Atreyu @ Hi-Fi Bar (06/09/06)

Fri 8th Sep, 2006 in Gig Reviews

Carpathian started the black-clad Hifi crowd off early, reverberating so hard that my drink sitting on a table on the first floor level of the Hi-Fi bar rocked. Their set was short and just as well, as it appeared that whilst we all wanted to hear music, nobody wanted to hear that much of Carpathian. 

Every song I listened to sounded the same - the guitars, the drums, the vocals. It was hard to differentiate between them and they left the stage with no applause.

In contrast to this, 36 Crazyfits warmed the crowd up nicely, declaring they didn’t want to see anyone standing still.  They played songs from their new album Rest inside the flames and were not afraid to mix up their sound. They gave a highly energetic performance that held the audience.

The band 3 worked the crowd at the Hi-Fi bar so hard the lead singer broke several strings off his guitar in the passion of playing. The breaks between songs and change over to new songs were not done smoothly, but does anybody really care? Its not like we were going anywhere - we all still had to see Atreyu. 

And when those guys stepped on stage, the Hi-Fi bar made some serious noise. It was almost like a statement – welcome to Australia we are you’re fans, let us show you why.

Atreyu worked the stage and the crowd with a synchronicity that kept the audience always moving and entertained. They played clear crowd favourites, ‘The theft’, ‘Her Portrait in Black’, ‘Your private war’ and ‘Bleeding Mascara’. Brandon Saller’s vocals were hypnotically beautiful and crystal clear.

Front man Alex Varkatzas did his bit for the crowd too, especially when he stage dived into the crowd singing and then encouraged one rogue fan, who had run up past security on stage, to repeat the anthem line “Live, love, burn.” All of which went down well with the sweaty, happy crowd moshing and raising their fists at his feet. Dan Jaccob’s broke his soloing virginity (as Alex told us) before the band continued on for an encore performance.

The band’s personalities shone through their playing and antics on stage, which captivated the crowd throughout their brief 45 minute set. It was a shame, as by the end of the set, the Hi-Fi bar was more than ready to go longer and harder with Atreyu leading the way.