BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME

w/ Sydonia, Robert Polsen

Manning Bar, Camperdown (Sydney) – 27th March 2010

After seeing Between The Buried And Me three times over the last two years, once in a supporting slot at a club in Germany, another at Hellfest in France, and then on our shores when they supported Bleeding Through in early 2009, it was finally time for me to be treated to one of their headlining shows. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed their performances but I’ve always been left wanting more after seeing sets that don’t quite lapse into the hour territory. I’ve been forced to watch various youtube clips as well as the Colors DVD several times to fill the void, but now Australia was to witness a headlining show, and in support of the absolutely brilliant new album, The Great Misdirect, nonetheless.

The opening band Robert Polsen, who used to be known as As Venice Sinks, started shortly after I arrived. I tried to check these guys out on myspace before heading to the show, just so I would have an idea what they sounded like. Unfortunately myspace decided it didn’t want to load the player, so I just looked at the band’s musical direction which was described as progressive metal. After listening to one song, I can definitely tell you that this band is not a progressive metal band in any shape or form. I’m so sick of bands defining themselves as progressive metal when they don’t embody any of the elements that actually characterise the genre. This is a band that plays your usual run-of-the-mill generic deathcore kind of stuff that has plagued this nation over the last decade. All that aside, the band were extremely tight and did engage with the crowd quite well, two things that are essential for any live show, so they do get points in that field. I do imagine that it would be a hard thing for any promoter to find support acts for a band like BTBAM who would suit everyone’s musical tastes, so at least they did appeal to a few in the crowd.

Next up were alternative hard rock band, Sydonia. Sydonia is another one of those bands that I’ve always associated with acts like Cog, The Butterfly Effect and Karnivool; bands that are very popular among the Australian alternative scene, but one that I’ve never actually gotten around to listening or seeing live. While I didn’t find them to be as appealing as the aforementioned alternative acts, I did find their live performance to be quite energetic and diverse. Several times during the set, the singer/guitarist would play and sing while the rest of the members used a range of percussive instruments on stage which complimented the music well. While sounding a bit too Tool-ish, and even perhaps a bit nu-metal-ish at times, they definitely grabbed the crowd’s attention and I noticed quite a few people wearing their shirts after they played. While they weren’t exactly a band I’ll go out of my way to see, they unquestionably do what they do well, and deserve the support of the more hard rock and alternative based crowd.

The road crew closed the stage curtains while I waited in anticipation for the main reason I, and I’m sure many others, were here for, Between The Buried And Me’s first headlining show in Sydney. After a relatively quick changeover, the curtains opened to the opening riff of The Great Misdirect’s “Obfuscation”. BTBAM launched into the track with a furious precision which immediately entranced the audience and they didn’t lose this grasp until they had well and truly left the stage over an hour later. The set was a great selection of both old and new material with no album being neglected (well, except for their 2006 covers album). Finally seeing “Selkies: The Endless Obsession” and “Ants of the Sky” live were definitely highlights of mine. Both songs weren’t played flawlessly and were great examples of just how diverse this band is. Singer/keyboardist Tommy Rogers is a great frontman due to his great communication with the crowd as well as his extremely in-your-face performance, which adds to the intensity of the band’s show. The other thing that really stood out was Blake Richardson’s drumming. The man’s a machine! There weren’t many moments in the night where my attention was anywhere else. Well, apart from Paul’s amazing guitar solos. I think every single person in attendance were captivated by these face melters!

Between The Buried And Me is a band that I think many people who listen to various forms of metal and rock can enjoy. They implement so many different styles of music into their songs and perform them flawlessly both on album and live. I know that I’ll definitely be dragging more people to their gigs next time they tour. And I’m sure that there’ll be a next time after the reception they received on this tour!

Setlist:

Obfuscation
Disease, Injury, Madness
More of Myself to Kill
Ants of the Sky
Selkies: The Endless Obsession
White Walls

Encore:
Mordecai