It’s rare you should be witness to such an immense gathering or see such a showing of great Australian rock talent under the one roof, and yet here we are.
After Saturday night (9 February) at Enmore Theatre, it wouldn’t be surprising if venue management had to hire repairmen to look at the roof, because it really, really went off.
Sound issues riddled each band that took to the stage, but ultimately minds were blown by four of the hottest acts in Australian alternative music right now, beginning with RedHook who – despite a rocky start with aforementioned sound issues – have a firecracker of a frontwoman in Emmy Mack.
RedHook have ruptured the delicate skin of the underground and have fast become one of the biggest live acts on the scene. Crashing through their own brand of nu-metal, metalcore hybrid originals, it won’t be surprising if these guys are soon headliners themselves at the Enmore.
RedHook were closely followed by the ever-endearing Endless Heights, these home-town heroes continue to baffle with their sound – grunge, shoegaze, metal? What are they? Endless Heights are immense performers, that’s what!
Vocalist Joel Martorana has all the dexterity of a trapeze artist as he flung himself all over the stage in an entertaining display of excitement.
Ah, Ocean Grove! While many fans may have been concerned as to the continuation of the band in recent weeks following the departure of some members, the performance these boys gave tonight left no doubt as to their longevity.
The noise with which Ocean Grove were met was simply flooring, a relentless energy coursing from the maddened musicians on stage and rolling over into their enamoured audience.
Bassist-turned full-time vocalist Dale Tanner proved his worth and performed like he’d been doing the job for years. Ocean Grove more than made up for fewer bodies; new single ‘Ask For The Anthem’ going down particularly well, with heavy riffs, heavy rhythms, and heavy heads as some punters will no doubt have woken up with a sore neck after bashing along to these bangers.
The name Hands Like Houses has always been a source of debate and confusion for some, but watching the uniform ardour of the Canberra outfit and the effect they had on their audience. Well, pieces of the jigsaw puzzle came together very quickly and lightbulbs came on quite erratically as the Canberra five-some took to the stage.
With an impressive amped-up production and interesting placement of its members across the stage, Hands Like Houses perfectly imbued tracks from their latest album, ‘Anon’, with plenty of crowd favourites, solidifying a certain style of commitment and adoration between band and fan that is hard to come by.
Through ‘Bad Dream’, bassist Joel Tyrrell climbed on top of an actual surfboard to crowd surf, the man occasionally toppling off said board only to be raised back up by the sturdy hands of delighted audience members.
It was a sight to be seen, entertaining as much as it was endearing – you see why the literal name Hands Like Houses suddenly starts to make sense? It takes many hands to build a home, and the hands of everyone present were literally out to uphold a dedicated band-fan relationship that is hard to find among Aussie rock bands.
The curse of sound issues didn’t miss Hands Like Houses but they took it all in their stride, even as Tyrell managed to snap the neck of his bass on-stage and not when he was crowd surfing (like, how?!) with the set temporarily held up.
Confetti, lights and streamers were the perfect visual to the sensations felt in the room that night and Hands Like Houses got their biggest buzz as they played their closer, ‘Half Hearted’.
The calibre of talent was wild at Enmore Theatre, but perhaps what was most endearing about Hands Like Houses and the supports they chose for this show, was that despite the talent these bands have, they still remain remarkably down to earth and perform just so.
