The Butterfly Effect @Westernport Hotel, San Remo(10/01/2009)

Thu 15th Jan, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Heading down to San Remo is always a treatwith the penguins, amazing fish and chips by the sea and friendly locals. The little town was packed with vintage hot rods and the eclectic crowd that such conventions attract and a smattering of locals who all look like they’ve seen it all before.

Despite the well thought out “door opening time to support act kicking off ” difference, the lack of organization regarding entry meant that Sleep Parade were forced to play to a near empty room as patrons struggled to get through the doors and ticketing staff unable to cope with the rush.

By the time we had made it through, Sleep Parade were three-quarters of the way through their performance, which encompassed tracks from their sublime debut album Things Can Always Change, including Barriers, Carry On and One Track Mind.

Inside the venue, it was obvious as to why there was such a major hold up at the door. Patrons who were lucky enough to force their way past the door guards all congregated less than a metre inside, which meant that the main floor was empty, and no one could get past the little groups all squashed up against one another.

On stage, front man Leigh Davies was in fine form, contrasting his recently buffed physique with a floppy mini-mohawk. Having toured solidly for the past few months, the band appear a lot more comfortable on stage, disregarding the fact that only a small handful of punters actually knew who they were.

The set closed predictably with Weeping Walls, a standout epic from the album that involves Davies singing into the pick up of his guitar. By this stage of the evening, my earlier reservations were about to be realized – that Sleep Parade are still yet to revise a set list that has rarely changed over the past year and a half. Things can always change indeed…

If that’s the case, I’m still waiting.

The crowd swelled almost immediately as The Butterfly Effect wandered out on stage to the adulation of their fans. Opening with Room Without a View from their most recent musical offering Final Conversation of Kings, patrons wasted little time in inciting pandemonium on the floor, much to the disgust of maxi-dress wearing, oversized bag toting punters who were effectively being shuffled off the floor.

The Butterfly Effect demonstrated that constant touring is good for the soul and the performance, as the band have never appeared more at ease on stage, yet so in sync with one another. The set flew by, with Always, Final Conversation and perennial favorites Reach and Aisles of White getting a nod from both the band and punters.
It’s always a special moment for a band when a few hundred patrons manage to completely drown out the vocalist on stage. The joy reflected on Clint Boge’s face as he surrendered Gone to the crowd showed both the bands appreciation for their fans, and vice versa. Two nights earlier at the Peninsula Lounge, the crowd made A Slow Descent their own.

Bassist *Glenn Esmond” was more animated than previously, every moment in which he was not backing Boge was spent dancing around in his small corner of the stage, occasionally throwing out a sanguine grin to the fans pressed up against the barrier.

Guitarist Kurt Goedhart pranced around on stage, mesmerising the masses with his undoubted skill on the strings, as well as his ability to command almost as much attention as Boge.

Enter Window and the Watcher and the room exploded. If this was a cartoon strip, you would have seen the whole building shake, the roof burst off and tremble mid air and resettle on the walls a little lopsidedly. Definitely one of the more well received moments of the evening, with just about everyone in the room singing along, if not dancing.

Drummer Ben Hall is in his own little world, methodically thumping away in the back, his eyes closed more often then not, but the sheer pleasure of showcasing his skills is evident in his every movement, and the breaks between songs are punctuated by a wide grin. In a complete reversal of stage one of the tour, the set closed with the epic Worlds on Fire, one of the most sublimely beautiful pieces within The Butterfly Effect’s set list, and a fitting way to end the evening.

Having had quite enough of boisterous young men headbutting me as they took a swig out of their little plastic cups of grog, the closing moments of Worlds was my cue to exit the building, the rest of the punters clamouring for an encore. Walking out of the venue, the opening strains of Crave filled our ears, but not even that could persuade us to walk back into the room, having taken into account the extent of bruises from the headbutting incidents.

However San Remo was undoubtedly the best performance from the band on the Victorian leg of the regional tour, and signals a band more then ready to tackle the upcoming Big Day Out tour with a vengeance.