Review: Iron Hide/TesseracT/Periphery, the Zoo, July 29 2011

The guys over at AltMusicHub asked me to take pictures of this gig for them. Since it was my first time taking pictures for any reason more than fun, I was nervous as all get out. The nerves were also compounded by the choice of venue.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the Zoo. They are the perfect medium-sized, yet still intimate, venue in Brisbane and they'll host any genre or event there. I've seen some of my favourite bands there and it's great, there is almost no separation between audience and band.

Taking photos there is another story though. The no seperation thing means you, as a photographer, have to get there early and muscle through the crowd to score a spot at the front of the stage. If the venue is full, like it was for this gig, there's no chance in hell of moving around and getting different angles. If the crowd is really into the music and moving around, like at this almost at capacity gig, you'll lose your position quite quickly and end up taking photos from a few people back while trying to protect your equipment from beer and mosh. The lighting is pretty shocking too. Up front of the stage it's mainly red and dark, and all of the good lighting seems to be in the middle of the stage where no one stands. But all up, it's quite a fun challenge and can lead to some great angles and pictures.

The full gallery can be found over at AltMusicHub's facebook page. This blog post is for supplementary pictures that didn't quite make the cut.

An advantage of being in early was the chance to see the local openers: Iron Hide. I love this band and think they are one of the best Brisbane bands at the moment (click the link to check out their music). Although I'm not always a fan of their technical metal genre, this was an excellent chance to see them play with a great PA system. And as expected, they blew the crowd away. The two-singer style they have works so well. It also makes me swoon a bit for Lachlan, who is also the singer of one of my other favourite Brisbane bands, Nuclear Summer. I hope they won over more people in the crowd during the gig, as they deserve to be bigger.


Next up were TesseracT. Although I knew nothing about them, a fair majority of the crowd were very keen to see them. I was a bit dubious at first, with their 7 string guitars (do you really need that extra string?!) and more singing-than-screaming metal style (deep down I'm a really heavy music kid) but they won me over within a few songs.

Like every band tonight, their skill at their instruments was phenomenal. It was really a day for technical metal heads to rejoice.

I'd seen Periphery before. But I'll be honest, I don't remember them. They were opening for Dillinger Escape Plan, who eclipse everything and anything in their wake like a bloody black star. So seeing them this time was basically like seeing them for the first time.

Despite not knowing any of their songs, I enjoyed it. They seemed to have the perfect balance between heavy and soft, including what the singer dubbed "the faggoty emo parts".

I was pretty excited, as I've never gotten good pictures of a lead singer before at the Zoo. However, the Periphery guy was a great model.

Don't forget to check out the full gallery here at AltMusicHub.