Silverstein, Blessthefall, ISee Stars @ The PrinceBandroom, Melbourne (03/03/2011)

Mon 14th Mar, 2011 in Gig Reviews

It seemed a strange choice having Silverstein headline their own Sidewave last Thursday night. Whilst the Canadians proved popular with Australians at their Soundwave appearances, their last visit here saw them billed quite low. Throw into the mix the fact that support acts Blessthefall and I See stars don’t seem to have much pulling power, and would it be very interesting to see how this show would pay off.

I See Stars opened to an almost empty Prince Bandroom, playing tracks that, while neat and well performed, gave off the impression that they were no more than a band playing in a regional battle of the bands competition. Frontman Devin Oliver constantly urged the tiny crowd to do more than stand at the back of the room, yet the crowd never replied, only further compounding a lacklustre set.

Blessthefall’s luck didn’t improve, with the crowd not only still tiny, but rather motionless. Those were were present were clearly there for the headliners. As the band worked through Here’s left of me and Hey baby, frontman Beau Bokan displayed a sense of arrogance that was not well particularly appreciated by a number of hecklers in the room. This was only worsened when he commanded the small moshpit to charge at the back of the room “to get the other fuckers moving.” Someone wasn’t informed that there’s an unfortunate step at the end of the floor, causing a number of punters to faceplant.

While Silverstein put on an amazing set which included a mix of new and old, the crowd (no more than 250 by security’s count) and lack of energy (as opposed to past Silverstein gigs), marred the performance.
Isles of March, being played for the first time ever in Australia, seemed to seep all energy out of the room, with the crowd almost motionless for My Heroine.

Taking a moment to talk to the crowd, Frontman Shane Told revealed that the band would be returning to Australia before the end of the year. This may be welcome news for any Silverstein fan, but it will be interesting to see if numbers improve once their new album is released.

Closer Bleeds no more was an obvious highlight for the night, with the entire room using all the stored energy to end the show on a good note. Proof that even if the support acts couldn’t do it, Silverstein can manage to get a tiny, spread out crowd all moving and dancing at the same time.