Escape The Fate @ Billboard,Melbourne (23/07/08)

Sat 26th Jul, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Escape The Fate played all the crowd favourites from their album Dying Is Your Latest Fashion, but it was one of their downfalls that they had a limited repertoire of songs to play to a hungry audience on a Wednesday night. Still, despite the minimal mid-week winter turn out, the band managed to get the mosh zone jumping. There was much room to move, half the room may have been drinking copiously while the rest of us languished from the middle to the back, leaning over the woodwork, frothy beer in hand, and the occasional bursts of elation and smiles in response to Craig Mabbit’s rather amusing stage antics.

The band had finally managed to make their way down to Melbourne, after several hindrances, one such instance that saw the former lead singer Ronnie Radke jailed for the crime of being an accessory to murder, in addition to a string of narcotics related incidents. The replacement vocalist Mabbit, while not disappointing, had some complications throughout the gig that led to some less than desirable visuals however fitting of a screamo gig they were.

We are greeted with the usual pleasantries of a band unsure of Australian audiences – “Stoked to be here finally” he enthused. “How are you guys doing today, are you guys doing good or what?” he forcefully enquired. This is followed by a more to the point assertion, “What the fuck is up Melbourne!”. He lets us in on the fact that he had broken his foot two days prior. This becomes blatantly obvious as the show progresses, as he hops around stage, preferring to remain in the one spot as would be expected.

One major factor observed was that all band members, aside from Robert Ortiz’s massive hair style, appeared quite small in stature, but by contrast, they compensated with their incredibly powerful performance. Craig doesn’t mind sharing the microphone around to Max Green while Bryan – œMonte’ Money with his dark shades and bandanna continues to play his instrument amazingly well as the gig leisurely progresses with comical banter between Craig and Max amidst playful put-downs and bird flipping to the wild-haired Robert Ortiz.

Escape The Fate ended up playing pretty much their entire album including Reverse This Curse, one that entertains everyone, catering to us all with massive enthusiasm abounding. Craig seemed under the influence perhaps when he rather random and oddly uttered to security “I love you man, I fuckin’ love you dude”. Then ensued the ska/punk style mosh pit which was rather dismal to be honest, given the small number of punters gathered, despite the awesome melodies and riffs. What would an Escape The Fate gig be without Truth In Cliché? It became the pivotal song of the night, along with Situations and Friends and Alibis.

After randomly throwing the song selection to the Ortiz who seemed indifferent and indecisive on the movement, Craig’s voice appeared to wane, but still he screamed growled and writhed in tune. After wittily referring to the under agers as “those young pieces of shit” he quickly realising his mistake and quipping “I didn’t just say that” Craig threw himself into another song, but it was a bitter disappointment to see his reluctance to continually vocalise, as he sank down to his seat and gave the microphone to the crowd because he just couldn’t hit it like it was at the start. He hoped off stage in between songs and at times looked like he was more interested in playing putting the mic down his pants. His trick of throwing the cord around his neck was entertaining; however these things don’t discount the realisation that his heart just wasn’t in it.

Towards the end, he was given two bottles of water by a stage hand. The gig came to an abrupt close, with no encore possible due to lack of songs available to play. The set went for about forty five minutes, which can be seen below par for the fifty dollar entry fee. After all the mediocrities and titillating chaos, one thing remains and that is Escape The Fate have a lot more musical talent waiting to be unearthed. This will be revealed at the end of this year when they unleash their new album. And provided the remaining members steer clear of the law, they should hit the mark when they come back around again, perhaps having matured musically or grown with a much needed close-knit bond, as there was some playful animosity between members apparent.