Cog & Oceansize @ Selina's,Coogee Bay Hotel, Sydney(13/06/09)

Mon 15th Jun, 2009 in Gig Reviews

With just two albums and a few EPs under their belt, Bondi’s brains-meets-brawn power trio Cog are in the most fortunate stage of their careers. They have the ability to play next to any room in the country and fill it with next to no worries.

For their major Sydney show of their Between Oceans tour, the band chose Selina’s at the Coogee Bay Hotel; an unconventional and interesting choice but brought together the masses regardless. Unfortunately, a few Google Maps errors lead to missing almost all of opener Calling All Cars’ set, but it didn’t take long to figure out that the upstarts had something to prove to the gathering crowd, with plenty of energy and a genuine excitability about them. It was hard to say no to their offer of a two-dollar EP at the end of the evening, that’s for sure.

Up next were a collective that only a spattering of the talkative crowd were familiar with, but would have everyone talking about them by the end of it. We refer, of course, to UK prog-rock quintet Oceansize. They showed the crowd a menacing set of beautifully crafted, masterfully performed and occasionally extremely heavy songs.

Whilst all five members brought something unique to the musical atmosphere, it was pretty difficult to dispute frontman/guitarist Mike Vennart as the driving force. Glaring down at the audience, Vennart prowled the stage with violent swagger, alternating between southpaw jabs at his defenceless axe and providing either soaring harmonies or piercing screams.

Every shift in musical dynamic kept the audience attentive. It seemed exceptionally obvious that the band appreciated having some of the crowd’s backing and appreciation – they mentioned how expensive it was to be touring and how all the support counted. Rounding out their all-too-brief 45 minute set with a blistering ten-minute rendition of Ornament/The Last Wrongs from 2005’s Everyone Into Position, Oceansize safely secured their spot amongst the best performances of the year thus far. It’s only common sense that the band should return again someday to a heroes’ welcome.

As much as the rest of the crowd respected Oceansize, they were still there for one reason and one reason only. As the lights dimmed and Luke, Flynn and Lucius took their positions, the sound of bombs falling could be heard echoing throughout the venue’s PA. For fans, this could only mean one thing – the evening would commence with The New Normal cut Doors. This revealed itself to be yet another indication to the excellent position Cog have themselves in – they are able to open a headlining set with a slow building twelve minute song and still have an entire crowd hanging on every word; even attempt to start moshing. It was a great way to commence the evening’s ninety-minute set, which was a moderate success despite some exceptionally obvious flaws.

The set-list pleased most, with both album cuts and singles played from both of the band’s studio efforts, 2005’s The New Normal and last year’s Sharing Space. Highlights from various points of the evening included TNN’s Silence is Violence (another perfect singalong), as well as Sharing cuts What If (as always, faultlessly performed) and Say Your Last Goodbye (shockingly not yet a single). Each track received cheers of recognition and appreciation from the large audience, most of which you could tell had seen the band countless times.

There was, however, something missing from their performance that would rear its ugly head on several occasions. A few factors contributed to this; the first of which being their stage presence…or lack thereof. Barely moving an inch from the triangle they had set for themselves onstage, the songs were often great to listen to, but far more often boring to watch. A grand total of about forty seconds spent talking directly to the audience, also, did not help matters much further. A decade of live performances has certainly given the band precise, tight musicianship, and it was easy to appreciate this. This alone, however, could not excuse their lack of mobility or engaging stage presence.

Further difficulties came through the live mix. Whilst there were moments of clarity, a lot of the songs lost their edgy dynamics on account of everything being turned up to insufferable levels. Single Bird Of A Feather and set closer Problem, Reaction Solution were affected by this the most – a damn shame, given those are two of the best songs the band has written.

Cog is a great band of great musicians; there’s no question of this. And there’s no reason why they shouldn’t continue to tour for their ever-supportive fans. Perhaps next time, though, they shouldn’t take along such a brilliant opening act – it sure as hell made them look lacklustre in comparison.