Dead Letter Circus @ AdelaideUni Bar, Adelaide (31/08/11)

Fri 2nd Sep, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Whilst the air was cold outside, the atmosphere inside Adelaide Uni Bar was heating up. Brisbane’s own Dead Letter Circus was in town, bringing their epic alternative rock repertoire to the crowd on a Wednesday night.

Before the main act graced the stage however, support acts I Am Giant and Jericco belted out some rock-filled tunes that certainly maintained the ever-growing crowd’s attention. New Zealander’s I Am Giant were first up, and from what I heard I was impressed. Their musical styling’s held up well, with their single City Limits being the stand out track. Melbournites Jericco brought a middle-eastern flavour to their high impact brand of heavy rock with lead singer Brent McCormick’s haunting vocals piercing through ever punter. The highlight of their set though was the use of a megaphone to enhance McCormick’s voice during some songs, it was rather brilliant.

Now, to the main attraction. After a self-titled EP and an incredibly successful debut album, Dead Letter Circus have garnered quite a following, as evident by the huge crowd gathered mid-week at Adelaide Uni Bar. I had never been to Uni Bar for a gig before but suffice to say, it has become one of my favourite locales for gigs, sound-wise. I had previously seen Dead Letter Circus at The Gov last year, and being quite impressed then by the translation of lead singer Kim Benzie’s vocals in a live atmosphere, I was only even more impressed this time round as he and his band excelled above and beyond their previous tour performance.

The boys spared no time launching straight into a mix of releases from their EP and their debut This Is The Warning. It wasn’t long before Benzie rid himself of his shirt, much to the delight of the women, who were few and far between, in this male dominated event. Whilst it took the crowd a little while to warm up, tracks like The Space on the Wall and One Step soon got the crowd moving. Benzie’s vocals are just impeccable. Most would probably assume that the quality of his high falsetto would not translate well live, however, it could not be better.

Tracks from the band’s early days like Tremors and Lines were very well received with the crowd singing back the lyrics with incredible gusto. Personal favourites Cage and Next In Line were also stellar. The band then exited the stage in true encore fashion. However, instead of the entire band coming back on, the drummer Luke Williams, came back solitary. He then played a solo drum set, which was just amazing. Soon after the other band members joined him, ending the set with crowd favourite Big and my favourite Dead Letter Circus track (especially live) This Is The Warning. The never ending thumping drum beats fill you up and is probably the best track they perform live, deservingly played last.

With a second studio album in the works for next year, I can’t wait to see what they have in store. Dead Letter Circus are a brilliant live band and Australian too. So go support Australian music and see these boys live next time they’re in town.