Raised Fist, Carpathian,Breakeven@Amps, 15/09/09

Fri 18th Sep, 2009 in Gig Reviews

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Some sort of hardcore cosmic alignment happened over Perth on Tuesday night and what resulted was a perfect storm of venue, crowd and act.

“Why the hell hasn’t Capitol opened yet, its eight o’clock?”

RAISED FIST HAS BEEN MOVED NEXT DOOR TO AMPLIFIER.

This is about as exciting as A4 signs in Times New Roman font get.

The announcement that Raised Fist were coming to Perth was met with huge anticipation, they skipped us last time they were in Oz and it left a particularly sour taste in the pie-holes of their Perth followers. They didn’t dare skip us this time.

They were initially booked for Capitol and anyone will tell you that Amps would have been a far better idea, but being the beggars that Perth people are for live music, choosing a preferred gig space is never really an option.

Just be happy that Raised Fist are coming god dammit!

And everyone was, then the show was moved to Amplifier and the screams of delight that followed could not have even been outdone by the sex-deprived baby boomers who went to Chris Isaak the next night.

Yes it was a bummer for the band that their show had to be moved because of a lack of ticket sales, but their eventual hailing of the tight Perth crew as “the best crowd they’ve played to on the tour” would indicate they didn’t really give a shit.

There’s a certain respect and courtesy about hardcore crowds that isn’t really achieved anywhere else. They always make the effort to see the support acts- the Amplifier garden was empty as soon as Breakeven kicked off the night, and they’re almost always there to pay homage to the music rather than their getting pissed ability.

Breakeven probably should have played later, as the local lads were much better received than Caparthian who played after them, but since the popular Victorian hardcore act was national support for – œThe Fist’, shit like that would have been against protocol. Calls from the crowd of “hey Davey Havoc” to Carpathian front-man Martin Kirby, indicated the long fringe is definitely a long-gone craze that is now starting to irritate even those who may have once endorsed it. Give it a few years it’ll be back like Hawaiian shirts.

Ear plugs are a must for an Amps show like this, but no one ever wears them so when Raised Fist belted out the opener everyone was hoping for- You Ignore Them All, it was like drummer Matte Modin was mashing each punter’s ear drum with his kick hammer. Everyone was having too much of a good time to notice though.

The pit was intense but not as dangerous as expected, most people came out of it relatively unscathed which was surprising considering the airspace was rarely without a body or two.

A passionate small crowd will always own an apathetic large crowd and that was proved once again. The band looked particularly stoked and Alle Hagman couldn’t give enough praise to the revellers, who thrashed hard from start to finish. Somehow he could still talk in between tracks, despite the fact he was perfectly nailing the vocal ferocity that is a signature of the band’s recordings. It honestly sounds like he’s grating off shards of vocal cord with every word.

After an hour of Swedish hardcore that will be talked about for years to come, the band bailed out… but the punters didn’t let them get very far. A fanatical chorus of “one more song” took over the bar and so, to avoid a riot, the band returned.

They dedicated their first encore to Usain Bolt and burst into Running Man; the worn and sweaty cohort on the floor thrived on hearing the classic track, which was then topped by the incredible Breaking Me Up. Encores don’t get much more satisfying.

The mood in Amplifier after the show indicated all who attended knew they had shared in something rare. High-fives and man hugs were happening in all corners of the joint until the bouncers shuffled everyone out to become Perth City Kebabs’ responsibility. No one could hear anything the shop keepers were asking: “no I don’t want garlic prawns in my kebab”, “I said garlic sauce”, “oh sorry”… what a show.

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