Being the last day of summer one would think Mother Nature would play fair and let us enjoy one warm sunny night. If you thought that then you would be wrong. It was a miserable rainy night as hundreds of fans continued their Soundwave week by heading to Sydney’s Metro to watch Your Demise, Letlive and Enter Shikari. Included in the crowd were many other Soundwave bands including Brits You Me At Six.
The vibe inside the metro was insane as Your Demise began the set. Vocalist Ed McRae spent a lot of time interacting with the crowd, standing on the barrier to allow for gang vocals and at one point jumping into his awaiting fans. Although Your Demise only played a short 40 minute set the whole crowd was full of energy and made use of the time; there were tonnes of people moshing and at one point the whole floor of the Metro formed a circle pit.
The whole band laughed and smiled on stage; a feeling reciprocated by the crowd. During one of the songs, a lucky fan made it onstage then was encouraged to stage dive by the band. Any barrier between fans that was broken down during their final song “The Kids We Used To Be” as McRae was lost in the masses. Though the set was short and sweet they set the bar for the night and they set it high.
Letlive made it their mission to please, each member oozing energy and bouncing around. From the moment vocalist Jason Butler stepped foot on stage the crowd was transfixed his crazy antics and ridiculous amounts of energy made it so that fans could not look away. From playfully choking a security guard with the microphone chord to pushing his mates around, there wasn’t a moment where fans weren’t intrigued.
Butler’s energy could only be compared to that of a puppy and he got up to just as much mischief, climbing on speakers, playing air-guitar with guitar cases, body boarding on guitar cases, throwing the microphone around, spitting water everywhere and breaking microphone stands. There was always something that had those who weren’t moving in the crowd entertained. But Letlive is so much more than Butler’s antics; each member plays their part incredibly well, managing to ignore Butler and nailing every changing in tempo and rhythm. Letlive walked away with many new and well deserved fans.
Enter Shikari have not toured Australia since releasing their highly political and socially aware album A Flash Flood Of Colour and were greeted with great anticipation. Usually Enter Shikari are accompanied by lasers, flashing LED rings and other fancy contraptions this time around they favoured basic lighting reflecting the artwork on their latest CD. The toning down of the lighting allowed fans to focus on the lyrical messages that this band is so passionate about.
If fans weren’t moving to the earlier bands they certainly were now, the combination of both post-hardcore and dance elements such as drum and bass and dubstep made it impossible to stand still. The Metro resembled a hardcore show/rave with the crowd either moshing or dancing. The transition from breakdowns into elements of dance was outstanding and barriers between the two genres were completely destroyed. Although the set featured mostly new songs like “Destabilise”, “Gandhi Mate, Gandhi” and “System..”, veteran fans were given a treat when Enter Shikari played longer remixed versions of favourites like “Mothership” and “Sorry You’re Not A Winner.”
Favouring pre-programmed beats meant that vocalist Rou Reynolds could step away from his synthesisers allowing him to bounce around on stage and explore the crowd. At one point Rou stage dived and managed to crowd surf to the bar and back again. This sense of fun and exploration was reciprocated by fellow bandmates who climbed speakers and jumped into the crowd instruments in tow. Their true talent was showing during “Stalemate” were they mixed things up again with Rou beginning the song with an acoustic guitar and ending with an unbelievable piano piece on the synth. Although “Stalemate” slowed down the mood it allowed the crowd to have a much deserved rest as well as an opportunity to sing along.
Taking a moment to rest backstage the band came out to play a two song encore blowing the crowd away with “Hello Tryannosaurus, Meet Tyrannicide “ and a remixed version of “Sssnakepit”. The party had only just begun though with drummer Rob Rolfe inviting everyone to The World Bar in Kings Cross for drinks and to continue the great night. The weather could not destroy the high spirits that this gig created as hundreds of fans swarmed out onto George Street to make their way either home or to World Bar.
– Marissa Hanson
