The Butterfly Effect @ Pier Live, 21/10/2011

Well, it was The Butterfly Effect's "10 Years" celebratory tour, but strangely enough, there was no gig in the immediate vicinity of the Melbourne CBD. Luckily some friends were attending this gig, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to finally cross TBE off the list. Supports were fellow Queenslanders Helm, and by the sounds of it, two other no-namers from around the Frankston area. My friend did his research and said we needn't bother turning up early for bad Karnivool rip-offs, so we didn't.
Helm
A very good friend of mine has been talking up this Queensland band for quite a long time, and I ended up seeing them at the Sonic Forge festival late last year and I was suitably impressed. Since then I've actually managed to listen to and become quite familiar with their material (again thanks to aforementioned good friend) and I was very much looking forward to seeing what they'd do tonight. As can probably be expected, there weren't many in the crowd getting into it but the Gold Coast boys were genuinely making an effort with their performance, and I, and the friends that I was there with, really enjoyed them. When I first heard their cover of Great Southern Land I thought, "Oh, another one of those "let's do a totally unexpected cover in a progressive rock/metal style"", but I definitely appreciate it a lot more now. It went down very well live and Lucas definitely sings it well. Great set all around really; in fact in my opinion they were the only thing that didn't make this night a complete waste of time and money. Can't wait to see them again soon; one to keep an eye on over the next few years I think.
SETLIST:
Burn the White Flag
Great Southern Land (Icehouse cover)
Bullets
At the Waters Edge
Soldier
Home
Collapse (with drum solo!)
Watch it Burn

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

The Butterfly Effect
Oh my. I'd never seen this band before, as I got into them a little later than most, and did so kind of because I had to, being a fan of all the other bands in the scene, such as Cog, Karnivool, Full Scale, etc. I do really enjoy some of their stuff, but they've never really struck a major chord with me. I was hoping a solid live performance with a setlist packed full of their songs I really liked would properly convert me. I don't know what I was expecting from these guys, but it wasn't this. I was genuinely disappointed. Where to start? Clint's vocals were quite off the mark at times, and tellingly he was very often directing his microphone at the crowd to sing along. I'm not going to say it's a BAD thing that Clint (and indeed the others in the band) were really energetic onstage, but I don't think the way they were flailing around really suits their kind of music, as I've never really seen them as a "heavy" band at all, except for maybe their earlier material. Speaking of that, they decided to play an entirely chronological setlist, starting with a couple of songs from their first EP and then moving through a few tunes off each album, ending with the most recent. It was an interesting decision to make, but ultimately I don't think it worked, as all the heavier material was in the first part of the set and by the time they were closing with Worlds on Fire (one of their best songs), it seemed like people had very little patience or energy for a sprawling seven-minute long prog-rock song. Mixing it up would have definitely been a much better idea. It was also disappointing not to hear any new material, and there were a few other album tracks (read, not just the usual "popular" anthems) I would have liked to hear. I thought I was just not enjoying it because we were a little way back in the crowd and I was tired but everyone whom I saw on the night (some of whom were in the "pit") agreed that they have played better shows in the past. So yeah. If you're a TBE fan you might enjoy downloading this, and I for one am willing to give them another chance (because I KNOW they can't be this bad all the time), but yes, it certainly did not live up to my expectations.
SETLIST:
Black Lung
Take it Away
Perception Twin
Crave
One Second of Insanity
Always
Aisles of White
A Slow Descent
Gone
Reach
Room Without a View
Final Conversation
Window and the Watcher
Worlds on Fire

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE