Review: Hannah Collins

Recently returned from the UK, stand up Brissy, prog rockers Butterfly effect embark on yet another journey around Australia to promote their fourth studio album “Final conversation of Kings”.

Kicking off the first live show in a string of tours for The Butterfly Effects “Final Conversation tour”, a band of a smaller stature, not lacking in rock adjure, show Brisbane they can do it, and do it well. Calling All Cars, a three piece from Melbourne rocked it hard in the lead up to Brisbane’s Dead Letter Circus taking stage as the main support for one of Australia’s favourites.

With the Tivoli only at half capacity, Calling All Cars begin their set without so much as a minor introduction, and endeavour to wow the crowd with their first song of the night. Right from the word go, their animated and energetic punk rock regime, had the difficult task of warming up the steadily growing flock of music lovers for further acts to come. Yet, they’re getting used to it, having toured as support for some of Australia’s most popular rock acts over the last year or two, they’ve definitely left their mark. With the majority of gig attendees still clinging hesitantly to the outer edges of the stage and hovering on the rims of the main floor, Calling All Cars managed to put in a great performance, bringing people out of the shadows, down to the stage front, and right into the sounds of the heavy hitting guitar. The Rock show begins.

Then as their set finishes, and Dead Letter Circus begins to set up, you can easily see that they’re bordering on being the crowd favourite of the night. Their melodic/ alternative rock and Indie influences make them one of few bands in OZ that could play the main support role for Butterfly Effect so fittingly. Only having had two major releases, a self titled EP and another EP released soon after (Next in Line- much to fans dismay featuring only three songs), they’ve toured extensively around Australia and have taken the stage with a good list of higher profiled bands, including some from O/S. The touring experience has certainly paid off, and with a new album in the works, set for release early next year, they’ve done their best to produce a high energy, interactive set that fans of the night couldn’t get enough of. At stages during the performance, Kim Benzie, (lead singer) lifted the mic over the bombardment of revellers in the front row to sing different choruses. And they did.

A real treat for DLC lovers was the first live performance showcasing one of the singles due for launch on the next album. As it played out, people stood, silently mesmerized by the unknown sounds, anticipating its Australian release.

As a band, Butterfly Effect has been called many things, epic, being one of them. Friday night’s performance wasn’t exactly epic, but for 100’s of new listeners, they came pretty close. With a larger than life set list of approx 15 songs, they begin hotting up an already warmed arena of black clad T-shirt wearers, girlfriends at their sides. But to maintain their label of headlining band, they were certainly going to have to put on a show of more calibre than those before them.

Considering the new album didn’t receive the warmest of reviews, no negativity was felt from the 100’s of people now arrived and filling the venue to full capacity.

TBE enthusiasts swarmed the stage to get a closer look at their fav band. Without room for anyone to so much as move sideways in the audience, they begin their set with a fresh song from the new album, written in classic Butterfly style, Window and the Watcher. Following on with Rain, the fuzz driven hard rock composition, Clint, in his gold edged admiral jacket (a jacket that’s seen many a plane trip!) , pumps out his vocals in an emotionally true yet composed style , with near spot on precision. For the previous bands of the night, background visuals and sound accentuated lighting wasn’t on the agenda, but TBE brought the show to an entirely other level with the use of backstage projectors and sound highlighting lights.

During the latter part of the set, some odd 12 or so songs in… Worlds on Fire rears its head as one of the most anticipated tunes of the evening. During the seven minute opus, again, Clint’s vocals are sharp, precise and determined. Determined to get that sound out, and beyond the ears of eager listeners, deep into the minds of those now watching the imagery of war and destruction projected against the backdrop. Although is seems somewhat out of place… it’s not. Final conversation of Kings as a term, has some resemblance to the trials and tribulations of pre-war talks in loose interpretation to the Latin language.

They achieved what they came for, opening night success, fans in screaming fits of ecstasy, high energy moshing, and plenty of crowd interaction. Once again, The Butterfly Effect have presented themselves as a band to keep track of throughout the duration of this tour, and well beyond.