Cog /Oceansize/Calling AllCars@ Metropolis Fremantle

Wed 10th Jun, 2009 in Gig Reviews

See what you missed in Stuo’s gallery

A good early turnout lined up on South Tce, eager to get their hands on an overpriced drink and check out opening act Calling All Cars. The Melbourne-based trio burst out of the starting grid with an eye-catching intro featuring a wailing theremin, before skidding into a series of radio-friendly punk rock tunes. Disappointing for prog fans who were hoping that an emerging Australian progressive band would be called upon to support, but that would have made too much sense.
To their credit, Calling All Cars were catchy, tight and energetic, and the theremin, though somewhat underutilised, added an occasional breath of fresh air to the set. For the most part, the music was as generic as a five dollar note – the stuff of teenage bodyboarding videos and Jackass montages.

The enlistment of Manchester outfit Oceansize more than compensated for this minor disappointment, and after a lengthy sound check the quintet unleashed a tempestuous set that was well worth the entry fee itself.

Clean-cut front man Mike Vennart led the assault, attacking his guitar like it had raped his sister. Either side of him, guitarists Steve Durose, Richard Ingram and bassist Steven Hodson made the most of their sizeable pedal boards and saturated the venue with driving sonic waves. Without warning, the chaos dropped into a shimmering calm; sweet clean guitar notes and sparse bass notes making way for Vennart’s vocals to echo through, then it was back to the heaviness.

Substandard mixing undermined the impressive on-stage energy, and at the end of the song Vennart berated the sound engineer for fucking up the on-stage sound. Vennart then apologised to the crowd and expressed relief at finally making it to Australian shores. Many in the crowd reflected this sentiment with excited smiles and comments such as “that was fucking huge”. And so it would be for the next forty minutes, as Oceansize reeled off three songs from their second album Everyone into Position and one track from their first full-length Effloresce. The climax of Trail of Fire was so intense that it drew tears of joy from a number of overwhelmed front-rowers; their souls swept into unchartered territory by the emotive onslaught that spiralled and swelled like a growing tornado.

There are – œheavy’ bands and there are – œepic’ bands, but only Oceansize can provide an experience so big, in sound and emotion, that neither of these adjectives seems remotely adequate. You’d do well to catch them while you have the chance.

After a prolonged delay due to another technical spanner, Cog took the stage to raucous cheers. They built the tension and atmosphere masterfully with the dreamy Doors, but once they launched into the inevitable heavy rock riffs it seemed that something was missing. One observer commented on the muddy sound – but the absence was more than that. Simply put, Cog lacked the brute size, range and energy of the previous act. And suffered for it -there was no avoiding the comedown from the pommy powerhouse that was Oceansize.

The majority of the crowd didn’t seem to care, dancing and singing along zealously. Drummer Lucius Borich tinkered intricately on his hybrid kit whilst Flynn Gower cast his rock-croon and layered guitar riffs into the night and Luke Gower romped his bass buoyantly around his wing of the stage.

The trio reeled off a string of favourites old and new: Moo was a highlight, its quirky time signatures and progressions reminiscent of early Tool; Silence is Violence reached some particularly heavy heights; Say Your Last Goodbye had the crowd singing “It’s Over” at the top of its lungs; and political conspiracy anthems Are You Interested? and Swamp went down a treat (step aside Peter Garrett). But the fans lapped up every moment, as good fans do.

See what you missed in Stuo’s gallery