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Live Reviews : Hellyeah, In Death… & The Black Swamp @ Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane 28/08/2015

By on August 29, 2015

Supergroups seem to be an in thing at the moment. With countless others forming along the way, it seems to be becoming a way of natural progression for alot of artists. While not one of the first, arguably one of the better known supergroups Hellyeah was lucky enough to return to Australia after a three and a half year absence to put on an absolutely knockout show.

After the room had filled out a little bit, Gold Coast locals, The Black Swamp took to the stage to play their blend of groove and sludge inspired metal. This is a band that is currently on the rise, and with their performance tonight, its little difficult to see why. You could almost be forgiven for thinking that these guys had played countless amounts of these larger shows before, such was the energy that they fed off and received from the crowd. Apart from a minor technical issue with one of the guitars during the final song, which was rectified quickly enough that most of the audience probably didnt notice, or didn’t seem to be bothered by, their set was one of energy, excitement and engagement. This is a band that is slowly on the rise, and I enourage everyone to check them out if you have the opportunity.

hellyeah 2015

Brisbane powerhouse In Death… were next and after only just having returned from an overseas jaunt in America it looks as if the locals have come back energised and refreshed. Using their eclectic blending of styles to produce a sound that just sounds so familiar, but is not imitated by others, the band instantly whipped up a large portion of the crowd into a frenzy, which remained that way throughout their set. The way in which the band feeds off a live audience is absolutely killer and tonights performance was no exception.

One thing that stood out for me tonight with both the support bands was that there was alot of people in the crowd singing along to the music. I haven’t seen it happen that often in Brisbane, and have personally only experienced it to that degree in Melbourne, so it was good to see.

I must admit that I was initially very suprised to see as many people out for this show as there was. I know that the appeal of Hellyeah was quite significant, but Eatons Hill Hotel felt like it was as packed as it had been for the sold out Machine Head show in June. With the amount of tours being thrown at Australia at the moment, it really is great to see such large turnouts to these international shows.

Probably one of the loudest entrance receptions I have ever heard from a crowd occurred when Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul took his mantle at the back of the stage. The noise was fierce, loud, deafening and echoed until each of the guitarists had filed out one by one onto stage. Just as it had started to calm down, Vocalist Chad Gray burst out onto the stage sporting a “Heavy Metal saved my fucking life” T-shirt, and immediatly stormed onto his stompbox to beckon the bands introduction of “Soul Killer” and “Blood for Blood”.

While on the subject of Vinnie Paul, its little difficult to see why he is considered a legend. Even from the relative sanctity from behind his kit he was still able to constantly engage the crowd, and each and every time he stood up, the noise levels raised with him.

Guitarists Christian Brady and Tom Maxwell, and bassist Kyle Sanders put on a really energetic performance, but it is the energy of Vinnie Paul and Chad Gray which the crowd feeds off and is the most receptive too, and that is what really shone through here. Gray was constantly jumping around, getting onto the barriers with the crowd and engaging each and every person he locked eyes with. It’s one thing to see a good vocalist, but then when you watch someone like this you realise that there is ‘good’ vocalists, and then there is ‘great’ vocalists like him.

Probably one of my highlights, was not actually musically related, but was more related to the crowd engagement by Gray during the intermissions. Normally this diatribe just seems scripted and put on to give band members the ability to have a break – but something just felt different this time. Going into a 3-4 minute long speech about how heavy metal saved  his life was just incredible. This was sincere dialogue, with not the ‘fans’ but ‘friends and family’ as Gray put it. I guess this is part of what the major appeal of the band is for alot of the fans. Not only does Hellyeah relate to its fans, but it also brings them along for the ride, a point which was further reinforced by the band giving members of the audience go-pro cameras to record ‘whatever they wanted’ which will potentially be used on a DVD in the future.

Tonight’s show covered material off all four of the band’s releases, while still maintaining a focus on the latest album “Blood for Blood”, and crossed off every crowd favourite and anthem in the collection. Personal highlights for me where tracks “Drink, Drank, Drunk”, “Hush” and “You Wouldn’t Know” and “Alcohaulin Ass” which closed out the show.

When Gray claimed that three and a half years between Australian tours was too long between tours the crowd chimed in and cheered, and following tonight’s reception, I somehow don’t think that we will have to wait that long to see Hellyeah again.

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