FasterLouder Presents - MercyArms, The Process, The Trivs @The Greenroom, Canberra5/09/08

Sun 7th Sep, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Canberra welcomed Mercy Arms with open arms, on their national tour promoting their much anticipated self-titled debut. As presented by FasterLouder ...

The Trivs, part Sydney-siders, part locals (let’s just claim them as our own) opened the night just after 9 pm to a surprisingly larger-than-your-average crowd for a support act. Either these guys have a big fan base or it’s a sign of what’s to come. The indie pop four-piece played Only on Weekends and the standout track Wait to a handful of diehard fans up front and the attentive Greenroom crowd. It seemed that the night was a gathering of true music lovers with the pool table remaining untouched throughout The Trivs’ set. With distinct influences from The Strokes, The Trivs were too good not to watch. The band themselves really got into it beyond just playing their instruments, with bassist Byron bouncing about and perching himself on the drummer’s podium throughout the set. They played their new upbeat song Birthday with frontman Miller telling the crowd “You’ll love it, its pretty good” – he was right. Crowd numbers picked up just before 10 pm as the band played the catchy Out of Time , another awesome standout but almost the end of their set. It’s not often the early birds are rewarded with such a top support act, but this was one of those nights.

Emerging on the stage after 10, Melbourne quintet The Process opened with a great intro to find no sound coming through to the lead mike. Frontman August coolly says “Alright then let’s have another go then” for take two. He is tall and imposing on stage armed with his haunting baritone vocals and bold two-handed grip on the mike, demanding attention. Described as “psychedelic post punk”, The Process (with Ash from Mercy Arms filling in on bass) played first single The City to a growing crowd up the front with August thrashing and whipping the mike chord around on stage. Followed by Vicious Cycle, August’s style and vocals are intense and expressive, reminiscent to that of Jim Morrison’s as he swaggers about the stage through The Void. Sometimes when one handed on the mike, his free arm is outstretched, palms up, like a preacher addressing the 70 or so crowd. Closing with All Eyes, August stands on the infamous Greenroom cage to the audiences’ delight, then drops into the crowd, where he ends the song and simply slips away.

Mercy Arms appeared dressed in white, complete with tights, explaining the unusually white backdrop on the Greenroom stage. It’s a refreshing change, but not unusual for the quartet (quintet on tour) who’ve been donning the gear on their national tour for their self-titled debut. “Hello Canberra thank you for coming out” frontman Thom says graciously, as the crowd slowly makes their way up the front. He later tells the crowd it’s their first show in Canberra and the Greenroom which is “green”. Playing mostly tracks from the new album, they opened with Caroline followed by the driving rhythms of Half Right getting the crowd’s full attention. Thom’s vocal style is strong yet understated and he sings empathetically through their raw dreamy pop tracks To Me Now and On & On. Guitarist and backing vocalist Kirin, glitter and all, is exciting to watch as he bobs, circles and darts from left to right on the spot throughout Shine a Light Down and crowd favourite Firing Line. Ending with what we thought was the end of their set, Down Here, So Long was met with a massive applause as Mercy Arms leaves the stage with amps still a-blazing. Bassist Ash returns on stage and says “Just kidding, we’ll play some more!” and did, closing with tracks off their Kept Low EP.