[Gallery] Hilltop Hoods @ Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne 10/9/2022
Hilltop Hoods
A.B.Original
Elsy Wameyo
Interview with Fletcher Dragge (Pennywise)
Hermosa Beach legends PENNYWISE are gearing up for their return to Oz next month and are bringing with them, for the first time to our shores, fellow Californian punk rockers CIRCLE JERKS to play seven shows along with special guests, Civic who will open all shows*.
The tour will mark Pennywise’s first return to Australia since last visiting to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their ARIA certified Gold stratus album ‘Straight Ahead’ – the band’s highest charting album to date (number 8 in the ARIA charts).
Fletcher Dragge enthuses;
“Finally Pennywise gets to come back to our home away from home, Australia! Where the beer flows nonstop, along with the chaos. Never a dull moment on a Pennywise tour down under… only one thing could make it better than usual, and that would be coming to town with our mentors and long-time friends THE CIRCLE JERKS!!! They are back with a vengeance!
This is gonna be an off the f***ing hook nonstop party! And we can’t wait! Get your tix, get on the booze, and get in the pit, we’re coming for you f***ers!!!!!”
Formed in the South Bay of Los Angeles, a neighbourhood with a rich punk rock history, Pennywise began in 1988. The band would go on to amass an international following with their combustible chemistry which delivered some of punk rock culture’s strongest songs. Pennywise classics like ‘Same Old Story’, ‘Alien’ and ‘Homesick’ are as fundamental to punk rock and hardcore as stage dives and guitars.
Emerging from the punk underbelly of LA’s South Bay in 1979, Keith Morris (Black Fag, OFF!) and Greg Hetson (Red Kross, Bad Religion) formed Circle Jerks, who quickly became the innovators of a movement simply referred to today as HARDCORE PUNK ROCK.
Melbourne powerhouse Civic will open all shows on the tour (except for Gosford). Forming in 2018 and bonding over a shared love of tightly coiled riffs and a collective musical ethos, Civic have found a home somewhere between 80’s glam rock and Australia’s 70’s greats. Paying homage to the classics, but pivoting on them with an avant-charged edge.
Raw, searing guitars; pummeling rhythms; driving bass; with vocals that lock into and synergise with their wall of sound. Balanced by the raucous and restrained weaving of melodies and textures, the imbued sense of nostalgia. Driving and tenacious, but never losing sight of a good hook and how to use it, Civic doesn’t tip-toe around the edges – but obliterate them with primal intensity!
This historic pairing of hardcore punk heavyweights will be leaving devastation in their wake this September.
TOUR DATES
Saturday, September 17: Chelsea Heights Hotel, Melbourne SOLD OUT
Sunday, September 18: The Forum, Melbourne
Tuesday, September 20: Uni Bar, Wollongong
Wednesday, September 21: Drifters Wharf, Gosford
Friday, September 23: Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Saturday, September 24: Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane
Sunday, September 25: Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide
Tuesday, September 27: Metropolis, Fremantle
*Civic not appearing in Gosford
Tickets on sale now from
Interview with Kenny Leckramo (HEAT)
Scandinavia heads down under as Silverback Touring bring you two of Sweden’s finest Hard Rock exports H.E.A.T. This will be the first Australian Tour and the action takes place in September 2022.
Over the last several years H.E.A.T has established themselves as one of the leading brands in the melodic rock scene, both in their homeland Sweden and internationally. They have toured and performed front of thousands and thousands of fans around the world
In April 2008, their self-titled debut album was released and became a massive vitamin injection for the genre and instantly received accolades from both fans and critics worldwide. The release was followed up by immense touring and H.E.A.T played with bands such as Alice Cooper, Thin Lizzy and on big festivals like Sweden Rock.
Since that time H.E.A.T have released a further 6 studio albums and have established themselves as a major force in the hard rock world.
During the Covid period, the band experienced a shift in personnel with original vocalist, Kenny Leckremo, returning to the fold replacing Erik Gronwoll. The band has a new album, Force Majeure, releasing on 5 August just in time for their Aussie visit.
“What can you say about H.E.A.T? If you don’t like these energetic Swedes you must be dead inside, as this year they’ve shown the UK crowd how to be the most complete band on the planet” – Classic Rock Magazine.
