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Gyroscope + Behind Crimson Eyes, Mere Theory Fowler's Live, Sun 30 Oct I've seen Perth punk rock quartet Gyroscope a fair few times now, and the range of my reactions to their blistering live show is pretty limited - it goes from "wow, what a great band," to "wow, this is the best band ever." The best band ever is probably a big call - but the kind of euphoria I tend to experience after a Gyroscope concert plays tricks with the mind, man. Woah. I hadn't seen locals Mere Theory for quite some time, and not a lot's changed - they're still one of the tightest, most professional punk acts in town. They interspersed tracks from last year's 'Disengage' EP with new songs, and the gradually growing Fowler's crowd warmed to them nicely. Their set wasn't as good as I knew they could be - the guitar was too loud with too much distortion, which drowned out the punchy rhythms and impressive melodies that the band has garnered so much attention for. I didn't like Behind Crimson Eyes. I don't really know what else to say; I guess their brand of semi-melodic hardcore just wasn't my cup of tea. But, there was a diehard group of fans up the front that got things in the mosh moving for the first time that night. BCE were pretty tight, extremely energetic and well received. Maybe I'm just not down with the times - I got a little confused when vocalist Josh Stuart asked everyone to "put their guns in the air" (as in a gun made with your fingers) - I guess I'm just an old-school stickler for the classic sign-of-the-devil goblet-of-rock. Stuart's backflip off the PA that ended the set was pretty cool though - if entirely pointless. Then on came Gyroscope. The band cranked straight into overdrive with the lead track from their new album Don't Look Now, But I Think I'm Sweating Blood, and the packed room reciprocated the band's intensity. Things got all sweaty and crowded very quickly. Gyroscope are one of the best live acts in Australia - they're just so gloriously unpretentious and gloriously enthusiastic that it's impossible not to have a good time. Older tracks like Take This For Granted and the obligatory Doctor Doctor were lapped up by the punters, and Gyroscope remained reasonably tight despite their tendency to hurl about the stage. New tracks like the disco-fuelled Beware Wolf and single Fast Girl sounded amazing, but the more subdued 'Are You Involved' tracks (Dream Vs. Scream, 22 of 3) didn't quite work, and the set lulled in the middle - no doubt fuelled by technical difficulties with frontman Daniel Sanders' guitar. But, after a while, Gyroscope just didn't bother worrying about it, and absolutely let loose on crowd favourite Midnight Express and encore tracks Fire Away and Safe Forever - broken strings, fallen microphones and band members littered the bomb-hit stage. Once again, Gyroscope left Adelaide with a mighty bang - on the scale, this one probably rates a "wow, that was a totally freakin' awesome band." Woah.  |
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