Closure In Moscow, Secrets InScale, QlayFace @ EastBrunswick Club, Melbourne(05/06/2010)

Tue 8th Jun, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Anyone attending the Closure In Moscow gig at the East Brunswick Club on Saturday night would have been forgiven for thinking they had, in fact, wandered onto the set of the latest Dr Who epic. Complete with extravagant laser shows, KISS-esque quantities of dry ice smoke and wild apes marauding around the stage, what is usually considered a more traditional venue somehow became the inside of Matt Bellamy’s head. What sounds like a fitting backdrop for the progressive, space-rock stylings of CIM may actually have conspired to blunt the impact of their hometown show.

Much more in keeping with the club’s usual outlook are support band Qlayface , who arrive onstage looking every bit the high school talent show band. The guy behind the drum kit looks like he may have bullied his way into the group, beating up the real percussionist before exacting the same punishment on the cymbals before him. However, good technique or no, he manages to crash out rhythm perfectly well enough to allow the other members of the band to shine.

Understandably nervous initially, being so young and facing the open void that is the dance floor at this stage, the first few songs are a little rushed and don’t present much to get excited about. As they warm to the situation though, the increasingly confident lead singer begins to work the crowd a little, announcing that they’re out to make some friends tonight, while their brand of Rush-like clean progressions and well executed guitar interplay draws the crowd slowly forward, garnering a legion of at least two dedicated head-bangers.

With a little work to do on refining some of the strong structures and a fair bit to build on, not least the blonde Johnny Marr on lead, Qlayface should definitely be set to grab some buddies along the way.

The science fiction begins as the lights dim again and Secrets In Scale arrive to explode the myth that 14 year old girls will dance to anything. As the bar begins to fill with the predictably black-clad teen mass, SIS announce themselves onstage with a bizarre rendition of monkey noises from the singer as his bandmates lope into position. Strange and seemingly irrelevant, it does at least draw some intrigue and create some energy, an element which is missing throughout the rest of the set.

The music is moderately placed and only marginally complex, a good indicator for the level of the majority of bands playing in this burgeoning space-core scene. Effects pedals drench the set in chorus and overdrive, designed to cover for the failing melodies of the songs themselves. Despite being technically very good musicians, it’s a shame that only the last song of their set finally delivers the drama and intelligence that this support slot required. Mixing muted riffage and a good bit of shredding, the final number eventually shoots some narcotic energy into the show, but it’s too much too late for an audience now firmly awaiting the arrival of the headliner.

Curtains cover the stage between acts as Closure In Moscow, one green laser down tour manager Ben reluctantly lets on, set up for the finale. The drapes are pulled aside as a drumbeat kicks in and light floods the recently crammed dance floor; The East Brunswick Club displaying it’s Tardis-like qualities and conjuring an audience from nowhere. Lead singer Chris De Cinque emerges clad in techno bin bag and futuristic make-up; the rest of the band hidden behind a veil of now ridiculous piped smoke. As they launch into song, it becomes apparent that their visual appearance is not all that’s obscured.

From the get go, the levels are too loud and the guitar work too frantic, combining to create a musical mesh that the audience is caught in. At times, the situation resembles the trenches of World War I, individuals lost in a cloud of fog while the music crashes around them in shell-like bursts. Usual set highlight, We Want Guarantees Not Hunger Pains is dropped acrimoniously into the mix mid-set, almost unrecognisable at first as its sheer volume negates the ability to pick out it’s scaling intro and lurching bridge. Only in the chorus or at the breakdown of the song is it possible to pick out the litany of individual brilliance that sets CIM apart from their peers on record.

The drumming is frenetic and crazed but well controlled by Beau McKee and is the only element, save for the lone lurid green laser, that consistently cuts through the swamp. Guitarists Michael Barrett and Mansur Zennelli struggle to differentiate throughout, most of their hard work evaporating into the ether before it can be appreciated, although when they hit it right, the results are quite staggering as proved by the chillingly good entrance of Sweet#hart towards the end of the night and the stuttering interplay in Afterbirth. They even find time to drop the pretentiousness of the stage show for a second and colour the set with mini-samples of Baker Street and Layla by Eric Clapton.

Standing perpendicular to the audience for almost the entire gig and silhouetted by the overabundance of lighting behind him, De Cinque cuts a dramatic figure; visually arresting and concurrent with the theatrical compositions engulfing him. Unfortunately, his vocals are as unintelligible as many of his lyrics are, for the best part of the night, too high and loud to make it into human hearing range. The wailed ‘it never ends!’ from the elusive melody of Kissing Cousins just about makes it out; ironically describing the all-senses onslaught of the show, before he stretches the Dr Who reference further by spouting Dalek speak into the microphone, much to the bemusement of the audience.

Baffled and unsure whether to dance or run for cover, having had to contend with escaped primates and fictional robot aliens and ear-shattering volume, leather bound lads and lasses leave the East Brunswick Club wondering how good Closure In Moscow could be live, if only they’d balance their extravagant visiotechnics with a greater emphasis on musical solvency.

CHECK OUT SOME OF THE PHOTOS FROM THE NIGHT HERE