Review: La Dispute/To the North/Marathon/Quiet Steps/Ironhide, Burst City, January 26 2011

In the last week of Burst City's short life as a music venue, I can't think of a better gig to have as one of the last ones. It was definitely one of the most memorable for me. It was Australia Day, it felt like one of the first real days of summer, I just came from a BBQ and there was great music. And Australia flags abound:


We get there at 3, but it turns out the doors didn't open until 4. No problem, plenty of time to get an ice cream and some beer to cool off. As we came back Ironhide had taken the stage, but most people were still hanging outside. When I go in and feel the heat, I see why. Bloody hot outside, no fans or air conditioning inside, but Ironhide still put on a great show.

Featuring the lead singer of Nuclear Summer and another singer I simply dub the "Umbrella Dude", they played some very hard and heavy music. And I enjoyed the shit out of it. For the end of their set they pulled the singer of To The North and some other dude out of the crowd to sing for them.


We all went outside, had a few beers, and tried to cool off and dry the sweat off before Quiet Steps came on.


I featured these guys a while back as part of my spotlight on Brisbane bands, but this was the first time I was able to see them. Although their recordings are a bit more screamo, at Burst City they came through as a more indie band. Regardless, they were awesome. And their bass player was the bass player for To The North.

And that was really the running story of the two days. Despite the main band being from America, they love Brisbane. And they assembled the best of Brisbane's music family. Most of the guys in these bands performed in two bands over the two days of the La Dispute tour. It just goes to show how amazing it is for music in Brisbane and how much of a family they really are. Even with our adopted friends in La Dispute.

At this point, it was too hot. We ran off to the cinemas to buy slurpees only to come back towards the end of Marathon. They weren't as tight as normal, maybe the heat was getting to them. That didn't stop them giving it a go, but they really fell apart towards the end, especially when playing their cover of Iggy Pop & Peaches song Kick It. I love what they do with it normally, but they were having a bit of an off day.

The heat was starting to get to everyone, but no one was going anywhere. To The North were the last of the locals and they got a much better reception at Burst City than the night before at the Zoo. However, at this sweaty point, you know everyone was just waiting for La Dispute. I even snuck into an elevated corner point in preparation, ignoring the waterfalls of sweat coming off me.

A little procession of an Australian Flag was made from the back of the room to Adam's bass amp and then things got underway.


They played a very similar set to the night before, with only a few minor changes. The main one for me was out with the Last Lost Continent, and in with Said the King to the River, the song I was most keen to see.


When most bands play Burst City, they tend to play a bit on the floor as well, due to the smallness of the stage. Unfortunantely this wasn't the case for La Dispute, as every available inch was crammed with bodies scrambling to see what could be one of those bands that on their next tour will probably be too huge to play small venues.


All up, it was a great two days of seeing great bands. I could not have asked for a better way to spend my Australia day.


And if La Dispute love Brisbane as much as they say, hopefully we'll see them again very soon.