Alexisonfire @ The Palace,Melbourne (10/10/2010)

Wed 13th Oct, 2010 in Gig Reviews

He jiggles. And he wriggles. He bucks against the barrier with his hips and shakes violently against the desperate grip of security. His position isn’t good and it looks like he’ll be hauled back into the crowd by the mammoth man clawing at his arm. Just as things begin to look bleak, a final, body-wracking shrug and the last shreds of his sweat-drenched black t-shirt slip gratefully over the curve of his shoulder setting him free. One last glance at the heaving mass beneath him, then he bends at the knee and pushes, propelling himself off the Palace Theatre balcony into the dense, humid air and down onto the fervent hordes below.

Why is this man jumping into the moshpit? Actually, a better question is, why is he performing this feat to the background ‘doo-doo-doo’s’ of Midnight Oil’s The Dead Heart, after Alexisonfire had just delivered over an hour of suitably raucous hardcore probably more appropriate to this sort of spontaneous anarchy? The answer is simple, why the fuck not? AOF deliver their Aussie friendly cover in the same manner as they perform all their music, extracting all the vitriol and passion from the strained chords while George Pettit’s caustic gruffness and Dallas Green’s yearning, searching vocal battle fiercely like ‘catholic school girls in a knife fight’. Lyrically, Alexis have always been a band of the people and bringing the Oilers screaming into the 21st century, the Canadians demonstrate a locational sensitivity and well executed sense of humour that caps off a night of perfectly judged proletarian symphony.

Largely ignoring their earlier, wiry work in favour of the more muscular compositions of recent times, the band wisely sidestep around the pitfalls involved in producing a live show; shelving complex, layered songs for punchy, powerful numbers like the anthemic opener Young Cardinals, which provides an immediate opportunity for the crowd to stretch their vocal chords. Marching onwards, the band unleash no less than 6 tracks from latest LP Old Crows/Young Cardinals, each as blood-boiling as the next with the urgent, impassioned Midnight Regulations providing a mid-set highlight. Old Crows is angry and grizzled, Pettit thrashing from side to side in declaration that he isn’t the kid he used to be, while The Northern and Accept Crime allow Dallas’ voice to shimmer giddily amongst the crushing riffs.

Consigned to a spot stage left while Messrs Pettit and MacNeill (Wade, guitarist and vocalist) seem to soak up the limelight, Dallas Green is still undoubtedly the band’s biggest draw, despite resembling a cast member from Deadliest Catch. It’s his ear for melody and breathy, hungry clean vocals that elevate numbers like Boiled Frogs, which otherwise suffers with the lead guitar hook being almost drowned out by zealous rhythm, to a place much above the music of AOF’s peers. Oft compared to contemporaries like Rise Against and From Autumn To Ashes, Alexis succeed with a more intelligent approach to rage and melody and a finely-tuned knowledge of the populace.

The only concessions the band make to their sophomore effort Watch Out! are Accidents and the surprising set closer Happiness By The Kilowatt, which are two of the strongest songs in the set. Accidents delivers everything it promises on record, screeching into existence and then building and breaking as the band deliver their most insistent number of the night while Happiness… washes harmoniously over an audience both fuelled with caustic rage and imbued with an ardour for melodious recital. As the spindly guitar hooks filter through the crowd, a single, shirtless crowd surfer might just smile as he’s enveloped by the warm mix of fury and harmony.

CHECK OUT PHOTOS FROM THE NIGHT HERE