Local support comes from rising rock starlet, Cassidy Paris who fuses elements of melodic rock, pop punk and classic rock and is making noise all over the world as an artist to watch.
Interview with Max Cavalera (SOULFLY)
At the dawn of the new millennium, Rolling Stone declared, “Soulfly seem built to last.” More than two decades, countless worldwide tours, and a dozen albums later, that prophecy rings true.
Underground icon, extreme metal trailblazer, third world warrior, and leader of a diverse and dedicated tribe, Max Cavalera not only survives but thrives, blasting out riff after killer riff. The same voice, body, and spirit which launched Soulfly in 1997 summons impossibly heavy noise to this day, throwing down ten slabs of monstrous music on Soulfly’s twelfth album, 2022’s Totem.
Produced by Max alongside Arthur Rizk, whom Revolver described as “the secret weapon behind Power Trip, Code Orange, and Cavalera Conspiracy,” Totem attacks without apology. It brims with the blackened-thrash and death metal bite of modern Soulfly classics like Ritual (2018) and Archangel (2015), with nods to the heavy groove of Primitive (2000) and Prophecy (2004).
“I really dig what Arthur does in the underground scene, with records by bands like Outer Heaven, Pissgrave, Black Curse,” Max explains. “Those are crazy productions, man. They’re off-the-wall and crazy-sounding. I wanted a Soulfly record with a sonic character like that, so Arthur was the perfect guy. At one point during the production, he came up to me and he was like, ‘You know Max, we’re not just doing another Soulfly record. We’re doing the best Soulfly record.’ I liked that attitude.”
Among the most prolific musicians in the genre’s history, Max led Sepultura from Brazil to the world stage, making fans out of Ozzy Osbourne, Deftones, and Dave Grohl along the way. He cofounded Nailbomb, Cavalera Conspiracy, Go Ahead And Die, and Killer Be Killed, issuing album after album to spirited acclaim from critics and fans. But no project is as singularly identified with Max as Soulfly, whose gold-selling self-titled debut arrived with unrivaled determination and spirit.
Soulfly, the moniker Max conjured, is an original portmanteau like “Lookaway” or “Straighthate.” The idea rose from one of the indigenous spiritual practices that inspire Max. “Many South American tribes believe the souls of their ancestors fly around them when they play music. They can even feel the souls of the animals sacrificed to create their instruments. It’s heavy shit.”
Loaded with multiple guests and instrumentation, Soulfly (1998) set a precedent for the records that would follow by managing the almost-magical feat of combining world music with metal without sacrificing the raw, authentic vibe of a band banging out songs in a basement. Twenty years on, Kerrang! included Soulfly’s debut in their 10 Best Nü-Metal Albums Of All Time, alongside massively successful records by System Of A Down, Slipknot, Korn, Papa Roach, and Deftones. “I never felt Soulfly was a nü-metal band,” Max points out. “We had elements of it. But by the time the sound went very commercial with Linkin Park, I didn’t feel part of that. We’re much heavier.”
Melody Maker declared Primitive “the metal album of the year” in late 2000. When 3 followed in 2002, Spin wrote, “There’s something undeniably thrilling about an Ozzfest demagogue who champions dignity as a human right and makes a maxim like ‘Faith is a weapon’ a rallying cry. The band remains a hard-charging, tribal-drumming monster fierce enough to kick the bulldozers out of the rainforest.” Touring in support of 3 included a North American trek with Slayer.
Less than a year after its release, album four found its way into German magazine Rock Hard’s 2005 book, The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. Sputnik Music praised Prophecy as “the best Soulfly album to date,” calling it their “heaviest, most experimental, and most mature.” Thrash-fueled power dominated Dark Ages (2005), Conquer (2008), and Omen (2010). Critics hailed Cavalera’s never-ending supply of riffs all over again with Enslaved (2012). They celebrated the fierce vibe of Savages (2013), the first Soulfly album with Max’s son, Zyon Cavalera, on drums.
Archangel pushed the musical bludgeoning to its very limit while injecting the songs with moments of trippy nuance and dissonance. Max revisited the ritualistic and mystical ruminations on Soulfly’s Prophecy while simultaneously doubling down on the most extreme music of his career. Ritual “retained the groove of early Soulfly as well as my love for the heavy, fast stuff,” Max explains. “I think, in the end, we created a cool mix of songs that covered a lot of ground in my career.”
