Author: Vittorio E.
Photographer: Arfy Papadam
click image to view gallery [Photo: Arfy Papadam] |
The first trip to the bathroom reveals that we’re in for a longer night than we could have possibly expected. It’s a Thursday night – a school night, I stress – and the bill on the door leading to the toilet declares that there will be five bands on the night. The last Fergus Brown is to start at a quarter to midnight, and will be filmed for the forthcoming feature film, LBF.
Brian Campeau is up first, and he’s brought one quarter of his band, The Common Misconceptions, along for support. She, a certain Elana Stone, accompanies on accordion and vocals. Brian Campeau is a folk singer – or at least what he does is grounded in folk; the reality is that the music is a little spacier than all that. It’s partly the reverb and partly his inventive guitar playing style, in which the rhythm is supplemented by harmonics, trills, hammer-ons and surprisingly inventive tapping. He sings four songs, she sings two, and the crowd is entranced. |
The Zoo is filled with fresh faced lasses in floral dresses and boys with floppy hair and dance pants. As soon as the six members of Brisbane’s Ball Park Music hit the stage to room is on its feet and inching closer to the stage. It’s like were being sucked forward by the gloriously poppy sounds and irresistibly jangly guitars. And the trombone. How can anyone resist a trombone? This collective of shiny, happy young’uns have spent much of the year gigging around the city and attracting a little pack of supporters. They released an 8 track debut “Rolling on the floor, Laughing ourselves to sleep” early this year and some of the tracks have come to the attention of triple j heavyweights.
Having spoken with Michael Amott re their most recent Album launch and subsequent tour schedule only last month, I can’t wait to see one of today’s most sought after guitarists in action!
This rather cold Wednesday night presented itself as an interesting proposition from the start. It would have been safe to assume that if you had decided to set up a hair spray stall just outside the venue you would have made a handsome profit. Or perhaps spiked bracelets and belts may have also pocketed you enough for a six pack of beer. 
Clare Bowditch is smack bang in the middle of recording her fourth studio album in Berlin. The album isn’t set to drop until next year but Ms Bowditch and her band of merry men have hit the road for a national tour to celebrate the release of the single ‘The Start of War’.
Only having one support act seems a trifle insufficient for a band of Kreator’s standing – insulting even – but that’s what confronts us Thursday night at the Metro Theatre. Still, it looks to be a promising evening. I have never, in fact, seen such a huge line to get into the Metro before, and that’s always a good sign as it suggests that the opening band is worth giving a shit about. That honour goes to Sydney’s Mortal Sin, a band that have been kicking around for nearly as long as Kreator. They do themselves proud. Though, unfortunately, by the time we get past the line and into the venue we’ve missed half their set – and of the half we do see most of it is taken up by that marvel of the rock n’ roll genre, the thrash metal ballad.