Overcranked @ RNA Showgrounds,24/03/2007

Tue 3rd Apr, 2007 in Gig Reviews

Less a music festival and more a visual feast for both the eyes, ears and minds of punk and metal lovers alike, Overcranked 2007 struck the RNA showgrounds with a vengance. Whether it was the ska punk of local act Blowhard, the slightly more structured rock of Shihad, or the old-school grunge metal of Helmet, Overcranked left everyone with a day to remember.

On the FasterLouder stage, The Quickening open the day with a burst of speed rock. The crowd is small, most of whom are in the shade of a tree near the stage, but the mostly young audience is appreciative of frontman Chris’s rapid fire guitar and excellent vocals. The lighthearted banter between songs offsets the angry nature of the material itself, but excellent songs like With Friends Like These and After The Holocaust get the early punters moving around.

There’s a much larger crowd taking advantage of the shade inside at the undercover Red Octopus stage, where Severed Link are playing. This six piece metal outfit have a big chunky sound, and the crowd begin the first of what will become many head bangings. There’s even some keys thrown in, but they mostly get drowned out by the big guitars. These guys have potential, and are definitely worth keeping an eye on in the future.

Meanwhile, Art Vandelay are opening the massive double main stage with some heavy punk rock. They’re not afraid of some quieter moments either, demonstrating versatility as they play through some varied songs from their debut album The Human Comedy. It’s a small but appreciative crowd, but there’s not much movement, even for the biggier riffy numbers – there’s a lot of music still to come, and it seems some are conserving their energy

Following Art Vandelay, Dead Letter Circus take over the main stage with their epic angry rock, with excellent vocals from frontman Kim Benzie. The swelling crowd begins to really get into it, and closer The Mile (which has been going great guns on Myspace) is fast and hooky, as Benzie jumps down into the crowd to finish the song surrounded by fans.

If Overcranked is all about bringing home the bacon for the punters, Beijing Tank have it covered in spades. The vocalist hurls out a rasher early on then thrashes and screams like a stuck pig as the four-piece belts out dissonant noisecore without fear or favour. It’s not to everyone’s taste, but the drummer’s speed on the kickdrum is certainly impressive.

On the main stage, City in Panic combine plaintive guitar intros with chugging thrash riffs and death growls. Scores of angry young things windmill and kick, screaming back lyrics. The columns of dust that rise above them are just a foretaste of what’s to come later in the day.

People stream off to the other stages – or the bar – after City in Panic conclude. It’s a bit of an insult to the 30 minutes of sweetly aggressive rock that Regular John pump out. The sharp guitars of EP track Who We Are is among the highlights, but it seems as though the Overcranked crowd prefer heavier fare today.

Brisbane ska-punk veterans Blowhard bemuse – or, perhaps, horrify – when larger-than-life frontman Rollo appears on stage wrapped in nought but cling wrap and some strategically placed cardboard. The horn section gets the crowd jigging enthusiastically as Rollo belts out songs older than many watching. V8 Rock is a mid-set diversion into pub-rock territory with a lead guitar solo before they wind up with some traditional ska and Rollo singing “I’m a sexual deviant”. Apt.

The Daylight Curse are just winding up on the main stage. The vocalist’s brightly coloured basketball uniform outfit seems wildly at odds with his tattooed mass and the morose, tortured lyrics, but the enthusiastic fans are more interested in the thrash than the threads.

Repeat Offender’s darkly melodic songs go down a treat even if frontman Ryan Wilson seems lacking some of his usual verve. A punchy set includes viperous new track Poison Girl in addition to favourites such as To a Modern Love and Amphetamine, and despite Ryan’s worries, nobody cares that they’re not the heaviest thing on the bill today.

Mammal stake an early claim for act of the day, delivering intense punk-rap fusion with bare-chested, messianic fervour. Initially, the crowd seems content to sit back, swill beer and smell the roses, but frontman Ezekial Ox isn’t about to allow that. “Are you overcranked or overwanked?” he demands, before leaping the barrier. He struts his stuff on the dusty ground before the stage and reels in the doubters while his three bandmates play up a storm – sawing, razoring guitar combining with crashing drums and slapping bass. By the end, large numbers are shouting back the chorus of Hell Yeah. Mission accomplished for Ezekial and co.

The Red Octopus stage is going nuts for WA death metallers Pathogen. And though Cain Cressal might be growling the vocals, it’s lead guitarist Aidan Barton who’s doing all the talking as his amazing licks and solos bring songs such as Shallow and Eviscerated to screaming, wailing life. He leans across the barrier and dozens of hands reach out to touch him. He flawlessly solos over the back of his head and the crowd responds with enthusiastic slam dancing. It’s all so effortless that it’s a disappointment when they wind up.

A mid-afternoon wander through the RNA’s cowsheds reveals fine merchandise, finer foods … and several brave people giving their all in an air guitar competition. It’s hard to know whether to be impressed or disturbed at their ability to shed their inhibitions.

Lord’s performance seems to suffer from a bad sound mix with the guitars running too low. Lord Tim’s voice is mesmerising and the band shows plenty of energy, but if only we could hear those impressive-looking solos properly.

On the Fasterlouder stage, Wish for Wings’ vocalist screams and sweats while the rest of the band thrashes away. Over and again, dozens gather their energy, jumping and whirling in orchestrated anarchy to the pulsating beat. It’s not quite the “pit all the way to the sound desk” the frontman is looking for, but the barrier surge on the final song is impressive, even if the whole letting-the-fans-take-the-mic-for-the-chorus idea turns out a bit messy.

