loader

Northcote Theatre

Post Image
Gig ReviewsReviews
October 1, 2024
Midnite Mitch

[Review] Cradle of Filth @Northcote Theatre 27/09/2024

It’s been 5 years since Cradle of Filth have haunted these shores, playing their Cruelty and the Beast album in its entirety. The Australian Invasion 2024 tour has nearly sold out across Australia showing how much we love the Filth! Cradle of Filth have sold out 170 Russell the last couple of times and on this tour they are playing at Northcote Theatre, which is a 500 person increase in capacity and it still sold out! This would be my 4th time to the venue, and I decided to change it up and stand upstairs this time around to see if the sound is better or worse, I was not disappointed.

Northcote Theatre fills up quickly, it is already half full at 7:20 when locals Hybrid Nightmares take to the stage. This is the bands 3rd time in supporting Cradle of Filth, having had the chance to tour with them previously, I’ve seen these guys around the scene since they first started and it’s unreal seeing bands hard work pay off. Bringing in their A game tonight for a sold-out show, Hybrid Nightmare’s melodic black metal sound gets the crowd moving and headbanging within their 25-minute time slot, they play phenomenally, and the outfits tonight are on the simplistic approach, as opposed to previous years that I have seen them. It is quite clear that Cradle of Filth are an influence on these guys when it comes to stage performance. It’s always good seeing bands that put effort into their stage craft as well as their music, even if it as simple as wearing uniform colours.

This is Infected Rain’s first time in Australia, playing on a near sold out tour, where you would want to make sure you come in hot and make a great first impression, WELL GODDAMN! Did they ever!? Straight off the bat, they sound great, with heavy groove laden guitars and some electro backing tracks. Lena takes the stage, and everyone stops to watch and listen to her first scream, what a wicked voice! After the first song, a guy yells “WILL YOU MARRY ME PLEASE!?” the crowd laugh and Lena just smiles, laughs, and kicks on, showing that she can take the heckling and then also have the ability to carry the stage talk when tech issues happen after the second or third song, “There’s a problem in the kitchen!”. It is an important skill when being a front person for a band, you need to be able to make chat and you also need to be able to keep it from getting weird and awkward, Lena clearly has no issues in that area. Once they get over the tech issue and the songs are rolling, Infected Rain have the room at their control, bodies are moving, heads are banging, Lena commands and Melbourne responds. The band have an amazing energy, the guitarist is constantly throwing himself about and putting his whole body into his performance, the bassist plays incredibly well, just sitting in the pocket of the songs and creates the perfect heaviness, she then takes center stage at one point and has a little bass melody, as a fellow bassist, I appreciate this moment!  At the end of their set, a massive circle pit opens, it’s a great view from above, and it’s probably the biggest one I’ve seen in this venue, taking up nearly the entire floor. For a first time in Australia, I think they were convinced to come back, I have definitely been convinced to catch them again!

I don’t think I have missed a Cradle of Filth tour for the last decade, since turning the Godspeed on the Devils Thunder tour, they are one band that I have consistently made an effort to see live each time they come to Australia, I think I have even done Silver Tiger Media’s live review the last 3 times! I really enjoy Cradle of Filth! The intro to Existence is Futile begins and the crowd go nuts, Zoe Federoff, the latest female vocalist/piano player comes in with her intro note held beautifully and the band kick into Existential Terror. From the upstairs section, the sound is coming through reasonably clear but from the looks of things Dani, is not overly happy with what is coming through his inner ear monitors, there is a quick word with the stage sound tech before kicking into Saffron’s Curse and She is Fire but I don’t know what it is for Him, but he seemed bothered by something. The band are playing tight as always, the leads and twin melodies are cutting through mix as expected but we hit Dusk and her Embrace and something jumps, whether a guitar paused too soon or not soon enough, but something was amiss, but the band recovered so quickly, it was impressive, which is why I wanted to mention it. Yes, bands can play flawlessly and it’s always a good time but for me, after seeing them so many times and probably never seeing a mistake, not that I’m calling this instance a mistake, but seeing how a band you idolize handles a slight on stage and then recover so quickly is remarkable. Cradle of Filth write amazing music, they play incredibly well, and they handle situations with ease. It happened, they recovered, to anyone else, probably not even noticed, but to me, someone who has seen them play a fair bit now, and literally taking dot points on their performance, I thought THAT fact was incredible.

Dani’s stage banter is always a good laugh, he always has some Aussie joke, this time it was a comment about illicit crimes, something that we (Aussie’s) would know all about. He then also made the comment while introducing Necromantic Fantasies “This is a newer one, all you old school fans can go to the bar now, I saw you walking”. The encore kicks in with A Bruise Upon The Silent Moon, which is the intro to probably one of my favourite Cradle of Filth albums, Damnation and a Day, I get super excited to finally hear something off this album and the band kick into Promise of Fever! It was unreal! Finishing up their set with Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids, Her Ghost in the Fog and of course, From the Cradle to Enslave, the crowd are relentless, you can’t help but move around and bang your head to theses songs! When those keys kick in for …Cradle to Enslave, you just get this energy!

