It’s rare that gigs these days consist entirely of bands from the same state. But when Melbourne’s Children Collide headlined in their hometown, at St Kilda’s The Espy, the entire lineup boasted all homegrown acts.
Newies on the scene, four-piece Them Bruins kicked off the night with some high-energy heavy rock. The metal infused old school rock, ignited enthusiasm from the surprisingly full band room, particularly from one longhaired punter who head banged his way through the entire set, positioned in the middle of the remaining standing, but relatively still throng.
Many a couple was seated at the back of the strangely elongated room, but the middle-aged crowd was certainly enjoying a raucous night on the town.
A grungier, garage rock filled the room next in the sounds of duo Udays Tiger.
Starting 10 minutes late and finishing early, their set only just mustered 20 minutes, but it was 20 minutes of high intensity sounds.
If you weren’t looking, you’d be unaware this band only consists of two people, their force certainly living up to that of a full band.
A larger crowd emerged yet became chatty, setting the scene as pub-like, many a beer in hand, as the high-pitched, high energy, electric guitar sounds didn’t quite captivate.
Damn Terran were the final support of the evening, the impressive Melbourne rock trio surprisingly still seeing a full gathering of un-roused punters. An unexpected entrance of four police officers spiked some intrigue amongst the audience, but after sweeping the area they soon departed.
The three piece, consisting of a lady and two gents, continued their striking set without interruption, while the female slice of the band took over lead vocals for one rocking tune – something that should occur far more frequently.
Children Collide joined the audience to watch several songs, although like those that preceded them, Damn Terran also finished up early – an ending that saw the guitarist turn into some kind of aspiring rock legend, smashing his guitar on the stage like a cliche.
Finally, four hours after doors had opened, Children Collide hit the stage.
Surprisingly, the departure of drummer Heath Crawley earlier in the year brought about no drastic change (other than a fill-in drummer) for the hour-long, impeccable set, their live tunes and vocals sounding of equal quality as their recordings.
The trio played an invigorating set of indie rock tunes, a mix from all of their three albums, and if anything, one thing was certainly clear: when this band play live, they’re very keen on long intros.
A number of times they added several minutes of guitar solos to the beginning of each head-bang inducing song.
Killer bass lines, such as that of ‘The Flat Earth’, made the old wooden floorboards vibrate beyond control, while frontman Johnny Mackay labeled the moshing and dancing crowd “appropriately rowdy.”
An “orgasmic version” of ‘Farewell Rocketship’ saw them singing and swaying to the popular down tempo number, in the almost complete set that seemed to pass time incredibly quickly.
An obvious “Jellylegs” ending ignited a guitar solo from Mackay as he joined the crowd in the mosh. Once fighting his way back onstage and announcing that they don’t do encores, Children Collide began what was to be a bizarre, enthusiastic, yet completely superfluous closing of several minutes of noise.
The audience went crazy and crowd surfing ensued, but the up until now impressive set could’ve certainly gone without whatever blur of music that concluded it.
View the photo gallery of Children Collide’s show at The Espy here.
