Children Collide @ NewtownWorkers Club, Melbourne(22/02/09)

Wed 25th Feb, 2009 in Gig Reviews

It was a pleasant surprise walking into the Newtown Workers Club, (formally known as the Rob Roy) in Fitzroy due to the improvements that had taken place. Before us, a modern, classy, bar and venue as opposed to a derelict shack that was falling to pieces. Once through the main doors, where $10 entry was paid towards the Red Cross bushfire appeal, punters were faced with a small, yet cosy, air conditioned bar, separated from the main band room. This provided all with a refreshing escape, as it was later needed.

Children Collide wasted no time in beginning their set, arriving on stage on time, and opening straight away with We are Amphibious. At first glance, the small crowd of no more than 100, seemed to be coming along for the ride and had no interest in Children, however, the closer one got to the stage (a mere 30 cm above the ground) the more fans that were witnessed. Due to the size of the venue, a moshpit was non existant, however, each punter had their own – œdance square’, with a group of 30 in front of the stage rocking out to Children’s beats, and singing along every word. Following Amphibious with We Live in Fear was enough evidence that the sound in the venue had been mixed perfectly. Ryan took everything out on his drum kit, yet did not mute the band, Heath’s bass was at perfect levels, loud enough to dance to the catchy beats, yet not loud enough to overpower everyone else, and Johnny’s guitar and mic blended in perfectly with the sound already created. This was a pleasant change to when the boys played at Queensbridge Hotel a few months ago, when there were some obvious sound mixing issues.

After asking for the audience’s approval, and finally playing Cannibal, the band began to have some feedback issues with Johnny’s guitar emitting nothing but a high pitched shriek. Whilst this problem was (temporarially) solved, the band faced another issue with one fan knocking out the power to the guitar amp. This was quickly fixed, amid laughter from both the crowd and band, and apologies were accepted by playing Across the Earth. By this stage the majority of the room were at least tapping a foot to the beat, which lead Johnny to proclaim the obvious: ‘It’s fucking hot in here’. This was later followed up with ‘I’ve never been this fucking sweaty in my life’. A possible tip for future gigs at the Newtown? Air-conditioning.

By this stage it seemed evident that the band was not following any real set list, with each member deliberating with each other over which song to play next. They agreed to slow it down, playing Terrible Lizard, an instrumental not available on the band’s debut album, which was when the feedback issues returned. Almost immediately the band stopped playing, with frontman Mackay telling the crowd ‘I gotta fix this. I can’t play whilst it’s doing this’. After a few minutes of looking for a new lead (at which stage both Heath and Ryan played a drum and bass instrumental to keep the crowd occupied), the band continued to play, finishing the rest of their set with no issues.

It was obvious the band was taking in all the crowd energy and using it to their own advantage, as it seemed the rowdier and – œmore into’ the songs the audience got, the more grins and head bangs the band would display. When a crowd surfer (yes, in this tiny venue), made it appear that the band were beat, Mackay leapt into the first few rows of the crowd during Social Currency, the crowd favourite of the night. Truly Punk.

Unfortunately the boys were only given a 40 minute set, which whilst provided enough time to play all the current hits, left out tracks Economy, Devil’s Child and Marie Marie Pt. 2. Even though this was the case, both the punters and the band made the most of the time with not one person within a 10 metre radius of the stage walking out dry.

The issue that exists with Children Collide is that the boys deserve to make it big and play arena’s one day. The only problem is that these guys have perfected playing gigs in smaller venues, and definitely know how to capitalise on the intimacy they provide. 2009 will be the year of Children Collide, with the band already making appearances at both Pyramid Rock and the Big Day Out, and soon to grace the V Festival stage. Anyone interested should take advantage of these intimate gigs before the chances are gone.