Carpathian, Abandon Hope,Bloodsport @ Enigma Bar,Adelaide, (16/02/07)

Sat 17th Feb, 2007 in Gig Reviews

As the extreme heat was getting to everyone on this day in Adelaide the people needed something to get excited about with the week ending and this was Carpathian at a sellout tickets at door gig at Enigma Bar. This gig was especially special as it was the self proclaimed Notorious Michael Crafter last show singing with the band in Adelaide. The Australian Hardcore Scene Enigma, which is Crafter, has contributed immensely to the popularity of Carpathian in the last 12 months and this gig was a perfect farewell for him before he leaves for the United States.

The night started with local band Bloodsport starting the night they seemed to have there allegiance of core fans enjoying every moment of there set. This band’s type of Hatebreed inspired hardcore was generally enjoyed and well received by the hometown crowd. Some of Bloodsport’s opening set included Family, Get Out Of My Face, Myspace Suck’s and Till The Death.

The next support on was also an Adelaide band being upcoming metal band Abandon All Hope. These guys’s got a great reception from the crowd and for a support act really performed well. It was clear from the amount of Abandon All Hope shirts in the crowd that many people were here to see them and the mosh that they got made this clearer. I think overall they were a very good live band and performed their music professionally like International metal bands that have been touring for years. It is evident from this set that this band has a bright future ahead of them and are definitely a band to watch out for this year. The lead singer performed well live with consistent screams and squeals and who ever he kept giving the microphone to in the crowd had some definite screaming talent themselves. I thought the breakdowns Abandon All Hope had were one of the main reasons why I found this band to put on a good live set. Overall I was very impressed with this band as live performers.

Then after the crowd waiting all night in these sweltering conditions Carpathian took to the stage. The dominant live performer that Crafter is screamed into the microphone and opened up the full-blown chaos to End of The 1980’s. The crowd went crazy for this and it proved to be as good as a live opener as well as an album opener with Nothing To Lose, which was released last year. As expected Carpathian performed brilliantly as a live band and proved true all the hype that has been surrounding them in the past few months. Crafter was very well spoken and funny in-between songs and was an interesting front man to listen to. He spoke about rumors about why he is leaving Carpathian and mentioned the hot rumor of him joining a popular American Hardcore band, which currently is looking for a singer, and he didn’t dismiss the possibility but more so played along with the joke itself. Carpathian continued to tear up Enigma Bar and inspire a great circle with album tracks Six Months and Drop it Like Its Hot. EP tracks Don’t Have My Back & Holding Hands is for Girls also went down really well with this crowd.

Crafter has a sort of aura around him when he performs live that is an undeniable magnetism with the way he gets the crowd involved and to go crazy and I think for time being will be definitely missed by the Australian Hardcore Community. Crowd favorite Who The Fuck Taught You The Snaps was immense when they played it and made the venue have a feeling that really weighed you down with the hugeness of the feeling of this song being played live. Carpathian closed there set with album closer End Of The World which gave the fans one last chance to show there passion for this band. Once the band finished the song people jumped onstage to thank and hug Crafter for his time in the band and to wish him well in the future. This was a great set and on a live scale this band proved they really has a future not only nationally but internationally. I don’t think that Adelaide could of given The Notorious Michael Crafter a better farewell and thanks for what he has done for this band.