficial.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thedeependrock http://www.thedeependrock.com/music

#12 Black Goat Warehouse 26.01.2014

Velvet Whip

Pretty cool noisy punk and had a great energy, perfectly suited to Black Goat.

Headless Death

Like a lot of bands, Black Goat really suits Headless Death. The "FUUUUCCCKKKKS" from Christoph came through a little more than normal, though he sounded brilliant as he usually does.

Infinite Void

This band had a kind of post-punk/goth-punk feel (I'm sure there's probably a better way to describe, it's just not something I'm familiar with). Interesting to watch, it's always a kind of cool atmposhere at this venue. Musically couldn't really get into it that much.

Nervous Trend

Another different type of music than I'm used to, also had a dark almost goth feel, on a definite punk backbone though. Again pretty decent live band but not my thing.


Check all the bands out here:
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/shqgfasg5dr44ys/VelvetWhipMaggot.mp3
http://headlessdeath.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/InfiniteVoid http://infinitevoid.bandcamp.com/
http://nervoustrend.bandcamp.com/
 

#11 The Tote Hotel 25.01.2014

Sewercide

Unfortunately only made it in time to see the last couple of songs. Great as always.

Split Teeth

I am sure I had seen Split Teeth before but I forgot how awesome they are. Very aggressive, the vocalist appeared like a kind of scrawny small guy while setting up, but as soon as he started his thing he turned into an evil aggressive madman! Great energy, pretty tight and very loud and abrasive.

Black Jesus

Always good but honestly they were nothing special. Not sure if it was them or maybe their novelty has just worn off. Still solid death metal and pretty tight though.

Rort

Once again a fantastic performance from Rort. As usual the hardcore kids start their shoving and arm-flailing, which ended up pushing a couple of very angry death metallers over the edge and started the closest thing I've seen to a fight in a long time at a gig. Didn't last too long and since the death metallers (I refer to them as this because I don't think I've ever seen them at a grindcore gig ever before and they seemed most interested in Black Jesus) were outnumbered by the crusties and grindfreaks it all ended fairly peacefully - basically one of the death metallers was knocked to the ground (yet not violently) and he seemed to calm down a little after that. Vocalist was not impressed and insisted it stops before they continued their set.

Captain Cleanoff

Another band that never disappoints! Flat-out grind done the way it should be, good energy levels from all band members and the crowd lapped it up. Great way to end the night.


Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/Sewercide http://sewercide.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SplitTeeth http://splitteeth.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/RORT/309153119121094 http://rort.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Captain-Cleanoff/104452571850 http://captaincleanoff.bandcamp.com/

#10 Dancing Dog 24.01.2014

The Fuck Outs

Vocalist was really animated and engaging. Good hardcore punk, a pretty decent live band.

Dixon Cider

Another reasonable hardcore punk band, the vocalist wasn't too great sounding but it was still fun to watch.

Rukus

Pretty basic punk here, nothing special. Wasn't too impressed but at least they were getting into it.

Bastard Squad

Great to see this lineup of the band again. Seemed to be a fair bit of troubles with guitars so first half of the set wasn't sounding too crash hot, vocalist wasn't happy and wasn't hiding it. Eventually all was sorted and ended up being a great set of hardcore punk rock, and they even had the previous drummer join in for 1 song.


Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-FUCK-OUTS/213007228862020 www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyI6QksxW0w 
https://www.facebook.com/dixoncidermusic http://www.dixoncider.com.au/songs/
https://www.facebook.com/rukus.punx https://myspace.com/rukuspunx
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bastard-Squad/179415981321 https://soundcloud.com/bastard-squad 

#9 Whole Lotta Love Bar 16.01.2014

Wehrmacht (Acoustic)

A world first - Wehrmacht had never played live before. Acoustic is totally not my thing and the heat was fucking intense and power outage meant no relief - but it was Wehrmacht, I couldn't not see this. Fucking great - obviously it's not the same but it was just fun. All the riffs were done right, just weird hearing it on acoustics. Kind of perfect it was such an intimate venue too - this wouldn't have worked anywhere near as well at larger venues, even The Bendigo. The band were just as excited as the audience.

Depression

My new favourite time seeing this band live. Only half the band (vocals, drums, bass) and extra distorition added to the bass to try and compensate, one of the best bass sounds ever. Short and sweet and just plain fun.

Wehrmacht

Short set plugged in, so fucking good in this tiny venue. Crowd interaction was great again and they made a big deal of the United Shoe Sister - to the point the vocalist took over drums so the drummer could get involved. An amazing experience.

#8 The Hi-Fi Bar 14.01.2014

Hobbs Angel of Death

Old Melbourne classics. Haven't seen them for years and enjoyed it again. I think they're much better on a smaller stage and the piss-poor turnout isn't helping. Peter has been doing this for years and it looks like he's still just as into it (though maybe not quite as active)

Primate

Again a good live performance. Not quite as good as the last one, again possibly due to the almost-empty venue.

Wehrmacht

Turnout may have been piss-poor but Wehrmacht didn't seem to care. Admittedly not as amazing as the previous show, still a great band, great song selection and as much crowd interaction as they could given the stage and barrier situation.

Grave

Technically played really well, pretty solid and tight performance. Just kinda boring to watch - it was almost like they were just rehearsing, little to no crowd interaction. If I was a huge fan of the band I probably would have enjoyed a little more.

Check all the bands out here:
https://www.facebook.com/HobbsAngelOfDeathOfficial http://www.reverbnation.com/hobbsangelofdeath
https://www.facebook.com/Primategrind http://www.primategrind.com/audio/mp.html
https://www.facebook.com/WehrmachtOfficial http://wehrmacht.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/GraveOfficial http://www.reverbnation.com/grave