Even after years of seeing Cradle of Filth live, they still don’t disappoint, I notice something a little different each time I see them, but I have never left disappointed! I left the show, thinking I will be heading back upstairs for gigs at the Northcote Theatre, it’s a good view and great sound. Also I will go and find another Hybrid Nightmare show, go check out Infected Rain’s back catalog, whilst also remembering how Cradle of Filth have lasted this long in the business. They are damn good at what they do!

Read More
Post Image
Gig ReviewsReviews
September 3, 2024
Midnite Mitch

[Review] Amaranthe @ Northcote Theatre Melbourne, 31/08/2024

I have been waiting for this night for a very long time. I first listened to Amaranthe when a friend of mine told me to go and put on The Nexus album way back in 2013 and after 11 years and 5 albums later, they have finally come to Australia!

Amaranthe may have arrived in Melbourne on a miserable cold, windy and no sun kind of day, but that doesn’t deter any fans from showing up early to get in line and wait for a night of singing some incredibly catchy songs and I’m sure there are plenty of people who have been waiting as long as I have for this night to come about. You can’t get a warmer welcome than adoring Aussie fans, right?

Once inside Northcote Theatre, I move straight to the usual spot, right in front of the mixing desk, it’s usually where I find the best mix, where I start to look around and see a line forming at the side of the venue, then suddenly it cuts across the dance floor, mosh pit, middle of the room area and wonder what the hell this is about, then realise, that’s the freaking merch line! I don’t think I’ve seen the line come out like that before in this venue, mind you, I have only been here 3 times before now and this is Amaranthe’s first Australian tour, so, I guess that is fair, but still a welcome surprise.

With a sudden jump start of drum and bass intro music, right smack bang on the 8pm start time, most of the crowd jumped in shock as The Last Martyr walked out on stage. Melbourne local, female fronted metalcore with drum and bass/electro backings, The Last Martyr were a great choice for opening up the night, bringing their A game with plenty of movement, crowd involvement and a tightly played set, although it did take me a song to realise they did actually have a live drummer playing, I could hear an incredibly well mixed drum sound and thought that it must have been part of the electro backing tracks but then, neatly packed away to the side of the stage, there they were sitting, absolutely killing it. The Last Martyr weren’t here to muck around though, they were smashing out songs consistently, with minimal stage banter, even throwing in a great cover of Bombfunk MC’s Freestyler and having a guest vocalist appear from nowhere to add an extra element to one of their tracks. I think the guest vocalist completely smashed it and played his part in their set quite well. (Guest vocalist may or may not have been a certain STM review writer’s younger brother, definitely not a biased opinion).

The lights go down, and a spoken word intro comes on speaking of control, freeing your mind, AI, the general themes these days within the world and most of Amaranthe’s tracks. The opening notes to Fearless are played and the crowd instantly goes nuts. Unfortunately for Australia, Mikael Sehlin, their heavy vocalist had to step off the tour due to personal reasons but Samy Elbanna, who has filled in the part on previous tours is here with them tonight, who holds his own quite well. Elize Ryd was hard to hear to start with during the set but then I also noticed a fair amount of delay being added to her vocals, which then muddied her up a little. Nils Molin sounded absolutely incredible, that guy can sing! Amaranthe smashed out 19 songs in their 90-minute set tonight! That’s some hard work, and quite a selection in songs from their back catalogue. They cover something off all their albums, picking the singles of the era’s.

Finally seeing and hearing these songs played live was an incredible feeling and the band were so energetic. Constantly moving around the stage, jumping up on stage boxes, noticing that they do have a great system in place where whoever is singing has the main center stage, so there is constant movement and each singer gets the limelight, that’s what you call teamwork. Coming into Boomerang, Elize and Nils were standing on opposite sides of the stage tossing a literal boomerang to each other in their sections. Elize took the laydown, couch singer style approach for Crystalline, Nils and Elize do a great back and forth on stage with Strong, which Amaranthe had a guest female vocalist do the recording, but I did enjoy the male counterpart in that song as well.

Amaranthe come back out to an encore of Archangel, That Song and ending on Drop Dead Cynical, with a track like That Song being in there, the crowd completely took over with the drum beat and clapping along, to which the band then dropped in some lyrics to We Will Rock You, they definitely gave the crowd their monies worth in involvement and entertainment. With songs like these where they are pop metal, written with catchy lyrics and melodies so that they will get stuck in your head for days on end, the crowd did their part for the night and were walking out with minimal voices after singing and screaming along all night, me included.

Judging by the grins on Amaranthe’s faces by the end of the set, I would say that it was a successful and long overdue first tour of Australia. I would suggest they already have plans of keeping Australia amongst their touring locations. I would definitely go again.

