Two rounds of Floating Me...

Well, last year it wasn't a good year for Cog fans, with that giant question mark over the band's existence seemingly answered in the negative by the end of the year. However, as a small consolation prize of sorts, later in the year we got the formation of a brand new band by the name of Floating Me, which involved former Scary Mother members Andrew Gillespie (vocals), Antony Brown (guitar) and Tobias Messiter (keys) joining up with Jon Stockman of Karnivool, and of course, Lucius Borich of Cog. With a lineup like that, it was fair to say expectations were set pretty high even before the group released any material, but when debut single Sugar hit our eardrums, the result was quite pleasing indeed! The band's debut album was released in April this year, and I highly recommend buying yourself a copy, as it's pretty damn incredible. Anyway, Floating Me have been hitting the touring circuit quite a bit lately, and in the space of a month, I saw them supporting Dead Letter Circus's April tour, and then their own headlining show in May.

02/04/2011 - Corner Hotel, Richmond (supporting Dead Letter Circus)
So, first off it's the first Floating Me show I ever saw, at the Corner Hotel supporting the mighty DLC. As expected, I was mightily impressed by their efforts on the night, even though I had no idea what half the songs were - their album was only onsale at their shows at that point, and I'd obtained a leaked copy only two days before, which of course wasn't enough time for the music to sink in. But they were still awesome. The band were really tight and there was good chemistry between the members. Watching Lucius Borich was of course a real highlight, check out his epic work on Bezhumous. At the end of their set, they paid tribute to their past and did a Scary Mother cover, which I didn't record because, well, at that point I decided to head to the bar for some refreshments before the main event :) Anyway. At the end of this show, I was thinking to myself that I didn't mind the loss of Cog so much if this is what we're getting as a replacement. Also, this was my last ever show recording on those slightly dodgy mics. It's not the best recording; there's a bit of the old crackle which unfortunately shows up most prominently during the best song! But as Chris says, any recording is better than none.

SETLIST:
Piano
Deathless
Spirals
Narke
Sugar
Breaking to Breathe
Bezhumous
Tai Laeo (Scary Mother cover; not recorded)

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

Pretty soon after that show came the announcement of a headlining set at the Northcote Social Club. Despite the distance of that particular venue from my house I was still very keen to give them another go, especially with a solid month between the shows to fully absorb their new album. By the time May rolled around I'd been enjoying the album a whole lot and with Sleep Parade supporting I was willing to make that epic journey to Northcote to check out Floating Me again. AND I HAD NEW MICS :) How appropriate that from the last gig I recorded on the old mics, my first outing on the new mics would be the same band.

05/05/2011 - Northcote Social Club, Northcote (first headlining tour!)
Sleep Parade, hmmmm. I'm not quite as interested in this band as I used to be; they've just taken too long to get a new album out there, and some of the songs that they've been playing live just haven't done it for me. Plus it's kind of distracting that they seem to change lineups every second show or so. I wasn't sure whether they were going to be good or bad this time around. Turns out they were actually quite alright. Red Black from A State of Flux was doing his thing on the second guitar and keys again (apparently he's not a permanent member of the band anymore), so whenever he plays it's always a better show. As usual, due to the lengthy nature of Sleep Parade's tuneage they could only squeeze five songs into a half-hour set. But they were good ones. The two newest songs (Collision and Home) were better than some of the others I've heard at their last few shows. I just wish they'd finish their album already; they have so much potential as a band.

SETLIST:
Mr Identify
Everyday
Collision
Home
Weeping Walls

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

So, with the album pretty much dominating my earspace over the ensuing month, I had a lot of expectations for this show and I'm happy to say they were met. The band played every track except one off the album and of course, the Scary Mother cover again, which went down pretty well with a few crowd members. Apparently there are still some hardcore Scary Mother fans out there that have made the transition to this band. The band looked a lot more comfortable on the stage this time around and Andrew Gillespie seemed like he wanted to interact with the crowd a bit more than last time. When one punter shouted "LORD OF THE FLIES!" (another Scary Mother track), Gillespie wasn't bothered, simply saying, "Maybe next time, we'll have to practice that one!" The sound wasn't the best but I'm pretty sure that's because this venue's never been known for being amazing in that department. Anyway, the band did their best and their best was more than enough to satisfy a packed bandroom. Bezhumous was a highlight again; Lucius Borich is just amazing to watch. Also, Across the Gulf is an amazing song and it worked so well as a closer. In summary, I suggest you should all see this band the next time they come to your part of town, which will be in July on the Thousand Reasons tour with Thousand Needles in Red. I see a bright and exciting future ahead for them. ALSO, if someone reading this knows where I can get a copy of Scary Mother's album, PLEASE let me know. I'm very curious to give them a listen.
SETLIST
(Intro on recording)
Deathless
Spirals
Narke
Xtoto
Sugar
Short Cuts to Feeling
Piano
Breaking to Breathe
Bezhumous (with epic jam)
Tai Laeo (Scary Mother cover)
Across the Gulf

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE