It’s not every day you get to see a band with one million Facebook followers playing in a cosy little spot like Amplifier (14 May), just a short creep up the alley next to a convenient kebab shop.
Perth band Idle Eyes bristle up with a hectic set full of tight manoeuvres and twisty time changes. They’ve been playing together for six years and have new music out this year.
Comeback Kid rip out their tunes, a little disappointed at the lack of everyone else’s enthusiasm, pulling out all the tricks to get some audience involvement. It’s not that we were uninterested, we were probably just still recovering from Groovin The Moo Bunbury (click here to read the review) or, uh, Monday.
Sadly they didn’t play their recently released cover of Midnight Oil’s ‘Beds Are Burning’, but the crowd still knew plenty of words to their songs.
For Silverstein: the courtyard empties into the holding pen save for a few of the most obsessive smokers or hearing protectors.
These guys are complete professionals, the whole band’s demeanour on stage magnetises your attention. “One thing you can count on when you see our band,” says lead vocalist Shane Told, “we’re always gonna play our old sh*t. We’re gonna play songs you recognise even if you’ve been in a coma for three, five years.”
During ‘Smile In Your Sleep’ I wonder how Billy Hamilton the bass player isn’t hitting his head on the stage lights. He’s a big lad exploring all the axes of his allocated space on this stage of modest proportions.
Somehow the five-piece still have room enough to throw themselves around – a tradition also observed in the moshpit – and when stationary, rhythm guitarist Josh has a perpetual leg up on the drum rise for intensity.
Lead guitarist, Paul Marc Rosseau quietens us with a sad solo song – ‘Departures’. Interestingly he’s the only band member not credited with writing the track and it seems quite an abridged version: “You’re killing me kid... the weather changed as soon as you left. I guess you’ll be home soon, so you can see for yourself that this is what happens when you go, so maybe next time don’t.”
Shane takes his turn at a solo track, for the only acoustic guitar appearance of the evening. What follows is a perfect splicing of the acoustic version of ‘My Heroine’ (released on their first compilation album ’18 Candles: The Early Years’ in 2006), with its album version as an extension. The crowd joyfully provides a willing chorus to this, their most streamed track (14 million on Spotify).
They’ve perfected melodic hardcore and stage presence with epic breakdowns, slick harmonies and sections of unison that remind me why Royal Blood works so well, and how incredible that is to achieve with two people and lack nothing.
The serenade continues with ‘Retrograde’, ‘Midwestern State Of Emergency’ and ‘Broken Stars’ and Shane tells us about the first time they came to Perth in 2005 and were so inspired by the Indian Ocean during their urination initiation that they wrote ‘Discovering The Waterfront’, title track for their album released that year.
Considering they introduced ‘Retrograde’ as a cover by another metal band soon to play in the same room, who knows what to believe.
“Everything that you said, echoing in my head.” Graciously, they end by giving us the final say as the crowd chants “into ‘The Afterglow’”.
We have been transformed into a room full of little beaming hearts – thank you for imparting your light to us Silverstein.