The songs on Totem originated with a back-to-basics songwriting approach inspired by Max’s son, Zyon. Soulfly’s drummer since 2012, Zyon asked Max one day to show him how Sepultura created their early classics. The elder Cavalera describes the process as putting riffs together like pieces in a puzzle, or bricks in a pyramid. “Zyon and I jammed for many weeks, creating the foundation.”
Max first envisioned Soulfly as a band with an evolving lineup, eager to “shake the tree” with an infusion of new creative blood from time to time. Many amazing players and guest musicians appear throughout the discography. Totem is the band’s fourth album with Zyon and second with bassist Mike Leon. It’s also the first Soulfly album without guitarist Marc Rizzo since 2004.
“Some of my favorite records are ones where everything changed, and I had to find a way to make something work,” Max says. “A lot of my best records came from struggles, like Sepultura’s Chaos A.D., the first Soulfly album, and Prophecy.” Chris Ulsh of Mammoth Grinder and Power Trip plays a guitar solo in album closer “Spirit Animal.” John Powers, Rizk’s bandmate in the group Eternal Champion, contributes several solos to the album, and Rizk plays rhythm and lead guitars as well. “Arthur ended up jamming with me a lot on the record. He’s a great guitar player,” Max says.
Like every Soulfly album before it, Totem includes a dedication to God in the liner notes. And as ever, Max follows his spiritual muse into evolving and diverse territory, taking inspiration from multiple traditions and practices. Songs like “Superstition,” “Ancestors,” and the title track lean heavily into one of the album’s themes, which deals with nature as a spiritual force.
“I wanted to make a record connected to spirit animals, forests, environmental stuff,” he says. “I’ve always been fascinated by nature. Traveling so much, I’ve gotten to see some amazing places,” he continues, citing examples like Iceland, the fjords of Norway, and the Badlands of South Dakota. “Superstition” specifically is inspired by Superstition Mountain, located in Arizona. “Far beyond all the things that you know
/ superstition, harder than stone,” Max says in the song.
Each Soulfly album boasts an instrumental, which Max lovingly likens to a “Planet Caravan moment,” the way Black Sabbath’s classic jam created something of a mellow album oasis. Totem is no exception. “Soulfly XII” indulges Max’s love of dark ‘80s goth guitar chords and synths. “I try to get creative with all of them; either with different instruments, like the saxophone on the Ritual instrumental, or I go by vibe. This one is really influenced by The Cure and Sisters Of Mercy.”
Old school heaviness reminiscent of Sepultura’s Beneath the Remains era punctuates the environmentalist anthem “The Damage Done,” which concludes with a crushing decrease in tempo. “Scouring the Vile,” featuring a guest appearance from Obituary vocalist John Tardy, confronts cancer. “The sickening concealed behind my dying eyes / I ripped you from me.”
Roughly 25 years since the band began, essential Soulfly bangers like “Jumpdafuckup,” “Back to the Primitive,” “Downstroy,” “Eye for an Eye,” “Ritual,” and “Dead Behind the Eyes” are celebrated live just like Cavalera classics “Roots Bloody Roots,” “Refuse / Resist,” “Territory,” and “Dead Embryonic Cells.” Bursting with hunger and energy forged by more than three decades as a heavy metal force, Totem is a suitably brutal, vibrant, extreme, and uplifting entry into the Soulfly canon.
Soulfly’s savage anthems of aggression push extreme music to its bludgeoning limits while injecting it with brilliant moments of trippy nuance and dissonance. Like all innovative musical heroes, Max makes anthems for the people. Soulfly is a celebration of family and legacy. Whatever Max Cavalera hammers out on the bridges of his four-string guitars, it always sets souls free.
