La Dispute, To The North,Fires of Waco @ The Zoo,Brisbane (25/01/2011)

Sun 30th Jan, 2011 in Gig Reviews

You’d be forgiven to think that The Zoo tonight is being headlined by a touring juggernaut. For a night that is preceding a public holiday, the crowd is huge. Despite being predominately underground La Dispute have forged themselves a cult following. Yet the fans who have trekked out tonight instead of preparing for the debauchery of Australia Day have almost had their aspirations squashed – but that will be touched on later.

For an opening act, Nuclear Summer has brought all the heads in the room to attention. A top effort for an act in a time slot which should see them on the end of a cold shoulder. Lochlan Watt, who also fronts math-metal group Ironhide, shows that his voice can cover all bases from grating screams to clean melodic sections. There’s a melding of math-rock and post-hardcore with almost effortless precision. Any lack of confidence certainly isn’t showing on the surface. If this is what the band looks like when shell shocked, they must tear venues to pieces when in their element.

Fires of Waco are a band who not only have misplaced their identity, but misplaced their sense of time. Their serrated riffs pay obvious homage to Alexisonfire; the vocals, sound circa-2005 Comeback Kid. The comparisons are only heightened by one of their guitarists being a spitting image of Wade MacNeil. Chubby build, sleeve tattoos, greased combover, hell, the guy even wields his Gibson SG with the same mannerisms.

The banter between songs is empowering; especially when vocalist Allan Reid takes a scathing swipe at the xenophobia that exists in this country. But it’s simply not enough. Covering At The Drive In’s One Armed Scissor also seems like a shaky move. It’s not bad, but this song shouldn’t really be played by anyone other than Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez.

Exhausted from the rigour of touring and stifling heat of The Zoo means that To The North have come up short tonight. They certainly pulverise as they traverse the stage, and I should be in amazement, but I feel somewhat unsatisfied. There’s a twinge of regret feeling such disenchantment, because the performance is far from a train wreck and they are hardly cliche (Their latest effort Lustre can attest to this). Maybe To The North might be a band that requires undivided attention to wrap your head around it. Perhaps they become more enjoyable with repeated listens? Maybe this just isn’t their night?

A small, hirsute hobbit-like man in a maroon T-shirt is surrounded by his bandmates. for a person who has seen little photos of La Dispute, it’s bewildering to say the least. It’s even more astounding watching the pure unabashed fury explode out of him on New Storms for Older Lovers, which conjures an army of clenched fists and triumphant yelps. “But always is always and always is valueless, I wish I’d never heard her speak a word” they rejoice. His vocals are tortured and melancholic but have the tendency to buckle due to their high pitched nature.

It’s well known that on this tour the band have played short sets over the course of their tour but the crowd in Brisbane has no idea how lucky we are to even get a show tonight. Jordan Dreyer is dealing with personal issues and as a result the set is barely 6 songs long. This doesn’t dampen the spirits of fans – not in the slightest.

Perhaps what is most admirable about La Dispute is their ability to think outside the scope when it comes to post-hardcore. They represent a possibility that their genre can be levelheaded and expressive, instead of conforming to the juvenile. Nothing tonight is done by numbers; nothing is second-rate, despite being decidedly short.

When Dreyer announces that the night is almost over, it’s 11:18. Twelve minutes remain and a few people have a hunch what song might be the encore. They’re right, it’s The Last Lost Continent. Their magnum opus is a window to an afflicted soul; It’s about finding hope when in a period of despondency. The lyrics are poetic; their delivery, mesmerising. The middle section heightens the anticipation as Dreyer recites his lyrics as if scribbling his thoughts on parchment. The long sustained guitar chords at the end are utterly bludgeoning, before giving way to nothing but silence. Chants of “We are but lovers, we are the last of our kind, and if we let our hearts move outward, we will never die” ring out into the night.

There’s a feeling of unfulfillment tonight’s set. Not because La dispute have failed in the live department, but because everyone in the room has not had their thirsts quenched. Yet despite the fact we’ve been left somewhat shorthanded tonight, this is still a brilliant effort from one of hardcore’s wholly underrated acts.