Gyroscope, Children Collide @Waves, Wollongong (14/6/10)

Mon 21st Jun, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Channel [V] may well indeed be the home of annoying presenters, pretentious promos and overplaying any left-of-centre mainstream track in order to appear edgier; but you really can’t criticise them for trying to push live music.

After all, who were we to refuse a double header of Children Collide and Gyroscope the northern Wollongong suburb of Towradgi? And for free, no less? Despite the corporate and heavily-scripted vibe given off by the affair, the lucky winners in attendance bore witness to a double shot of hard-working Australian rock that thankfully loosened up the tensions created by looming cameras and talking heads.

Up first was Melbourne’s Children Collide. With a brand new album raring to go, entitled The Theory of Everything, a showcase of brand new tracks was on display this evening. It seems like the band have not made any dramatic progressions from the sound established on their great debut, The Long Now; but with this in mind, one can appreciate the songs as a development and subsequent strengthening of the band’s sound, in opposition to resting on any kind of laurels. Might as well stick with it when you’re onto a good thing, and the Children most certainly are.

Older favourites were also thrown into the mix, with highlights including the thunderous Chosen Armies, the full-voiced singalong of Farewell Rocketship and an electric Social Currency, which saw the kids up front misplace their collective shit, unable to find it until the final cymbal crash. The band are known for their loose – and often quite chaotic – stage presense, prone to thrashing about their given stage space at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately, this seemed to be toned down for the most part of the performance; most probably on warning of either [V] or the venue itself.

Thankfully, this didn’t stop frontman Johnny McKay from providing one of the highlight of the entire evening during the band’s final instrumental jam – after a prolonged screech into the microphone, he quite literally beheaded his mic stand with the neck of his guitar, doing a 360 and nearly crashing into Ryan Caesar’s drum kit in one foul swoop. Now THAT’s rock & roll.

It was shortly after this that [V]-jays Billy and Jane Gazzo came out to announce we would have to wait an hour in-between acts. Oh, tops! Whose bright idea was that? Filing in disgruntled, bored punters after waiting around an area with little else apart from a family bistro next door to keep us entertained was a very, very bad idea. Probably should have thought about that.

Ahh well, it’s on with the show – W.A. heroes Gyroscope were ready to go following an awkward but thankfully brief Q and A. Following a headlining spot at Come Together over the weekend, the band were in good form for their performance, in spite of guitarist Zoran Trivic momentarily forgetting where the band was (“How good is Sydney?”, he asked while tuning). Tracks from all four of the band’s studio albums were given a run-through, but it was arguably the tracks from the band’s first and best album, Sound Shattering Sound, that elicited the best response from both the audience and the band themselves.

Doctor Doctor saw events unfold which [V]-jay Billy would later refer to as “a [V] Live moment”; as stick-thin Daniel Sanders bailed from the stage and made his way through the audience, right up to the front barrier where he stared up at the rest of the band like a devoted fan. Safe Forever meanwhile, saw him lead the audience in the two-word singalong of the song’s title, abandoning his guitar and standing on the very top of the barrier with his mic stand grasped in his incredibly sweaty fist. Sanders evidently loves performing with the band, but he enjoys interacting with the crowd even more.

Strong sets were given by both bands, but if Channel [V] is serious about keeping these events consistent and enjoyable for all, they need to ease up on the restrictive vibes and get a little more on the ball in terms of scheduling. Perfectionists don’t get rock & roll, and this is one of the few areas in which the event faltered.

Check out the photos from the gig