Order your copy of Totem, here:
https://www.jbhifi.com.au/collections/soulfly-totem
Stream Totem on all streaming platforms: https://bfan.link/soulfly-totem
SOULFLY – Totem (Tracklisting)
01. Superstition
02. Scouring The Vile
03. Filth Upon Filth
04. Rot In Pain
05. The Damage Done
06. Totem
07. Ancestors
08. Ecstasy Of Gold
09. Soulfly XII
10. Spirit Animal
GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL LINE UP:
Bring Me The Horizon | Deftones | NOFX (performing ‘Punk In Drublic’ in full + all your favourites) | TISM (Exclusive: First shows in 19 years!) | The Amity Affliction | Gojira | ONE OK ROCK
In Alphabetical Order:
3OH!3 | Blood Command | Chasing Ghosts | Cosmic Psychos | Electric Callboy
Fever 333 | Jinjer | JXDN | Kisschasy (Performing ‘United Paper People’ In Full)
Lacuna Coil | Millencolin | Nova Twins | Polaris | RedHook | Regurgitator
Sabaton | Sleeping With Sirens | Soulfly | The Story So Far | Thornhill
DATES AND VENUES:
Friday 2nd December – Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne (LIC AA 15+)
Saturday 3 December- Centennial Park, Sydney (18+)
Sunday 4 December – Brisbane Showgrounds, Brisbane (LIC AA 15+)
Early Bird pre-sale tickets on sale Tuesday 21 June @ 10am AEST Time
Sign up now for early bird pre-sale tickets at www.goodthingsfestival.com.au
General Public tickets on sale Thursday 23 June @ 10am AEST Time
https://www.oztix.com.au/
GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK
[GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL 2022) Interview with NOVA TWINS!!
Asked about what it takes to make it into a Nova Twins song, the heavy alt. rock renegades have a few words that spring to mind. “Power and fight” replies singer and guitarist Amy Love. “Imagination” adds bassist Georgia South. “We imagined this band because we didn’t have any one like us to look up to. That was the fun bit. There were no rules to who we can be.”
Nova Twins are the zeitgeist-capturing polymath pioneers that our times have been waiting for. Whether pushing the MOBO Awards to create a category for POC alt. acts, to teaming up with No Music On A Dead Planet and Oxfam to play for environmental change, working with Dr. Martens to raise money for The Black Curriculum or aiming to inspire a new wave of young, diverse talent, Amy Love and Georgia South are much more than one of the UK’s most exciting bands – they are changemakers.
Formed in London in 2014, the two childhood friends came together to create something that destroyed boundaries and defied expectations. A clash of ideas from the worlds of punk, rap, pop, hard rock and beyond, their sound is one that smashes genres but showcases the many facets of the duo and where they’re from. “Some of our favourite music is ‘00s R&B and hip-hop” says Love. “That guided us when we were younger and gave us some kind of stability. Then we wanted to venture out and were met with people saying, ‘you don’t belong here’.”
They have battled through the old guard of rock’s narrow-minded expectations. Their debut album ‘Who Are The Girls?’ planted their flag as outliers on a mission, when it dropped in 2020 to much critical acclaim. Name another act that could support Bring Me The Horizon and Wolf Alice but also Enter Shikari and Sleaford Mods? One of the UK’s premiere live bands and fiercest festival acts reach a very broad church, without diluting what they’re all about.
Rage Against The Machine icon Tom Morello dubbed them “an incredible band who deserve to be huge” as well as inviting them on tour with Prophets Of Rage. Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes called them one of his “favourite new bands” before having them collaborate on song ‘1×1’ from 2020’s UK No.1 album ‘POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR’. Furthermore, they’ve already scored the “bucket list” moment of appearing on the cover of NME, as “the band rewriting the rules of alternative music”. It’s true, rules are not in Nova Twins’ vocabulary, so don’t think about forcing them upon them.
“People just assume that women who dress colourfully can’t play” says South. “We want to change that – for everyone. We want to change the way that people look at heavy music.” Love agrees: “People say, ‘oh is that supposed to be punk?’ just based on our look and aesthetic. The New York Dolls and David Bowie can wear flamboyant clothes and be celebrated for it. When women do it, you get taken less seriously. Suddenly people think you’re posers, playing to a backing track. That makes us play into it more.”
Their attitude runs through everything they do – bursting out of their music and into the vision they have for their art-punk music videos and DIY outfits. They make their own clothes because nothing else feels quite ‘Nova’ enough. “Clothes are our armour” says Love. “They make us feel Nova. Fashion is just an extension of what you want to tell people.” South agrees: “As long as you feel like your most authentic self, that’s cool. We just happen to feel comfortable covered in spikes, fake fur and clown make-up.”
