Live Reviews : THE CONTORTIONIST (USA) – Live @ The National Hotel, Geelong, VIC. 20/11/2011

I was in quite a bit of shock when I first got to The National Hotel early Sunday afternoon. The Contortionist (USA) tour had been talked about a lot over the past 2-3 months, and was expected to have around 150 people attend this show, which is ¾ of The Nash’s capacity. I got there 5 minutes before the doors were set to open, and I think there was maybe… 6 people, not even that. Following the Mark My Words gig the day before which only had 3 people attend, two not even from Geelong, the turnout for this gig was also pretty terrible, which was a disappointment.

However, all the bands on the line-up were awesome. The openers of the show were Ballarat hard-hitters Ennui Breathes Malice, who have played a few shows on the Victorian leg of this tour. Ennui was one of the first local bands I got into, and I was stoked to be seeing them back in Geelong. A few songs into their set (which was all songs off their album Obsessive Repulsive); I had to leave for a bit, which means I missed my favourite song “When Curiosity Kills a Dog”. But all was good, as I was in the front bar of The Nash doing an interview with The Contortionist. They were nice guys to talk to.

A bit of a problem approached local hardcore band Rise from Ruin as they were setting up, when their rhythm guitarist Taz wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and wouldn’t answer any of his calls. Although this was a letdown for them, they weren’t gunna pull out then and there, so they just went on stage without him, and as always the locals put 110% into their set, even without a second guitarist. Taz showed up half way through their set, as they were playing their demo track “This Is War”, and the look on his face as he walked through the back door of The Nash was priceless. Although he showed up, Rise from Ruin still continued their set without him.

While the next band were setting up, the sound guy decided he’d play Municipal Waste’s “The Art of Partying” album over the PA, which got me singing to my friends and looking like a dickhead in front of the slowly rising crowd. About half way through the album, the other local support band Through the Eleventh Hour hit the stage, this time without their usual singer Gav, as he isn’t singing for a few shows. Their fill-in singer Isaac came on stage looking very nervous, but did a decent job. His vocal style was fairly different to their original singer, and although it did suit the music, it doesn’t compare to Gav’s vocals.

The support band for the whole tour was Newcastle’s The Storm Picturesque. I caught their set for a bit earlier this year at Pushover Festival in Melbourne, and they were impressive, but I haven’t really heard much of them until now. Their punishing assault of the fretboard with cool melodies and samples was certainly impressive. A couple of members of the crowd got moving a bit, but they were the same two or three people that threwdown for the other bands. The rest of the crowd was just a stand-around and bob your head fest.

By the time The Contortionist came on, the crowd had got to what would be its max limit for the day; Approximately 50 people. Yep, just 50 people, and I reckon 20 of them were from bands. Very disappointing how bands like The Contortionist come down from the USA and a crowd like that shows up. But enough with the complaining, The Contortionist opened their half an hour set with “Flourish”, which is a 6 minute epic that opens their 2010 album Exoplanet. The technicality of this band amazed me, and the musicianship is just as better. Their heavy deathcore sound blended in with progressive metal definitely showed the uniqueness that this band has to offer. However, the mix for Contortionist was pretty poor. At some points the drums were overpowering the guitars, and I couldn’t hear the clean vocals very well. This didn’t bring down the slightly more hyped crowd though, as there were a few more people throwing down as well as a few head bangers up the front. I didn’t know many of the songs that were played, but that didn’t stop me from getting into the band.

I was impressed with all of the bands that played. Although I have seen Through the Eleventh Hour & Rise from Ruin numerous times due to them being a local band, aswell as Ennui Breathes Malice a second time, I was given a better introduction to two more bands I hadn’t heard a lot of. I hope The Contortionist comes back to Australia soon, and I can’t wait to hear the new music they said they were writing.
Interview will be up shortly!

The Contortionist – http://www.facebook.com/thecontortionist
The Storm Picturesque – http://www.facebook.com/thestormpicturesque
Through the Eleventh Hour – http://www.facebook.com/throughtheeleventhhour
Rise from Ruin – http://www.facebook.com/risefromruinhc
Ennui Breathes Malice – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ennui-Breathes-Malice/146779437704