The Butterfly Effect @ UNSWRoundhouse, Sydney (25/10/08)

Mon 27th Oct, 2008 in Gig Reviews

CHECK OUT ALL THE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE.

I went into this gig with low expectations. Final Conversation of Kings was average, at best, despite being incredibly well-produced. In addition, I had heard conflicting words on The Butterfly Effect’s live show, from excellent to atrocious. That said, the eclectic crowd of devotees lining up outside the Roundhouse was certainly anticipating something special from one of Australia’s premier hard rock acts.

The first band on stage was Melbourne three-piece Sleep Parade. I won’t sugar-coat this: they were awful. Loose playing, standard prog-rock and a lead vocalist/guitarist that takes the idea of “licks” too far (aside from other questionable poses) made for a weak entry into the night. They admitted that they were “pretty poor” and had to “Wear the same clothes every night”, which elicits some sympathy. Credit to the drummer, Dan Teng, though. He certainly has the skill to go far.

Trial Kennedy took their time in more ways than one. The first was a series of false starts whilst setting up that left everyone confused. The show only truly began when vocalist Tim Morrison jumped on stage, attacking the microphone stand with a rage that continued throughout the set. They were energetic, vibrant, powerful and creative, displaying some excellent power-pop from their debut long-player New Manic Art. Undeniably, they were everything Sleep Parade was not. However, whilst their singles went down well, the longer their set went with impromptu jam sessions, the more impatient the crowd became. A shorter set could have done them a lot of favours with a crowd that did not take well to their style.

As The Butterfly Effect took to the stage with the opening two tracks from Final Conversation, singer Clint Boges had his hands to each side resembling the second coming of Christ. Nevertheless, the audience only truly got involved come first single from Imago, A Slow Descent. A deafening, destructive sound erupted from audience and band alike, as chorus “Over now/It’s all over now” was chanted. The force of sound being pelted around the room was the sort of stuff great hard rock acts are made of. It was, to say the least, epic.

This was, unfortunately, one of only a few highlights in what quickly turned into a rather mediocre set. Boges struts like a man caught somewhere between Iggy Pop, the Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears and a mid-life crisis, rarely delivering any true vocal passion. Guitarist Kurt Goedhart has more technical skill than one can poke a stick at, yet lives in his own world. The rhythm section is practically unnoticeable. Probably the worst thing about them on stage is that they appeared uncomfortable playing their own music, aside from the few tracks they played from debut Begins Here. They soon fell so flat that the end of their main set went almost unnoticed for several minutes. They’d regrettably lived up to expectations that were never set very high.

As the encore began with Crave and Kurt ran into the mezzanine (never missing a note), I began to wonder how a band that produces such great studio albums could put on such a poor live show? Maybe they weren’t ready to tour their latest album, or maybe something is going wrong with the inner workings of the band. One can only guess.