Fresh from a world tour, including co-headlining Belgium’s leading post-rock festival Dunk! alongside British greats 65daysofstatic, Sydney based post-rockers sleepmakeswaves decided to celebrate their debut album …And So We Destroyed Everything release once again with a national tour.
Stopping over at Adelaide’s Crown and Anchor for the second time in 2012, the quartet were more ready than ever to blow away the crowd, having opened for Chicago metal trio Russian Circles just the night before.
The night was a great showcase of local post-rock talent, with Adelaide’s own Auxilla opening up the night. With their vocalist absent from the show, the temporary five-piece had planned on pulling together an instrumental set with an emphasis on the mental.
Pulling off every note to perfection, and managing to sound as rich and full as a full band should, it was no surprise that those watching were stunned by the band’s talent. Auxilla managed to demonstrate to the attendees that superb compositions and passionate performances could be just as easily found in local artists than nationally touring ones.
Up next were main openers Steering By Stars. Another example of Adelaide’s talent, the four-piece combined effects-heavy vocals with unique drumming and ethereal guitar work to produce a distinctive atmosphere – one difficult to come by. Their set, which was closed with fan favourite “Closer” off of their debut LP Cables, was met with mutters from the crowd on how beautiful they sounded.
With a seventy-minute set to come from sleepmakeswaves, there was no time to waste. Shortly after Steering By Stars’ set, sleepmakeswaves jumped up, set up as quick as ever and began to play. With their set only comprising of pieces from their debut album, and unreleased tracks, those who had only heard their previous releases would have found it a little disappointing, but still very easy to enjoy.
There would have been no doubt in the attendees’ minds that tonight’s performance by the four-piece would be any less than perfect. Sleepmakeswaves managed to progress from their soft fragments to the songs’ climaxes with ease, and produced not just a beautifully sounding performance, but the perfect amount of emotion to go with it.
It was quite easy to see that they were very appreciative of the large turnout, and were convinced that they had to give the crowd a stellar performance in return – something they did with great success.
