I arrived at the venue characteristically early
as I had an interview to do with Karnivool's front
man Ian Kenny only to be told that the sound check
was still underway and everything was running
late and that i'd have to wait maybe 15/20 minutes.
I'd expected something like this to happen as
it's just my luck however what I didn't expect
was to be taken into the stage area, given a drink
and be treated to watching the sound check. From
the sound check alone I knew I was in for something
pretty damn good.
Rock City's main room itself is pretty intimate
on the grand scale but the downstairs room where
tonights show was being held is literally a room,
a small stage, the sound booth and a bar. Intimate
as hell and in my opinion, now one of my favourite
venues.
The opening band, Illuminatus, are a four piece
formed of a spaniard, a german, an english 'gent'
and an italian. They delivered a set filled with
heavy riffs, crushing bass lines and drums that
if played as a solo might make your ears bleed.
As per usual with almost every opening band it
took a few songs for the crowd to really get interested
but when they did the room became hot and sweaty,
the barriers were pushed and they even managed
to get a few friendly heckles out of the crowd.
A band i'd love to see at their own headline show
and definitely one to watch in 2010. A brilliant
beginning to what I already knew was going to
be a great night.
Karnivool come on with the opener 'Simple Boy',
a personal favourite of mine. From the moment
they walk on stage it is clear to see why Karnivool
are such a popular band in their homeland of Australia
and more recently the UK and the USA - their stage
presence is overpowering and entirely captivating.
You cannot take your eyes off them for fear of
missing something, partly because of Ian Kenny's
fantastic movement/dancing to the melodies of
the music, not the beat.
They play a mixture of songs from both albums,
the 2005 'Themata' and the 2009 release 'Sound
Awake'. This keep the crowd moving almost constantly,
only really stopping for the occasional breather
between songs. As the intro to the epic 'Themata'
begins, the crowd really kicks off – or
at least those that have bothered to venture into
their album before 'Sound Awake'. Just like on
the album the song is heavy, the acoustics demand
nothing but your full attention and it covers
your arms in goosebumps and the hairs on your
neck are stood on end. This is followed up by
the powerful, pulsing, attitude-filled 'Roquefort'
which includes the lyric “You call me sublime,
you know that's such a waste of energy”
- a lyric I really like for some reason. It is
during this song that the crowd really goes for
it, giving all they have left. Karnivool choose
a somewhat suprising closing song in playing both
parts of 'Changes' . A brilliant close nevertheless.
Karnivool are a band that sound exactly the same
live as they do on CD and when you team that with
the attention grabbing dance moves of Kenny and
the awe-inspiring stage presence of the band as
a whole they are a band I want to see again and
again and I suggest if you haven't already, you
do so as well!
Illuminatus 3/5
Karnivool 5/5
Review By Lauren Dauny
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