Live Reviews : The Butterfly Effect (Melbourne) – 30/10/2008

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

Queensbridge Hotel – Melbourne, 30th October, 2008.

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Thanks to a timely fuck up from the lovely people at Connex, a smiling and waving Tim Morrison was all I got to see of Melbourne’s Trial Kennedy, and my anticipation for Sleep Parade went nowhere as they were long finished already.

By the time I got to the Queensbridge hotel, the venue was pretty damn packed already. Clearly their absense from the live scene, and a brand new album, had only made their fans hungier to see them.

The lights dimmed for my first time that night, presumably the nights third, with spotlights revealing the basic stage setup, with large artwork from the bands latest offering on either side of the stage.. basic but appealing to the eye.

True to their new album, ‘Final Conversations of Kings’, the band started with the longest track of their career, and the opening song off said album, ‘Worlds on Fire’, followed by ‘Room Without a View’. Considering the album has only been out for a short while, the crowd had already mastered the lyrics, and sang along loud and out of tune in true rock fashion!

As much as they were loving the new material, the crowd went crazy in anticipation of ‘A Slow Descent’ kicking in, and moshed nicely, at times drowning out vocalist Clint Boge in his old school officers jacket. This was followed by the ‘One second of Insanity’, getting as much love, if not more, than it did 4 years ago.

Surprisingly the crowds biggest reaction during the first set was ‘Conversations..’ lead single ‘Window and the Watcher’, with the crowd again drowning out anything Boge had to offer. ‘Final Conversations’ followed up, and gave the crowd a little time to breathe.

Fans throughout rose to the challenge during ‘Reach’ and screamed their lungs out as the mic was hoisted into the sweaty pit, with ‘Isle’s of White’ up next, letting fans enjoy their fair share of ‘Imago’ material.

‘The Way’, my favourite track off ‘Final conversations of Kings’ followed up next, and received a reception less than what it deserved – anything less than bowing before them was less than justified in my eyes! The chorus climaxed and so did I.. what a track – came off live as good, if not better, than on the cd. ‘The Cell’ got the oldschoolers out there excited again, before the show ‘finished’ with ‘Gone’, and the massive sing along that track enduces.

The band left the stage for what seemed not even long enough to take a piss, before they were back on to massive cheering from the sold out QBH audience. The boys treated us to epic renditions of ‘Filling Silence’ and ‘Crave’, both of which have aged nicely, and what would have ended the night on a massive high. Instead they opted for one more song. ‘Sum of 1’ is the finale to ‘conversations..’ which perhaps was their reasoning behind closing with it… but its a bit of a nowhere song, and an epic like the previous 2 tracks would have been much better suited to close out the night. Other than that slight.. error of judgement… the band pulled off a great show, with the fans enjoying every moment of it.. keen for the next offering when they return to melbourne, whenever that may be!

8.5/10

Set list:

Worlds On Fire
Room Without A View
A Slow Descent
One Second Of Insanity
Window And The Watcher
Final Conversation
Reach
Aisles Of White
The Way
In These Hands
The Cell
Gone
-Encore break-
Filling Silence
Crave
Sum Of 1

Review and photos by Scott Boelsen

Thanks to Roadshow Music for the passes