Dead Letter Circus, BlackDevil Yard Boss @ The Maram,Canberra (5/9/2010)

Mon 6th Sep, 2010 in Gig Reviews

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The Maram at Erindale is fast becoming Canberra’s leading music venue, competing with established places like Transit and ANU bars. On Sunday night, they played host to alt/metal band Dead Letter Circus and two support bands on their One Step national tour.

First up was The Evening Son from Newcastle. Playing enjoyable garage rock with nice melodies, unfortunately it was too early in the night for the band to get the audience numbers they deserve. Playing in a big space like the Maram with only a few people there yet, the set sounded hollow and underwhelming. But, with consistent effort and more PR, next time they tour The Evening Son should hopefully get the chance to play to their potential.

Up next was the oddly named Black Devil Yard Boss. Consisting of former members of now-defunct Mammal, the Melbourne band pays tribute to its heritage, as well as paves new ground, with hard guitar, interesting harmonies and an energetic playing style. At one point the crowd were encouraged to clap along with the polite ‘C’mon fuckers, clap!’.

By this stage, the Maram had filled up substantially, and an expanding mosh pit signalled what the rest of the night would progress to.

Playing around with different genres, including what can only be described as hard country, BDYB played a fantastic set and seemed to really enjoy themselves. It is always a better show when the band interacts with the crowd and looks like they are having fun, not just doing a job they were paid for.

Finally getting on stage around 10.45 pm, headline act Dead Letter Circus immediately launched into its first song. Consisting of five members, including new guitarist Tom, DLC played songs from their newly released debut album This Is A Warning.

Sounding more like the CD than a live act, the Brisbane band lacked originality and were in stark contrast to the fun of the band before them. The music was technically great, and the lighting was impressive, but the vibe wasn’t there. That is, until the power went out mid way through a song in the last 20 minutes, which meant the band had to entertain the audience while the technical fault was addressed. And what better way to entertain than to lead a rousing verse and chorus of John Farnham’s You’re the Voice? Once the power was back, the band tried to continue their set, but during the last song the stage went black again.

Finishing with the audience’s demand of a five person drum solo, including bongo’s played by two members of the support band, Dead Letter Circus seemed defeated as they left the stage, giving the crowd no chance of an encore.

With better setup and more energy, the Dead Letter Circus will hopefully give Canberra a more impressive set next time they visit. But in the words of the drummer, ‘What a fuckin’ disaster’.

SEE THE GALLERY HERE!