As Flaming Wrekage’s brutal fourth album tickles your earholes, you know this is something special. …
VOYAGER with The Algorithm—Oxford Art Factory, Sydney—22 May 2017
The silence on Oxford Street was something out of an apocalyptic zombie film.
Granted, it was a Sunday night at the end of May and the half marathon drew the crowds away earlier in the day. However, stepping down the Oxford Art Factory stairs you’d never know as Voyager was about to take stage and shred. I didn’t quite know what to expect from these wine glass toting musicians…
Danny Estrin // Photo: Statler Willand
Hitting the stage at 10:30 certainly didn’t deter a diverse crowd of metalheads. The sheer energy of the entire Voyager crew rubs off on anyone listening to their vast catalogue of memorable tracks. With the recent release of Ghost Mile, Voyager played tracks spanning their entire existence.
Ashley, Scott, Alex, Danny and Simone put on a show like a stadium seasoned supergroup. Well, a supergroup minus the supergroup mentality and drama of sounding aged in 40 years.
Simone Dow // Photo: Statler Willand
One may think with the many lineup changes that Voyager has gone through that their sound may come off strange with certain songs, but this couldn’t be more false. Ashley, Scott, Alex, Danny and Simone put on a show like a stadium seasoned supergroup. Well, a supergroup minus the supergroup mentality and drama of sounding aged in 40 years. Like the wine they drank on stage, Voyager just gets better and better with age, and this is entirely prevalent with their onstage demeanour.
Voyager // Photo: Statler Willand
Getting to hear Misery Is Only Company was easily the highlight of the night. You could close your eyes and mistake it for the studio recording. This is something that doesn’t happen too frequently, and must be appreciated as it’s like finding that legendary Pokemon. Every so often there is a trace of it, but rare do you get the opportunity to catch it. Also, throwing in a little Coolio never hurt anyone, well done on the Gangsta’s Paradise break-down. You’re foolish if that doesn’t make you want to check out these folks. Generally I’ll say something like catch them on tour, but their Australia tour ended last night. Guess you’ll have to wait until next time, or maybe just go lookup YouTube videos that were recorded on a potato. Actually, don’t do that. Voyager deserves far better than those low quality iPhone 4 clips.
Leading the Crowd // Photo: Statler Willand