Now they too are advocates for diversity and those who might otherwise feel like they don’t fit the standard rock mould. Through their ‘Voices For The Unheard’ platform, they give a stage and a spotlight to marginalised talent, in order to help heavy music evolve. “The rock scene was regurgitating the same headliners over and over again, and in the same breath saying, ‘rock is dying’” says Love. “It’s like, ‘hang on a minute, have you not heard what’s going on over here?’ You need to make sure you’re nurturing a new generation, so that they can have the opportunity to fill those crucial spots one day. It’s a really interesting time for alternative music and I think it’s about to have its fucking heyday.”
There’s no band out there quite like Nova Twins. If more artists blazed a trail like this, we’d be celebrating a lot more difference, rather than craving what’s safe and similar. From being “shunned” when they arrived on the scene, now Nova Twins are leading a game all of their own. Now, there are no rules.
GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL LINE UP:
Bring Me The Horizon | Deftones | NOFX (performing ‘Punk In Drublic’ in full + all your favourites) | TISM (Exclusive: First shows in 19 years!) | The Amity Affliction | Gojira | ONE OK ROCK
In Alphabetical Order:
3OH!3 | Blood Command | Chasing Ghosts | Cosmic Psychos | Electric Callboy
Fever 333 | Jinjer | JXDN | Kisschasy (Performing ‘United Paper People’ In Full)
Lacuna Coil | Millencolin | Nova Twins | Polaris | RedHook | Regurgitator
Sabaton | Sleeping With Sirens | Soulfly | The Story So Far | Thornhill
DATES AND VENUES:
Friday 2nd December – Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne (LIC AA 15+)
Saturday 3 December- Centennial Park, Sydney (18+)
Sunday 4 December – Brisbane Showgrounds, Brisbane (LIC AA 15+)
Early Bird pre-sale tickets on sale Tuesday 21 June @ 10am AEST Time
Sign up now for early bird pre-sale tickets at www.goodthingsfestival.com.au
General Public tickets on sale Thursday 23 June @ 10am AEST Time
https://www.oztix.com.au/
GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK
Munitions – Black Wind
A new band surges forth on Black Winds from Melbourne, Victoria. Meet Munitions, a death metal band that hasn’t been in the scene for that long, but all the members on this EP are gig-hardened veterans from the likes of, Join the Amish, Nemesium, Desecrator, Vulture Culture, Blunt Shovel, and Embodied, just to name a few. Hopefully, you would have heard or seen some of those bands and know the kind of talent you will hear on this 4 Track EP.
With a blackened death metal sound that incorporates a hell of a lot of groove, this 4 track EP is short, sweet and straight to the knifepoint. Black Winds is completely stacked with neck-breaking guitar riffs that will have you headbanging from start to finish and then going for another round, it’s that catchy! There is an overlying darkness to the EP that just seeps from it, that seems to come from the great use of the chord progressions and riffs, it never sticks to the one thing for too long and the drum beats change it up to give the same riff a completely different feel.
Recorded, mixed and masted by Luke Walton at Danger Tones Studios, formerly Goatsound Studios, in Melbourne, I know some of you readers who know the local scene will have heard that name before. Munitions have done well to capture everything that I would imagine they bring to their live sound, the EP is definitely groove orientated above all else and I would be keen to see this being performed and a crowd moshing, going nuts to these songs. All the little intricacies and subtleties are kept in the mix, and you can appreciate the skill that is involved with playing these tracks. After going back and relistening a few times, I find more riffs or sounds that just add an eeriness to their songs, its great!
If you are wanting a new band to sink your teeth into Black Winds is the EP for you, dark, catchy, heavy, it ticks all the boxes when listening to it and it would come out great live, I would imagine from these guys. These guys clearly mean business, already hitting the ground hard with a recording and a string of live shows around the state. Munitions are making sure you know who they are, get out and catch them live.
