Children Collide, Red Riders,Young Revelry @ The Zoo,Brisbane (20/04/2011)

Wed 27th Apr, 2011 in Gig Reviews

A tsunami of wailing guitar fuzz inundates The Zoo and sonically brutalises the ears of punters from front to back. Perth’s Young Revelry have an experimental feel to their approach, yet there’s a tangible and accessible heavy-rocking groove. Initially, vocals are irritatingly low in the mix, but then it becomes deafeningly clear that the guitars are the blaring heros of this ridiculously loud concoction. Drums are also a feature, with their accurately timed punctuation. As the all-too-short set closes with a ten minute (virtually) instrumental jam, the bar has been very impressively set.

Red Riders is the second band tonight that I’d heard of, but never heard, and upon writing this review I discover that this will also be the last time Brisbane sees the boys take to the stage. Once the drum-testing and pesky sound check is out of the way, the Sydney-spawned indie-rock begins. Unfortunately tonight, the four-piece is simply over-shadowed. With ears still ringing from the muscular riffs of the night’s openers, Red Riders’ set feels a little thin and flimsy, even a little ‘done before’. It’s fun and completely inoffensive, but expectations have been set, and they’re not quite being met.

By now the temperature in The Zoo is making another bar visit essential. With that out of the way and a quick detour to peruse the merch girl’s merchandise, I find the crowd has seriously pressed forward. This Melbourne three-piece has become a semi-regular staple and favourite on the festival circuit, so it’s always great to get intimately sweaty and squashed. A Children Collide gig is a no-bullshit affair and when the boys take the stage, small-talk takes a backseat to balls-to-the-floor rocking.

The band now have two full-length, hit-heavy albums to draw from and both cop a good visit. Across The Earth, Skeleton Dance and Chosen Armies from debut The Long Now come early and come hard. Singer/guitarist John Mackay has grown his grunge locks and like Sampson is clearly reaping the rewards. While his playing is clear and accurate his composure is ape-shit and frenetic.

Theory Of Everything is the band’s recent release and from it we hear Fashion Fits, Into The Sky With Ivy, Speed Of Sound, plus Triple J burners Jelly Legs and My Eagle. Banter is near on non-existent except for a few awkwardly timed in-jokes, but it’s the unrelenting, flawless rock show that we’ve all come to see. It’s not until the crowd is allowed to fill-in-the-gaps for commercial radio fave, Farewell Rocketship, that I disengage from the stage. Proclaiming “we never do encores and tonight won’t be any different” the onslaught finally ceases and I feels safe in saying nobody that saw Children Collide tonight left The Zoo feeling short changed.