Live Reviews : The Amity Affliction, Stick To Your Guns, In Hearts Wake & Chelsea Grin @ Palace Theatre, 23/10/2013

Images: Scott Boelson
Words: Jonty Simmons

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Excitement levels were high as the sold out crowd at the Palace Theatre, plus stragglers from the following night’s cancelled show, pushed to the barrier before the first band had even arrived for the show’s bulging quadruple bill of In Hearts Wake, Stick to Your Guns, Chelsea Grin and headliners The Amity Affliction. A reaction like this doesn’t just come easily for all bands; it takes a special kind of music outfit to engender such anticipation, and The Amity Affliction are exactly that.

Stick To Your Guns

Before the homegrown heroes took to the stage however, three bands in three different stages of their careers made their mark. First up, In Hearts Wake took the reins and attempted to prove themselves as possible followers on the Amity trail to international success. Despite obvious determination, the New South Wales youngsters were unable to showcase the energy needed to truly win over those who’d turned up early; however, credit must be given to their altruistic efforts on the ‘Skydancer’ project, with all proceeds from the song going to charity. In Hearts Wake have all the time in the world to define themselves and distance their sound from the trappings of the genre they are seemingly stuck in.

Next up, Stick to Your Guns arrived on stage and managed to never let up for the entirety of their set. The band is one with obviously dedicated and diehard fans all around the world; many bands have emerged from the sun drenched surroundings of Orange County, California, but the list of bands who have made as much of an impact as STYG is short to say the least. Feeding off the energy produced in the flurry of continuous movement on the floor for their entire set, STYG unquestionably had complete control of the willing crowd; an offer of free merch if a lucky fan grabbed the setlist off stage was fulfilled before frontman Jesse Barnett could even finish his sentence. The title of ‘hardcore kings’ is thrown around liberally, but STYG have legitimate claims to such a prestigious title.

Amity Affliction

Arriving on stage early, Chelsea Grin could have so easily lost the crowd in their constant deathcore sound, which is laced liberally with breakdowns and hellish vocals. However, the second American band to take the stage followed STYG with their own brand of metal; brutal may be a cliché at this point in time, but there’s little else that can describe the onslaught that Chelsea Grin force onto an audience. Bone rattling bass drops and terrifying vocals are cornerstones of the Chelsea Grin experience, and they do not disappoint. Special mention must be made of Pablo Viveros’ spirited drumming and clean vocals; despite cheekily ruining the bands staged menace with a permanent smile, Viveros is a much needed injection of lightheartedness which prevents the band from being lost in a sea of imitators. Even if select sections of their back catalogue can bleed into other songs (the silence in between songs and breakdowns were sometimes misleading as to whether the song had ended or not), Chelsea Grin are a whirlwind in which lovers of heavy music should be swept up into.

Admittedly, after seeing the band five times previously on separate dates, and claiming them as a favourite band since 2008’s ‘Severed Ties’, it would be extremely difficult providing an unbiased review on The Amity Affliction. However, these experiences provided an opportunity to compare the Brisbane heavyweights to their earlier shows. Unfortunately, in comparison, the headliners were slightly off their game for their sold out show; clean vocalist Ahren Stringer’s ever-perfect vocals oscillated between sharp and flat throughout the beginning of the set in tracks Greens Avenue, R.I.P Bon, Fruity Lexia and Youngbloods. As such a significant part of the appeal of the band, this was disappointing; yet, his return to form during crowd favourite Anchors and, additionally, a surprising rendition of their cover of Lana Del Ray’s Born to Die (retitled Too Legit to Quit in a wink to Hot Rod in true Amity style), steadied the course. Joel Birch, as always, managed to coerce the entire venue into screaming every note back at him during sing-alongs in Life Underground and Bondi St. Blues, whilst simultaneously creating a whirling dervish of sweaty bodies during perennial set inclusion Fire or Knife and instant classic Chasing Ghosts.

Chelsea Grin

Despite fooling nobody after claiming they had played their entire setlist, the band dutifully walked off stage amid cheers for an encore. Of course, Open Letter followed almost immediately and provided a perfect ending to the band’s setlist. Even with a shaky start and a cruelly short set of only an hour, The Amity Affliction are still able to provide an experience which the majority of true success stories often fail to match. With a promise of a fourth album follow up to the critically acclaimed and wildly successful ‘Chasing Ghosts’ in the works, the next time Amity grace the city of Melbourne with their presence, it may be extremely difficult to obtain a ticket. You have been warned.

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