Not surprisingly, there’s a lot of black shirts out in the crowd, which makes the six white t-shirts of Amity Affliction a nice surprise. Not surprising is their rocking punk sound, as the frontman alternates between the two archetypes of punk vocals, screaming and soft determined. Some midsong tempo changes are handled with ease, and as the sun sets, there’s some nice guitar solos for the punks in the crowd to hold hands to.

Minus Life seem to be forever cursed with microphone problems. Their February support of Testament was marred by mic failure, and early in this set Scott Moss’s vocals are struck down yet again. They forge ahead undeterred, and it’s a sign of their songwriting power that the crowd still thrash rowdily to their hell-for-leather metal. The soundman finally pulls it together for Dark Child of Hate and A Thousand Funerals, but it’d be nice to hear these guys without the technical hassles.

Behind Crimson Eyes use their slot to profile songs from their forthcoming album. Many seem well-known already – cheers and handclapping greet the old-yet-new The Art of War and Dial H for Whore. Radio favourite Shakedown draws the best response – the crowd howls approval and dust rises to half-cloud the main stage.

It’s Against’s first show of the year, but it doesnt show, as the band whips the crowd into a frenzy, including a circle pit. The vocals are excellent, as Against breeze through track after track of speed rock, featuring both older tracks, and some from their forthcoming album.

After the Fall offer a much-needed melodic break after hours of unrelenting metal and hardcore aggression. Room for One More demands attention with its delicious, oddly syncopated drumming and brash guitars, but shortly after the sets starts to drift into the never never. A cover of the Doors’ Roadhouse Blues is a momentary novelty, but even Concrete Boots can’t disguise the lack of catchiness in their set.

Back inside the cowshed, Dawn of Azazel are thrashing out some of the fastest, heaviest metal of the day. They’re having trouble sustaining a crowd though – God Forbid is filching people away with grinding riffs that hook into the brain and induce terminal amounts of headbanging. A thousand or more people must surround the main stage outside, and egged on by the imposing, dread-locked Byron Davis they quickly form a circle pit a good 30 metres wide. Veiled in dust and half-darkness, it’s as though demons maniacally dance some heinous rite of worship while imps float across the front rows with arms a-flail. The US-based five-piece preside over affairs with infernal majesty. To the Fallen Hero – dedicated to the late Dimebag Darrell – is poignant when the crowd joins on the chorus, but The End of the World is an appropriately apocalyptic way to close out this eardrum-demolishing set.

The Hard-Ons have taken over the FasterLouder stage, with yet more speed rock, possibly the speediest of the day. There’s as much headbanging on stage as there is in front of it, and the Hard-Ons operate under the philosophy of “Faster Is Better”. It’s hard to tell if they’re hitting the correct notes, but it doesn’t matter, because none of the notes are around for very long anyway. All the songs are short and sweet, and the crowd cheers its enthusiasm.

Lots of girlie screams greet The Hot Lies, who create a curious mix of pop-tastic hooks and heavy guitars. Tell me Goodnight comes across so gently that it’s easily the softest song of the day. On the other hand, Ghosts and Mirrors churns, with the very dapper Pete Wood indulging in some quasi-screaming while the bassist flails about. A rock revisitation of Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time gets a singalong but brand-new song Tokyo stands out as their best when the bassist steps up and adds a fuller sound to the vocals.

There’s a slight delay before Shihad comes out, which only makes the cheer that greets their arrival all the louder. They open as usual with The General Electric, as John Toogood performs his frenetic stage show, choosing to finish the song by jumping off a fairly tall speaker stack onto the stage. Home Again is followed by a new song, then All The Young Fascists gets the crowd thrashing around. Pacifier is one of the softest songs to be played all day, but they cancel that out with a powerful version of My Mind’s Sedate which sees Toogood return to the top of the speaker stack, with a microphone, to play and sing with a balance that only a skinny man has. Before closing out with a new song, Toogood leads into Comfort Me with a riff from Metallica’s Master Of Puppets, which of course gets a roar of crowd approval. Shihad might be one of the poppier acts on the bill, but the crowd gives them a metal salute all the same.

Local heroes The Butterfly Effect emerge to the familiar strains of the Rocky theme. Maybe it’s a sign Clint’s been working out. Not only does his blue-singleted self look particularly buff tonight, he’s also pulling out the classical Greek muscleman poses while he sings. It’s a bit of a distraction, but there’s no stopping everyone from going off to a fine blend of songs from Imago and Begins Here. Always is a moshworthy opener while the double-punch of Crave and One Second of Insanity inspires mad amounts of bouncing and shoving. Aisles of White’s haunting guitar lines generate shivers and Reach devolves into a slow singalong. A Slow Descent brings things back to the boil. Clint perches on a speaker stack haranguing the crowd to take the chorus. Not that they needed coaxing. Ferny Grove’s finest hit the home straight with a quiet, feedback-filled rendition of Take it Away that detours in and out of the Police classic Message in a Bottle. The intertwining of the choruses at the end is breathtaking but there’s hardly a moment to appreciate the beauty as the band charges through Sweet and Low to round out a tight performance.

A few people seem to drift off after The Butterfly Effect conclude, but the faithful are rewarded with a menacing performance from US grunge-metal archetypes Helmet. It might be a trifle disturbing to see Peter Hamilton singing “I’d like to see you torn in two” with such intensity, but the band is tight and the pace is relentless. The remorseless grind of Swallowing Everything proves their songwriting ability remains undimmed, and old favourites Milquetoast and Unsung turn the front rows into a heaving mass of bodies even if Peter jokes about “emotional haircuts” and tells them their parents rocked much harder at Livid ‘94. Unfortunately, the curfew is rapidly approaching, so there’s only time for him to snarl viciously through Judgement Night’s Just Another Victim before Overcranked winds up for another year.

By Stephen Goodwin aka demosthenes and Liam McGinniss aka gumbuoy