sleepmakeswaves @ the John Curtin Bandroom, 23/12/2011

Well what can I say? After sleepmakeswaves' phenomenal show at the East Brunny earlier in the year, as soon as this show was announced I put it on the calendar and knew that it was going to take a most unfortunate set of circumstances to prevent me attending this. And yes, another fantastic show, although I was slightly disappointed by the fact that the setlist was exactly the same as last time (minus one (GREAT) song). But I had a chat to guitarist Otto Wicks-Green after the show and he explained that due to drummer Tim Adderley being very new to the band (this was only his second show), they decided to play it safe setlist-wise this time and mix it up a bit on tour next year. Which I look forward to immensely. Adderley seems like a very capable replacement for longterm drummer Will Smith; he clearly knew the material well and injected plenty of enthusiasm and his own interpretation to the sleepmakeswaves material. Although listening back, and from what I remember of the night, he played some bits a little too intensely and sort of overpowered the rest of the band, taking away from the subtle nature of the music. But yeah, he fits in well otherwise. It seemed a little strange that like last time the band played, there'd been some pretty intense things going on in my own life during the lead-up to the show, but I dunno, that kind of made the set even better. When this band is playing, you're able to totally forget whatever is happening in your own life and just immerse yourself in the epic riffs and song structure. Anyway. Great set. Can't wait till the 2012 tour. Oh, I should say that my friends and I were hanging up the back of the room and we weren't watching the stage, so I didn't have the recorder ready to go when the band started. So the first little bit of the first song is missing. But no biggie. Sound quality's a bit variable, which I attribute to me sitting down on the floor the whole night. Yep. It was that kind of gig. And also, to the idiot yelling things such as "TEN MORE SONGS!", how original. Please FOAD. Unfortunately he timed it while Alex Wilson was talking, so I guess I had to leave it in there.
SETLIST:
our time is short but your watch is slow
a gaze blank and pitiless as the sun
(hello) cloud mountain
to you they are birds, to me they are voices in the forest
now we rise and we are everywhere
we sing the body electric
in limbs and joints (extended outro!)

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

Yes, we got there late and missed most of the support acts. We saw a solid bit of Meniscus though. Can't wait to see them again and actually have the recorder out :)