I had been waiting a long time for this show, so it was with great expectations that I walked into the Tempo Bar this afternoon. The Stage Door at Tempo Bar seemed a strange place for a hardcore show, it was too nice and brightly lit. Way too classy and it even had clean toilets!
That aside, about 150 punters half filled the basement venue. Most got in early to see local boys Marathon take the stage. This was their unofficial new album release show and they played a few tracks of their recently completed (days ago) album. One of their friends took the second microphone to add vocals to one of the closing songs and the crowd had obviously seen them before, as they joined in with singing some of the songs.
Sunshine Coast boys Infinite Thought Process were next, playing their progressive hardcore and metal. Their guitars were fast, the singing was heavy and the songs were long; none of which is a bad thing. They were all talented musicians, but at no point did they try to out play each other, instead creating complex yet beautiful melodies, interspersed with breakdowns and lightning fast solos. This was best demonstrated in their instrumental song, when the lead singer sat down for a breather. The remaining musicians played a lush sounding song, slowly building it up, until it eventually ran into their next song which happened to be the heaviest of the set.
Dangers started by thanking us for showing up, as they weren't expecting more than maybe 5 people. They came out hard and fast, within one song there were already monitors tipped upside down and clothing lost. The passion and energy exerted by the lead singer was amazing, he put his entire being into singing each song. He explained to the crowd that despite the overly depressing and suicidal themes of their music, it was really about a celebration of life and living, before dedicating the song Cure for Cancer to his grandfather who had a long battle with cancer.
The small, yet energetic crowd was given a masterclass in hardcore music philosophy. The entire band played as hard and as heavy as they could. The singer spent most of his time in the crowd, fighting and dancing with the few brave souls at the front that kept colliding with each other, and to the lesser extent the floor. A healthy mix of both of their albums was played and a few explanations were given for the newer songs as well.
Obviously more than a few of the crowd were in for Dangers only, as their was a lot less people by the time Graf Orlock took the stage. Not that there was much of a changeover, with the guitarist being the same for both bands and all of the same equipment being used.
Graf's cinematic grindcore is an experience in itself. Their soundcheck was the theme from Predator, which got me and Clus quite excited. Every song was introduced with samples from movies and the guitarist would also stop mid-riff to press the button to play more samples.
The volume and intensity was cranked up, with the Tempo Bar flooded with feedback the entire time. My poor ear plugs barely drowned out the noise. But this suited their grindcore sound. The band played to the smaller crowd on their first visit to Brisbane, with both guitarists and the singer coming out to the floor and throwing themselves into the few of us standing at the front of the stage. They closed their too short set with the Dream Left Behind, the sounds of Jurassic Park converting Clus into their new biggest fan.
If you get the chance, you can see Graf Orlock and Dangers again on Saturday at Burst City or Sunday at Shed 5. Both all ages shows. I'd recommend going to see them, as this was an amazing gig. And Dangers, if you are reading this, play Stay at Home Mom next time please.
