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Dead Letter Circus

w/ Sydonia and Rincon

The Corner Hotel – 11th September 2009

I arrived at the Corner Hotel nice and early so I could have the chance to experience what each band had to offer. I rarely go to gigs like this, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the music. I’m more of a heavy metal man to be honest (as I’m sure many of you know already), but I still enjoy experiencing the other great bands Melbourne and Australia has to offer, no matter if its metal or not.

First up were Rincon. To be honest, I’ve never seen these guys before but was pleasantly surprised with their sound and style. After a somewhat cheesy Terminator 2 introduction, the band kicked off the evening with a nice blend of rock and grunge, with a somewhat small hint of metal influence. Great enthusiasm and energy were had by all, more so by the band which made their set a lot more enjoyable. I personally hate bands who just stand still with no passion or motivation to move about and have a good time.

Thankfully Rincon didn’t disappoint in that department.

The Corner hotel has always been known for is exceptional sound and this evening was no exception. The mix was just beautiful. It wasn’t overly loud, nor completely distorted to the point where your ears would to start to bleed. It was perfect, and this trend followed throughout the entire evening, with the mild exception of Sydonia‘s introduction…yet I’ll get to that later.

I was pretty impressed with Rincon to say the least. They weren’t completely my style of music, but I could easily adapt to their sound and style and enjoyed what they had to offer to the early crowd.

As Rincon finished up, it didn’t take long before the Corner hotel was getting harder to move about, as more people were flocking in. A good blend of people were in the mix; rockers, punks, metal heads, doof-doof poofs and the odd casual go getter. All of which made the night more interesting. Both for the eyes, and discussing musical tastes.

Before Sydonia hit the stage, I gradually made my way to the front with my entourage. I knew a little of Sydonia‘s history, as they once supported Lamb of God, Stone Sour and Slipknot on their Australian tours, respectively. Yet, sadly I never took the time to listen to them until that night.

As I watched the crowd explode with excitement as the curtains drew back, I knew I would be in for a treat. Again, the mix was fantastic, yet sadly there was a minor bug in the system which echoed a bit of distortion through the amps. Thankfully this minor problem was cleared up by the end of Sydonia‘s first song.

Both overly enthusiastic and motivated to pump the crowd, guitarist Sam Haycroft laid the foundation as he introduced the band and pulled a somewhat Devin Townsend moment, as he wittingly asked everyone in the crowd to buy the bands merchandise.

As I watched in awe at how tight and professional these guys sounded, I could hear a mishmash of elements, ranging from Slipknot, Placebo, Killswitch Engage and Nivarna. All of which made my listening experience that more enjoyable, more so with the band’s 5 man drum and percussion solo half way through their set. Considered to be conceived from a melodic metal vain, Sydonia put on an amazing performance which was both vibrant and powerful.

As Sydonia finished up, the Corner hotel was nearly at its peak with all corners filled to the brim with fanatic fans.  I needed to go outside and get some air and grab my thoughts as Dead Letter Circus were setting up. As I grabbed my barings, I went back in and decided to stand back to watch Dead Letter Circus.

Their sound had been described to me as melodic, dark , beautiful and haunting. In all honesty though, I wasn’t overly impressed with Dead Letter Circus that evening.

I personally just found them too bland for my personal tastes . They didn’t offer much in variety and I was left somewhat alittle disappointed in their performance, as they lacked the finesse to show any personality.

Then again, this problem would probably be due to their overwhelming touring at hand, and would partly explain their somewhat lackluster performance at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne.

One major problem with their performance was a strobe light above the stage, which seemed to flash non stop and become a bit of a pain throughout their set. I found it hard to concentrate on the show at hand, as my eyes were being burnt out of my skull in the process.

There were moments when it worked beautifully with the entire lighting scheme, but clearly the lighting guy was on overkill that evening. Even with all my bitter remarks, however,  I still enjoyed their short set as I sadly had to leave early. Their not my complete cup of tea, but they still wowed the sell out Corner hotel crowd in a haze of generic rock bliss.

I was very impressed with the entire evening and would gladly take part in another rock escapade in Melbourne.

Clearly Sydonia were the highlight for me that evening, yet Rincon and Dead Letter Circus still added depth and a good solid performance to the evening, making it a most enjoyable night out indeed.

Reviewed by: Anwar Rizk

Photos by: Heidi Takla (www.adelheiephotography.com)