Against Me! and Crime InStereo @ The Arena, Brisbane(25/04/08)

Mon 28th Apr, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Proceedings at the Arena begin relatively slowly to a handful of patrons. Melbourne outfit Coue’ Method consists of five young men that one would expect to find down at the local on a Friday after work. Appearances aside, these young gentlemen fill the Arena with Bad Religion-esque songs. Frontman Steve holds onto his microphone stand like a safety net whilst navigating his way around the stage. A set list consisting of The Winners are Losers, White Dogs in the Sun and Arsonits de Profoundis are great songs which fill the room with their rock inspiration. Vocals were at times inaudible and the bass lay heavy on the musical mix throughout the whole set. At points throughout the hour it was difficult determine whether there was a lead guitarist even on stage at all. After a while, shirts came off and music was delivered in good time to the appreciation of the punters inside.

Another handful of people enter to join the early-bird audience at the front of the stage. Then it’s time for American assembly, Crime In Stereo. Frontman Kristian rolls onto the stage like a true rock star. With no time for jokes, it’s straight into business. The battle of feedback had soldiers at the forefront with amp adjusting going on all over the stage, however it appeared to play a prominent part of the bill for the course of the set. It was obvious that a select group in the front of the stage had waited long enough to hear their strange but respectable rock music. Tunes from their most recent release Crime in Stereo is Dead were a lot of fun and enjoyed by every member of the audience.

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that the Arena is air-conditioned at all, however tonight it was cooler inside than out. Against Me! take to the stage to a crowd that had wandered in like just-in-time inventory. The room is enveloped with that unmistakable Against Me! sound. Most of the night is passed with songs from their recent release, New Wave. The popular Stop has bodies moving with the most energy exertion of the night. The four-piece wield the liveliness on stage to equal the music pouring from the speaker stacks. Maybe it was the dissent that is packed inside the songs or maybe it was the high intoxication levels of the people in the building, whatever it was (and all legalities aside) patrons on the dancefloor decided it was time to light their cigarettes.

Old time favourites including This Shit Rules, Pints of Guinness Make You Strong and Sink, Florida, Sink get inclusion on the set list. Guitarist James Bowman appeared to be having the most enjoyable of times along with many patrons in the crowd. It’s Tom Gabel’s inimitable voice that flows through the PA system, coupled with those incomparable riffs that ensure fists up to the sky, feet stomping and heads nodding in complete disregard for one’s physical health. Self-proclaimed anarchists, Against Me! manage to provide Brisbane with that good-time punk that only they can pull off.