Read More
Post Image
Gig ReviewsReviews
October 21, 2023
Nikki Eenink

[Review] Earl Sweatshirt @ Northcote Theatre 17/10/2023

Thebe Neruda Kgositsile has been in the rap game since 2007. At only 29 years old, he’s a veteran, and his show at Northcote Theatre proves just how much he’s a master of his craft. Kgositsile, or as he is better known, Earl Sweatshirt, rose to prominence as the prodigé of fellow rapper, Tyler, The Creator. Sweatshirt’s early days were spent as part of powerhouse rap collective, Odd Future, under the sculpting gaze of his contemporaries, including both Tyler, The Creator and Frank Ocean. It’s easy to see the lasting impact on his live work, bur dare I say that the student has become the master? Or, at the very least, the student has become a wicked good-time and unrivalled craftsman.

Despite his support cancelling due to illness, Sweatshirt is determined to give us our money’s worth. He comes on early, energised and with a drive I’ve never seen in another artist. I’ve seen Sweatshirt perform before, but it was outside at a large festival. Here, in such an intimate venue, you can really see that hunger in his eyes up-close. These are the venues he was born to play.

The projector screen behind him scrolls through everything from abstract, pulsating shapes, to Keith Haring style animations to old films, in a sketchbook style. Every song is a different visual track, each of them more beautiful and more alive than the last. The lights at the front of the stage face outwards, shades of orange, purple, blue and white, wash over us. It’s visually stunning, and borderline genre-bending, rivalling bands like Slowdive for visual prowess.

For hardcore fans and casual listeners alike, this current tour boasts some delicious treats from the LA-native. Within the first half an hour, Sweatshirt spits out two unreleased tracks. But you wouldn’t know that. His crowd is eating every crumb out of his hand, and whether or not they know the words is irrelevant. He’s filled the room with so much energy that no matter what, we’re going to be loving it.

But it’s not just the unreleased. I’m at the back of the room, groups of guys with cross-body bags and girls in tall platform sneakers crash into each other and cheer louder and louder for each song Sweatshirt pulls out. And, he pulls out a lot. His setlist for the night is nearly 30-songs long, and never does he let the energy drop. It’s an unbelievable display of musicianship, showmanship and self-discipline – I’ve never seen anything quite like it.  But no two songs go harder than the back-to-back combo that is Geb into Sirius Blac. The crowd is already going nuts after Geb, with cheering and applause so loud I feel it in my feet. But Sirius Blac is next level. All I can see are hands, heads and drinks held up above the crush of people. It’s a tidal wave of energy, clinging onto every word.

Tabula Rasa is beautiful, the sound mixing bringing out the soulful vocals in a way that’s so sublime. A very different vibe comes over the room, it’s a crackling, electric stillness. Time stops passing as we focus on nothing except Sweatshirt. As it comes to an end, he addresses us directly. “Put your hands up if you’re having a good time!” We put our hands up. “Y’all up the top, looking like John Wilkes Booth, put those motherfucking hands up so I know you aren’t about to shoot me like y’all shot Abe Lincoln.” The mezzanine puts their hands up. “There you go.” And then he throws us into EAST. Our hands start moving in unplanned synchronous harmony, and it’s magical.

We follow him on a winding journey through his discography, and when we hit 2010 he takes to the mic; “If I don’t play this, everyone’s like Play it! So you all better keep the same energy.” We don’t even need to think about it, and yet again come crashing back together. We are a ferocious wave of energy, and Sweatshirt smiles as he raps – he’s loving it just as much as we are.

By the tail-end of his set, he’s clearly letting his guard down. He’s shown us what he can do, so he eases up and talks to us again. The way he addresses the crowd, it feels like we’re old-friends hanging out in someone’s garage after the party’s ended. “Do you remember when that one girl (Katy Perry) was like

Do you ever feel? / Like a plastic bag?

We start singing the rest of the cultural icon that is, Fireworks.

“No don’t keep singing! Just process that. Like that’s crazy. That’s a lot. Do you ever feel like a plastic bag? We’re gonna talk about that in a second.”

He’s so funny, in this casual, laid-back, deprecating way. And before we get time to talk about it more, “Y’all would open up a pit for anything, so open up.” And I have to quell my laughter as I prepare to wrestle for my patch of ground again.

NOWHERE2GO is an absolute crowd favourite. And honestly, we kind of look like plastic bags, drifting through the wind. Erratically moving, making waving patterns with our bodies. I didn’t think such a left-field gag would be so fitting for this crowd of rowdy misfits, but it was.

We’re out of breath, sweat running down our faces, but Sweatshirt doesn’t look any different, he’s not even out of breath. “Honestly, bars! Like, do you ever feel like a plastic bag? Bars, man. I could never write something that good.” And, to prove how very tongue-in-cheek that point is, we get treated to, Shattered Dreams. God, this song is delightful. It showcases Sweatshirt’s past as a poet, shows he’s his father’s son, show’s he’s everything to us.

The rest of the set is a blur. Finishing with his encore, a Mac Miller cover, an emotional tribute to the late rapper. New Faces V2, isn’t what I expected, but it’s an amazing finish. It’s vibey, it’s got this driving beat live. Immaculate.

Grinning, sweaty, with aching feet, I am desperate for the cold night air. But already, I’m aching for more Earl Sweatshirt.

Read More