Live Reviews : Iced Earth & Elm Street @ Manning Bar, Sydney 15/03/2014

Finally heading to back to the Manning bar after almost three months, I was beyond excited to be seeing Iced Earth, having missed them in India. I can’t pin point what it is that I love about that venue, but it’s home. It’s big enough but not too massive, you get a good view of the stage from pretty much any place you stand and the sound is always tops! There was quite a crowd outside as I got there everyone ready for a night of pure heavy metal goodness.Prior to Elm Street’s set, I have to commend the sound guy’s taste in music. Usually, there’s always really random and rather crap music playing before an awesome band comes on stage but it was such a pleasant change to listen to the likes of Black Sabbath, Ghost and Iron Maiden, the right stuff to be rocking out to before watching Iced Earth.

Iced Earth Australian Tour 2014

I was really keen to check out the opening band, considering I had never heard them or of them until the Iced Earth tour was announced. And apparently they’re huge! Hailing from Melbourne, Elm Street brought the roof of the Manning down, hardly two songs into their set. Power-packed, energetic and electrifying wouldn’t do justice to the way these guys relentlessly forge right ahead, song after song with no pauses. Vocalist Ben Batres is absolutely brilliant to watch, I’m at a loss to describe the awesomeness of this man and quite frankly I’d be surprised if he could even speak normally. He shows no mercy on his vocal chords and can hit unbelievably high notes, making screeching seem so main stream. It was riff-central, with underlying tones of melody , effortlessly being shredded out from Ben and guitarist Aaron Adie on their guitars. Their music was raw and heavy, and they were a perfect opening band for the likes of Iced Earth playing tracks like‘Barbed Wire Metal’, ‘Heavy Metal Power’ and my personal favourite, the song paying respects to the awesome Freddie Kruger, horror icon, ‘Elm St’s children’. The band were an enthusiastic bunch and performed with so much energy you just could not stand still. I also have to say that drummer Thomislav Perkovic is an absolute beast. I couldn’t stop watching him, and at one point during their set, I was trying rather hard and dedicatedly to keep track of his hands which moved at supersonic speeds. Think of every classic heavy metal band like, Judas Priest, Megadeth, and Iron Maiden, even throw in a bit of power elements from Manowar and Helloween and what you get is this maddening band called Elm Street. Apart from the raging heaviness, they were a fun band to watch and I really enjoyed their set. Word to the wise, if you want to discover new and awesome music, NEVER MISS THE SUPPORTS.

The crowd at this point, was psyched out of their wits, all set for the ‘Plague’ that the American metallers were bringing down to our shores. With yells and screams for their favoruite band, the intro to ‘Plagues Of Babylon’ filling the intense atmosphere fans at The Manning waited in eager anticipation as Iced Earth finally came out after a few minutes,welcomed by the roaring Sydney crowd, as Stu Block, followed by guitarists Schaffer and Seele, bassist Luke Appleton and drummer John Dette came on stage. Their set kicked off with the title track from their new album, ‘Plagues Of Babylon’, followed by the thrashy ‘Democide’ one of my favourites. We got two more songs from their latest release,’ If I Could See you’, and ‘Cthulu’. Inititally, when listening to the album, ‘If I Could See You,’ really stood out on the album but to me seemed a little out of place. That changed when Stu told the crowd that that particular track had gotten him and the band through some very tough times, and that Jon had written the song as a tribute to his grandfather. I was touched! It showed that the members of Iced Earth together weren’t just a band but more of a family. Something I’ve always loved about them is the chemistry between that they have, especially between Stu and Jon. As people and as musicians you can see that they’ve been through a whole lot together and that it’s only made them stronger. And that strength is evident in their music. Iced Earth’s sound can not be easily classified into a specific genre.

Powering through the night, Iced Earth played some of their older, classic tunes from ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ like Burning Times, ‘My Own Saviour’ and ‘Blessed Are You’. Another track, ‘Watching Over You’ Stu told us, was written by Jon when he lost a very close friend in a motorcycle accident, then asking the fans of Sydney to sing along, which was done wholeheartedly. Post ‘Red Baron/Blue Max’, Stu brought out a cake on stage, in celebration of his band mate and long time friend Jon Schaffer’s birthday, the crowd having already sung ‘Happy Birthday’ to the veteran. The set also featured a few songs off ‘Dystopia’ the first album to feature Stu on vocals. It was uncanny how much Stu Block sounds like Matt Barlow. Jon Schaffer is just stunning to watch, so focused on his guitar but casually throwing some cheeky smiles our way and flipping picks to the crowd ever so often. Steele and Appleton were more on the quiet side, but killing it on their respective guitars. Music aside for a second, I want Luke’s hair! So beautiful!

Ending their set with a four song encore and the song I had been waiting for the whole show, ‘Iced Earth’ from their 1991 debut album. The perfect ending to the night with that song was right at the end when the band took time to thank the crowd showing so much humility and gratitude. My respect and love for Iced Earth as a band and as people grew yesterday, and I can’t wait to see them again!

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