The Butterfly Effect, Helm,The Smart @ Hamilton Hotel,Brisbane (15/10/2011)

Mon 17th Oct, 2011 in Gig Reviews

The beers were being slammed down hard and fast at the Hamilton Hotel and a significant portion of the crowd were feeling the effects before the first band went through their paces. There was still a good feel to the venue though, with the modern function room clearly intended to house live acts.

The first band on the bill for the evening was local four-piece The Smart. They’ve been around for a while now, and deserve more appreciation than they get, because they really are quite talented. In addition to their grasp of on-stage performance skills, they have quite a crowd-friendly solid rock sound, with a touch of electro brought by the keys. They played a half hour set, going through songs off their EP Midnight Goodnight and also throwing in a cover of Taio Cruz’s song Dynamite.

Second on were Gold Coast band Helm. They brought a heavier tone to the night, bringing some hard rock to the table. They did sound like just your average bar band, but were quite well received by the audience of slightly older males. Their set got better as it progressed, moving away from the more generic sounding songs into some creative ground which was more fun to listen to. They didn’t aim for as much crowd input as The Smart did, possibly either because they assumed this sort of audience wouldn’t be into it or because that’s just not their style. Overall they played a decent set which probably got them a new following.

The stars of the evening didn’t appear under the lights until 11:05, but when The Butterfly Effect came onstage, they were met with rowdy approval. A lot of patrons were pretty far gone by this point, but that just made them party harder. It’s the ten year tour for The Butterfly Effect, and the first 45 minutes of their set flew past with barely a word from vocalist Clint Boge as they smashed out song after song, progressing through their albums. They had the crowd chanting throughout Always and Gone, from their 2006 album Imago. The lights were on the crowd at one point when the band was taking pictures of the audience of their phones and everyone loved it. Between songs from _Imago _ and most recently released album Final Conversation of Kings they treated everyone to a new song, which sounded every bit like a Butterfly Effect song. After finishing the last song, Boge invited everyone to stay and have a drink with them, and left with a few words.

“It’s been the best ten years; it’s been a hell of a ride.

“See you all again soon.”