The Butterfly Effect – IV
The Butterfly Effect completely passed me by first time around. Having lived overseas for all of the 90’s and half of the 2000’s, I came home to find there had been some awesome Aussie bands that had come and unfortunately gone during that time. So how happy was I to see them reunite and to have had the opportunity to discover them and see their fantastic live shows. Imago was on repeat in my headphones for many months and they were able to fill venues playing the songs that people loved from that time. Now, after 14 years, we have a new album to savour and an accompanying tour. I am very excited to hear the new songs but have some feelings of trepidation. Will they give us the sound that made us fall in love with them to begin with? Or will they be trying something new (always fraught with danger. I still haven’t forgiven Radiohead for the wanky, self-indulgent shit they produced from in the early 2000’s).
Track one is the title track IV. An instrumental piece that builds from a very minimalist beginning to a crescendo of guitars and drums with some lovely classical string sections in the mix. If I close my eyes, I can see a darkened stage with clouds of smoke tastefully lit and the crowd going mad with expectation as this track plays to announce the arrival of the band. Goosebumps!! Great start.
Track two is Dark Light and with the opening bars, I can see we are going to be on solid ground with this album. The soaring falsetto from Clint Boge and guitar in the minor key (I think, I’m no musician) gives that atmospheric, spine tingling feeling that is what I have always associated with The Butterfly Effect. The bridge sets the scene for a very singable chorus. This will be a crowd favourite at their upcoming gigs, I have no doubt.
Track Three is Wave of Tides – Long. The lyrics seem to speak of battling demons, being lost in the battle, searching for someone to help and the hope for better. I don’t know if this was written during the pandemic but in these lyrics, I feel something of my own struggles during the last couple of years and I think this song is going to be very relatable to many people.
Track Four, Nil By Mouth starts with some serious riffage. Definitely one of the heavier tracks on the album, this will appeal to the New Metal fans out there. Clint is pulling out all of the vocal tricks on this track as he slips from his signature falsetto to some dirty vocals more akin to The Amity Affliction than TBE. Short and sweet, but will be a great one to bounce to at a gig.
Track Five is The Other Side. The intro of this track begins with a drum solo from Ben Hall and how nice is to hear a drummer get a chance to really shine on an album track. Throughout the song, the drums are front and centre while guitar and bass are more an accompaniment to this. Love it. This will be another great gig singalong, I am sure.
Track Six is So Tired. Not one of my favourites. The verses are frenetic and jarring to the senses. And all of this culminates in a beautiful chorus that is all too short before we’re back to the chaos. The saving grace is the last two minutes of the song where it settles back into more melodic territory. Some will love it, me, not so much but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.
Track Seven is Unbroken. Another example of the perfect chorus and I would go so far as to say, a perfect example of an alternative rock classic. Very reminiscent of some of their earlier stuff but I am in no way sorry for that. It’s heavy enough for a good head bang but is full of lifting moments and I am very surprised that this was not the first single from the album. It will definitely be a floor filler live.
Track Eight is Great Heights. And I find myself running out of superlatives. I love a song that builds and the verse and bridge to this song feel like the foothills and the wonderful chorus is the pinnacle.
Another track that I think could easily be a single. A song of many parts which fit together perfectly to be another TBE classic.
Track nine is Start Again. At first listen, I thought this felt a bit like a filler track to me, but on about the third listen, I changed my mind. The bass and drums are a real highlight of the song and it definitely confirms to the TBE winning formula.
Track ten is the first single release, Visiting Hours. The melodic guitar on its’ own is the perfect accompaniment to some typically dramatically sung lyrics. It builds, but not as much as Unbroken or Great Heights. The lead break towards the end is perfection. Perhaps picked as the first single for a more radio friendly return to the airwaves, it certainly would not have been my choice. But I think it does let fans, and new listeners to TBE know what they are about and whets the appetite for more.
I was so excited to have the chance to review this album and to say I am not disappointed is an understatement. It has all of the ingredients that made The Butterfly Effect who they are while still being new and fresh. I cannot wait to see these songs live and to see how they are accepted by old fans and new audiences alike. BRING IT ON!!!
IV is out now.
Tickets for The Butterfly Effect’s upcoming national tour are on sale now from www.thebutterflyeffectband.com.au.
