As Flaming Wrekage’s brutal fourth album tickles your earholes, you know this is something special. …
Foxblood, Pridelands, Death In Bloom, Advocates at the John Curtin Hotel September 25, 2016.
Foxblood by Bree Wallace
No matter the genre of music they play, musicians in 2016 can all agree on one thing: trying to get people to tear themselves away from Netflix and come to a show is really damn hard. Seriously, TV in 2016 is the best it’s ever been. The organisers of tonight’s show have made it easier on everyone by making it an early-start-early-finish kind of deal, with the whole thing wrapping up at 9.30, giving us all time to get home in time for some much needed sleep before the working week kicks off. Clever.
Advocates had the rough job of warming up a distinctly tepid crowd and threw their all into it. I’m talking pit calls, choreographed stage moves (spins, moshes) and good old requests for the crowd to move forward. By the end of their set they even had someone on crutches up the front, and if that’s not a solid endorsement I don’t know what to tell you.
Advocates by Bree Wallace
Death In Bloom brought the techy djent to the bill and did it well—almost too well. Years spent in current and former Melbourne scene stalwarts The Broderick and Jack The Stripper means the band are tight to the point of being almost clinical. Still, that’s a minor criticism for what was an immersive set.
Death In Bloom by Bree Wallace
I have a soft spot for bands who are at least partially from regional areas, and Pridelands have the enthusiasm and technical precision that comes from being stuck in bum-fuck nowhere (in this case, Mt Gambier) and having to cultivate some sort of skill or interest to pass the time (in this case, music). New single Coalesce was the highlight of the set and points to a heavier and lyrically deeper direction for their music. Everyone should go to Bandcamp and buy it so the band has some cash to print merch!
Pridelands by Bree Wallace
It’s rare for a band to play their first live show as a fully realised and polished entity, having spent months in the studio perfecting their songs. Playing live is fun, and as a local band, it’s really the only way to make any money. Having ditched their previous moniker of Glorified, Foxblood have managed to resist the pull of the stage for the better part of the year while they created their debut album The Devil, The Dark and The Rain. Kicking off the set with a promise to play the whole thing because as singer Chris Millward says “they’re the only songs we have”, they did just that, with singles No Heroes and Die Young getting the crowd moving. It was over all too quickly—here’s hoping they’ve got some more tunes cooking before they hit the road with Buried In Verona next month!
Foxblood’s debut album The Devil, the Dark & the Rain is out now
Purchase the album here.
Foxblood are touring with Buried In Verona, Capture The Crown & Arkive this month on The Last Leg Up Tour
Friday, October 14 // Prince Of Wales, Bunbury 18+
Saturday, October 15 // Rosemount Hotel, Perth 18+
Friday, October 21 // The Triffid, Brisbane Lic/AA
Saturday, October 22 // Factory Theatre, Sydney Lic/AA
Friday, November 4 // Uni Bar, Adelaide Lic/AA
Saturday, November 5 // Max Watts, Melbourne 18+
