Live Reviews : Architects, Stray From The Path & Hand of Mercy @ The Corner Hotel, Melbourne 01/09/2014

For most of the night I was sure this review was going to be a lambast of the live music scene in this country, focusing in particular on those young, spindly dickheads in the middle of the moshpit: flailing around like they’re covered in fire ants and generally ruining everyone’s buzz. As it turns out, the night became one of introspection, soul searching, and coming to grips with the irrevocable process of aging.

Hand of Mercy did admirably well for a crowd that wasn’t theirs, in the opinion of a reviewer that likes different types of music. They played to a fairly full crowd, and people seemed to really dig them, but as always they suffered from “opening band mix and volume”, which I’m getting really fucking sick of.

For example – Stray From The Path. I’ve seen them twice now, both times at the Corner, and both times they seemed to be hamstrung by the fact that they weren’t given a good mix, lighting show, volume, or anything. The crowd lost a lot of energy towards the end of their set, and I sincerely believe that if they were given even half the production the headliners were, the mosh would’ve been relentless from start to finish. I’m nervous when a band sounds better on their album than they do live, and at times it did seem like their guitarist was just fuck-arseing around instead of playing the riffs, but I’ll reserve my judgement (he says, in a review) until I’ve seen them headline.

Architects, however, dominated the Corner from the moment they took the stage. I had no idea how popular they’d become in the last decade, especially as I usually just assume everyone has the same taste in music as I do until I’m given irrefutable evidence to the contrary. I figured the rest of the sell out crowd wanted to only hear tracks from Hollow Crown as well; that we’d suffer through the singles off the new album before they’d launch into the crowd’s (my) favorites. But no. The first four or five tracks were all from the new album, and a healthy dose were from the previous two which everyone (me) doesn’t rate very highly.

I was a bit gobsmacked. I know I’m out of touch with mainstream music, but I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the heavy side of things. I was dead fucking wrong. The kids loved the newer stuff, throwing their limbs about with Muppet-esque abandon (side note: you’re a fucking adult. Stop it. I don’t care that it looks ridiculous – stop involving me with your ninja kicks to the back of the room. The mosh pit is on front of you. Fuck off that way.) And when Architects finally played a couple of old songs, they weren’t the ones I wanted to hear. And they didn’t even sound as good compared to the new stuff. In the space of half a headliner’s set I’d gotten old, and the band and their fans had moved on without me. I’d reached my “arms crossed over a faded Slayer shirt” moment, standing at the back waiting for old material, disliking their new fans and generally feeling bewildered and alone.

They were good. Great, even. But it wasn’t for me. I couldn’t even have a cheeky mosh myself as, instead of dressing for the pit, I’d dressed sensibly for the weather, and brought an umbrella. I’m old now. And Architects are young people’s music. I even found myself thinking “This song sounds an awful lot like the last one,” which is embarrassing.

I still thoroughly enjoyed the show, just not what it’s done for my sense of self since.

Architects Australia 2014

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