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT – IV 2022 TOUR:
with guests Thornhill & Caligula’s Horse
Tickets available from: www.thebutterflyeffectband.com.au
FRI 30 SEPT | TANKS ARTS CENTRE, CAIRNS, QLD | 18+
SAT 1 OCT | MANSFIELD HOTEL, TOWNSVILLE, QLD | 18+
SUN 2 OCT | HARRUP PARK, MACKAY, QLD | 18+
THUR 6 OCT | BLANK SPACE, TOOWOOMBA, QLD | 18+
FRI 7 OCT | EATONS HILL HOTEL, BRISBANE, QLD | 18+
SAT 8 OCT | UNSW ROUNDHOUSE, SYDNEY, NSW | 18+
SUN 9 OCT | HOBART UNI BAR, HOBART, TAS | 18+
THUR 13 OCT | NORTHCOTE THEATRE, MELBOURNE, VIC | 18+ *NEW SHOW*
FRI 14 OCT | NORTHCOTE THEATRE, MELBOURNE, VIC | 18+ *SOLD OUT*
SUN 15 OCT | HINDLEY ST MUSIC HALL, ADELAIDE, SA | 18+
SUN 16 OCT | METROPOLIS, FREMANTLE, WA | 18+
[Review] KISS @ Adelaide Entertainment Center, Adelaide 30/8/2022
Without a doubt, KISS was THE band that started it all for me. My obsession with rock music, the way that I dress, even the majority of my friends today…pretty much everything in my life can be traced back to KISS.
As a very young kid when KISS were at their peak of popularity in Australia, they were impossible to miss. They were everywhere! Everyone seemed to be listening to KISS as they were all over the TV, radio, and on the covers of so many magazines! At school, we were all trading KISS cards, eating Kiss ice-blocks and had their posters on our walls at home.
When KISS first toured here in 1980, I still recall being devastated that I was too young to go see them and nobody would take me.
Despite Kiss-mania being a relatively short-lived phenomenon in Australia (they were pretty uncool to most people about a year after their first visit here), I remained a fan for life.
Even though I’ve since seen KISS many times over the years, since missing that first visit here, I was very excited to see that they would be returning to the country for their End of The Road Tour. Initially, Australia wasn’t included on the band’s farewell tour schedule, but thanks to that pesky virus you may have heard about, the whole tour was postponed and then rescheduled with Aussie tour dates added! Thanks Covid 19!
Arriving at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on the night, it was impossible not to feel the sense of occasion! Of course, there were fans dressed up as their favourite member of Kiss, complete with make-up and elaborate costumes, and plenty of fans just sporting the make-up with their casual jeans and rock T-shirts on.
As is often the case, a KISS concert evokes a vibe that’s like a cross between a rock show and a visit to the circus. It’s fantastic!
By the time the doors to the venue were opened, the gig was completely sold out! There were even quite a few people outside the box office holding up signs to let people know they were after tickets. It was good to see KISS were getting a proper send-off in Adelaide.
Inside the lobby everyone seemed to be buzzing with excitement. By the time I got down to the front of the stage with beer in hand, I was really feeling it myself.
Opening the show was Adelaide’s own The SuperJesus. I was very excited for them (and maybe slightly jealous) as I’ve known these guys for years and know how thrilled they were to be playing on the same stage as KISS. Obviously playing to a room full of KISS fans waiting to see their larger-than-life idols on stage could potentially be a tough gig, the band were up for the challenge for sure. They sounded tight and had a big enough sound to win over the crowd early on in their set. They blitzed their way through some of their best-known songs including Down Again, Secret Agent Man, and ending their set with Gravity, with frontwoman Sarah Mc Leod doing a great job of encouraging audience participation and making the most of the large stage. They did a great job of warming up the crowd for KISS.
Not long after this support set, the giant KISS banner was erected in front of the stage, adding to the anticipation in the room. Anyone who’s been to a KISS gig knows that when that curtain drops…a whole new world is revealed.
As time ticked down to the appearance of KISS, classic rock anthems blasted out from the P.A. getting the full room pumped up for the main event. Through AC/DCs Thunderstruck and Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll…the anticipation grew, until…those famous words echoed out loudly across the Entertainment Centre…’You wanted the best…you GOT the best…the hottest band in the world…KISS!!!!!!’
