Kisschasy, Trial Kennedy andGrand Central (All Ages) @ FlyBy Night, Fremantle (25/06/06)

Mon 26th Jun, 2006 in Gig Reviews

Sunday is a precious day to us all, one which people spend doing what is most important to them. Some choose to catch up on homework, some just relax, some pray to their relevant Gods, some have work and a lot choose to sleep the day away in recovery from the night before. However, everyone at the Fly By Night Club in Fremantle chose to spend their day of rest by devouring an Aussie pop rock feast headlined by Kisschasy, supported by Melbourne band Trial Kennedy and local (Perth) heroes Grand Central.

First on the bill, local boys Grand Central, provided the audience with half an hour of surrealism, having every teenager in the crowd entranced, captivated and awed by their calm yet powerful performance. The two guitarists complimented each other perfectly with their appealing riffs and it was a pleasure to see a band use a bass guitar efficiently, yet not excessively, with an ideal volume level and catchy bass lines. The drummer also added to their appeal with some priceless facial expressions throughout his drumming.

After Grand Central’s music had been dancing around in the heads of the audience, Trial Kennedy hit the stage with their set, and what a set it was. From the first hit of the drummer’s snare drum, the crowd were moving rhythmically as a wave of teenagers jumping in synchronisation. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Trial Kennedy (tsk tsk) they are basically After The Fall meets Kisschasy with the slightest tinge of influence from The Darkness (only due to the falsetto style singing used in parts of songs). These Melbourne rockers brought the audience back to reality with lead singer Tim Morrison’s domination of the vocal scale, hitting notes which aren’t commonly heard in pop rock songs. The sound clarity and stage presence of these boys almost had everyone asking the question “Whose supporting who?”. The highlight of their set was the stage antics of guitarist Stacey Gray. Stacey set the tempo, nailed all sorts of psychedelic riffs and chord progressions and by god can this man sing, backing vocalist of the year in my book.

Then came the fifteen minute wait (which seemed like an eternity) for the boys that everyone had come to see. Like a pack of anxious school kids waiting for the three o’clock siren, the crowd nervously awaited the arrival of the Aussie pop rock quartet known as Kisschasy. Then came the moment when they ran on stage. Never in my life have I so badly wished that I was born deaf. Once the ear piercing screaming and yelling had ceased, lead singer Darryn Cordeux opened the set with the first single off United Paper People, ‘Do Do’s and Woah Woah’s’.

Kisschasy then went on to perform an amazing set proving yet again why they are one of the best Australian bands going around. One of the many areas where Kisschasy rise above other pop rock bands is their ability to rock out and create a stage presence which is suited to their music and this was evident by the way the tempo of the performance was determined by the way Kisschasy moved. The contrast between heavy breakdown rocking to soft and calm interludes, brought yet another dimension to their music. The set list consisted of three acoustic numbers off their album, as well as the catchy rock songs for which they are renown.  

The audience was even treated to a sneak preview of a song off  Kisschasy’s new album, which they are working on at the moment and expect to release some time next year. The new song lured the audience in with a soft pop rock intro, similar to their previous songs such as ‘This Bed’ and ‘What We Become’ but then fooled us all, by eventually escalating into a heavy rock delicacy. Their new album is definitely something to look forward to, based on the snippet of it which the audience received.

The highlight of the show was, of course, the encore. Kisschasy played a song off their old EP and then invited Trial Kennedy on stage for the next song. The guitarist from both bands stood on a platform on the side of the stage and challenged each other with their respective solos. It was an awesome song to end a great performance from an awe-inspiring band.