... And You Will Know Us ByThe Trail Of Dead, Laura @ TheCorner, Melbourne (08/09/2011)

Sat 10th Sep, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Despite being a big fan of this Texan quartet since my youth, events would conspire against me seeing this once legendary live act, thus making tonight’s set at the Corner Hotel my first live glimpse a ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead show. Helping pioneer the post-hardcore movement, this once excitement machine has stripped back its sound and its band members with the release of their latest album Tao of the Dead.

Melbourne sextet Laura open their set under somewhat chaotic scenes, whereby bass player Andrew Yardley was unable to find the cause of his instrument not working. Laura’s brand of prog rock demands not only attention to detail to play, but also requires their audience to be completely focussed. The visible distraction of Yardley fumbling about the stage, much to the bemusement of his fellow band members, undeniably serves as a mood killer for the audience, who were uncontrollably drawn to him continually trialling new plugs and guitars rather than becoming consumed by the music.

From their early setback however, the band showed glimpses of why they’re continually being touted as Australia’s next big thing in prog. As much of the time is spent watching and listening to what sound like glorified chord progressions masked as songwriting, however, as it is being almost completely swallowed up by their epic sound. Whilst it’s difficult to see Laura enjoying any sort of mainstream success, they’ve certainly got the talent to become a mainstay on the local music scene for years to come. They can at least lay claim to being the most impressive band making use of a cello much of the audience have witnessed.

Trail Of Dead were, many moons ago, one of the most exciting live acts on the planet. They reached a commercial and critical peak with their 2002 album Source Tags and Codes, after a solid debut with their 1998 self titled debut and sophomore effort Madonna. Trashed stages and wild nights used to follow the band like their own shadows. Those days, however, appear over, with the band’s songs and shows now following safer and more predictable paths.

Once a live show where you felt anything could happen, tonight’s set is to some extent a disappointment. Opening with the 5 part closing track from their latest release Strange News From Another Planet sets the band on its way for the night, but it’s making the audience sit through a good half hour of new material before opening their back catalogue that tests the patience of even their most loyal fans. Other new tracks Weight Of The Sun, Ebb Away and The Spiral Jetty are all played back to back, and it is only then, almost half way through their set, when we start to recall the oft-mythologised energy and excitement of the classic shows of year’s past. Will You Smile Again? and Caterwaul from 2005’s LP Worlds Apart provide glimpses of their best, yet it’s the night’s introduction of Source Tags and Codes that really set things alight. It Was There That I Saw You followed up by How Near How Far finally gives the crowd a feeling that they are seeing the real Trail of Dead.

Just as soon as the throng are cooling their collective selves down, the band bring out their self titled debut with vocalist Conrad Keely replacing Jason Reece behind the kit, and the percussionist taking up vocal duties on Fake Fake Eyes, before closing their set with classics, belting out A Perfect Teenhood and Richter Scale Madness. A brief break for an encore before an extended version of Totally Natural closes the night on a high.

Whilst the show got off to a slow start, the set was brought home with the type of moments that the you may have witnessed at a Trail Of Dead show a decade ago. It was unfortunate however that crowd favourites like Relative Ways and Mark David Chapman are not given an airing, which gives the audience a sense of what might have been, given the quality of the second half of the set. An enjoyable, yet still somewhat disappointing night’s show.