Mindsnare, In Name And Blood,Mourning Tide, Wish For Wings& Powerslam @ The Lion's Den18/11/05

Sat 19th Nov, 2005 in Gig Reviews

Although it was slightly unclear as to who was actually headlining the show, an enjoyable night was had by these five bands and their audiences, despite the fact that the guy at the door charged me $10 too much for my ticket. The Lion’s Den was close to full at 6:30pm, just before the show started.

First up were young punks Powerslam. Though I had never heard of them, they managed to deliver a solid and energetic set, with a lot of kids racing to the front at the beginning. While they seem to have a solid following, their set had little diversity, particularly in the vocal department. However, there is always something about chunky hardcore riffs and breakdowns that makes kids want to fight invisible ninjas that are standing in the pit. In this regard, Powerslam were effective.

Next up were supposed headliners In Name And Blood. Despite the inclusion of the man boobs of drummer Luke Ashby, In Name And Blood put on an electric and entertaining set. Musically, they were top class, particularly in the drumming, though the guitar riffs did suffer from sameyness at time. Vocally, In Name And Blood were very intense and well deserving of praise, though the show was interrupted by one of the guitarists breaking a string. Surprisingly, not as many kids were present in the pit at the beginning of the show. Vocalist Craig Wainwright soon fixed this by saying “don’t make me come down there, I’ve done it before”. And he wasn’t kidding. After he jumped into the pit during the band’s next song, they had no problems with audience participation.

Third on the lineup were Northcoast Hardcore band Wish For Wings. The band’s set began with the band members pummeling out punishing riffs and grooves and the group’s vocalist Skunk running onto the stage screaming “what the f**k!!!”. From then on, it was a punishing set full of chunky riffs and hardcore breakdowns. The interruption did slightly damage the flow of the set, but possibly the most entertaining part of the night was the freestyle hip-hop battle that took place during this interruption. Wish For Wings ended their set by ordering the audience to move the circle pit back to the wall and telling us that we were “all f**king soft”.

At the end of Wish For Wings’ set, most of the audience went outside for a quick break until the next band, Mindsnare. It became obvious that most of the audience were here for Mindsnare. “We’d better be quick, we don’t want to miss the ‘Snare”, said one fan to his mate. “Best Australian band ever”, remarked another gig goer at the end of the group’s set. Mindsnare were certainly a breath of fresh air. Though the last three groups were enjoyable, they served to break the monotony with their hard metal sound. Racing out onto the stage, the group’s vocalist delivered brtual growling throughout the whole set. Dressed in a hawaiian shirt and a baseball cap, Mindsnare didn’t exactly fit in with the hardcore fashion and the sea of black that filled the venue. They did, however, put on one of the best sets most of the kids at The Lion’s Den had ever seen. With backing vocals and crazy riffs from the band’s guitarist, as well as the brtual rhythm section, Mindsnare did not dissapoint. This is a band who have been around for a much longer time than any of the other groups who play regular hardcore gigs in Brisbane. As Tyrone from Mourning Tide remarked, “If it wasn’t for Mindsnare, none of us would f**king be here”. Mindsnare drew what was easily the largest crowd of the night, with kids coming in from all over to watch their set.

Gold Coast hardcore five piece Mourning Tide were the fifth and final band on the roster and although the audience was slightly smaller, they put on what was arguably the best set of the night. Their sound is augmented by a guitarist who plays shred solos, as well as Tyrone’s vocals which are far more diverse than most. With uplifting passages in their songs, shred solos and, dare I say, beautiful guitar leads, they are one of the most promising bands in Australian hardcore. Showing a diversity in single songs that most hardcore bands don’t have in their entire career, they are loved by some and hated by others. However, the main thing that was apparent in their set was that they were having fun. Tyrone ran out onto the stage wearing a ridiculous white pair of sunglasses, while guitarist Vin wore his signature cowboy hat. Vin’s riffs coupled with Dale’s lead guitar and an impressive rhythm section make Mourning Tide a very tight and enjoyable live band. Though they are sometimes accused in hardcore circles of being ‘fashioncore’ and the like, it’s hard to argue against their diverse, enjoyable and heavy live performance. They sometimes even use clean guitars and, wait for it, singing. Tyrone’s singing voice has a dirty rock feel to it and will hopefully be included on the band’s next release.

Though the “scene” may be irritating to some people, it’s hard to deny the sense of community that is present in the Australian hardcore scene. Bands converse at the back of the venue when they are not playing and even lend each other gear. It’s not uncommon to see band members rocking out to other band’s sets. I found myself standing next to Vin from Mourning Tide at the back on multiple occasions. All in all, a good night was had by both the audience and the band members. With obvious standout performances from Mourning Tide and Mindsnare, let’s hope to see more of these great bands playing in Brisbane.