The curtain dropped right on queue and BANG!!! It was on! Lights, smoke, giant flames, fireworks…the larger-than-life band members dropping from the ceiling on giant robotic platforms…THIS is why KISS is synonymous with over-the-top rock n roll theatrics! Within the first thirty seconds of the show, you’re bombarded with everything you could expect from a big rock concert and more.
To be honest, despite being a big KISS fan, before the gig I wasn’t 100% excited knowing what their set list would likely look like. KISS tend to stick to a fairly similar set of their best known hits, songs which I often skip when listening to Kiss as I’ve heard them all a million times over the years.
However, as soon as that curtain dropped and the opening to Detroit Rock City kicked off the show, all thoughts of issues with the set were instantly forgotten. Right after the big opening it was full steam ahead with the massive KISS anthem Shout it Out Loud. This one seemed to have everyone singing along at the top of their voice. From here it was early KISS with Deuce from their first album. During this song, the big screens were showing vintage footage of the band from the early 70s which got me thinking about the beauty of KISS being in full make-up and costumes again. Even though the core band members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are in their 70s now, being in character, they still look exactly the same as they did when I worshipped them as a kid! With the face paint on, they are still the star child and the demon, the rock gods they were to me back then! War Machine from the Creatures of the Night album was next, which has become a KISS live staple and fan favourite, despite this coming from a turbulent period in the band’s early 80s history. After this was the first song from the band’s non-make up days, Heaven’s on Fire which has always slotted perfectly into the set as though it was an early year’s classic.
Another song from the Creatures of the Night album that has become a KISS classic was next. I Love it Loud is one of the best rock crowd singalongs ever and did not disappoint, this one had the whole arena joining the call-and-response war-cry in unison, even those who weren’t familiar with this era of KISS seemed to be singing along loudly.
The one song that I was surprised was in the set was next. From the 2009 album Sonic Boom, came Say Yeah. This would have easily been the least known song from the KISS catalogue on the night but once again, being a typical Kiss anthem, it had everyone singing along by the end of the song. After this, it was back to classic KISS with Cold Gin, followed by an impressive guitar solo by guitarist Tommy Thayer, complete with fireworks shooting from his guitar!
The set continued on with popular songs from the band’s history, featuring all the KISS trademark moves, including bassist Gene Simmons breathing fire and then spitting blood while rising up on a platform to sing God of Thunder while looking down from the top of the arena, a drum solo from Eric Singer while his drum riser lifted him up above the stage with smoke billowing from below, and then front-man Paul Stanley being carried from the front of the stage on a zip-line where he performed Love Gun up close and personal to those in the back of the room. From here, the band then launched into I was Made for Lovin’ You while Paul flew back over everyone’s heads to the main stage again.
The last song of the main set was Black Diamond, featuring drummer Eric Singer on vocals, with the band then vacating the stage behind a huge display of smoke and fireworks.
Within just a few minutes, the encore began with Eric once again on vocals, this time sitting behind a glittery grand piano for a rendition of Beth, the ballad originally sang by KISS’ original drummer. Peter Criss
As the show drew to a close, it was time for a song that was a huge hit in Australia for KISS but nowhere else in the world, Shandi, from the Unmasked album. As the opening chords rang out, dozens of huge KISS balloons dropped from the ceiling and it became a fun spectacle to watch as they were thrown around the Entertainment Centre, seemingly in time with the music.
Finally, it was time for the show-closing anthem that has ended many KISS shows over the years, and would likely be the last song the band would ever play in Adelaide…Rock and Roll All Nite. With this, the band certainly went out with a bang! As soon as the band said their goodbyes and launched into the opening chords of the song, they threw everything they had at the crowd. There was confetti pumped out into the air, smoke, fireworks, flames…all of the theatrics they had left in the bank were pumped out onto the stage for their final farewell and it was a spectacular finale for sure!
I seriously doubt that anybody who was in attendance for this gig had a bad time. KISS had lived up to the hype that they put on the best rock n’ roll show in the world and this seemed like a very fitting way to say goodbye to Adelaide on this final tour. To me, this gig more than reminded me of what got me into rock music in the first place, and I suspect it may have even inspired some younger audience members to discover it for the first time!