The Butterfly Effect, 08/06/2012 @ Hi Fi Bar and Ballroom (final show with Clint Boge)

So, it's the end of an era. After seeing The Butterfly Effect on their ten year anniversary tour last year, I couldn't help but feeling that something wasn't right within the band, and I was definitely not surprised with the announcement earlier this year that vocalist Clint Boge was leaving after all this time. Thankfully, the boys gave the fans a chance to say goodbye and announced one last tour with Boge. So despite the fact that I didn't enjoy them all that much at the last show, I knew I'd regret it if I missed this chance, so I bought myself a ticket to the Palace show - and then this show at the Hi Fi was announced. I thought I'd probably give it a miss, as there was another gig I wanted to attend and I thought the setlist would probably be much the same; eventually the gig sold out so I didn't have much choice in the matter. However, on the night I decided I wanted to give my recording gear to a friend for this show, because you know, it was The Butterfly Effect's LAST SHOW with their singer of ten years and I thought it'd be good to have it captured, as the other gig I was planning to attend all involved bands who are still very much active. So I was on the train on my way to the Hi Fi to drop off the magic box before going elsewhere, when my friend messaged me saying that Hi Fi had put some tickets on the door, and I instantly knew that I would be going there instead. And I am so very glad I made that decision. There WERE two extra songs added to the set, it has to be said that the support bands were so much better than those at the Palace show, and well, who would really want to miss such a special evening? I won't deny it, there were tears in my eyes at the end of it.

The first of those aforementioned awesome support bands were Perth's The Siren Tower, a newish band formed by former Heavy Weight Champ frontman Grant McCulloch. I'd never really got around to checking out HWC but I had heard very good things about them, and from what I'd heard, The Siren Tower were also a band worth giving a listen. Suffice to say, I had high expectations of them before going into the gig! I wasn't really sure what to make of them as the set was happening on the night, but once it was over, I realised I had really enjoyed them and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where they go next. Also, on their Facebook during the day, they posted a photo of them on the plane on the way over, and I was quite surprised to see former Birds of Tokyo bassist Anthony Jackson! And yep, turns out he's the live bassist with the band at the moment. So it was great to see him back in action. But as for the band as a unit, I think, after preordering the album the next day and going to see them at the Espy on that night, that it's safe to say I'm a new fan!

SETLIST:
The Banishing of William McGuiness
Letter from the Edge of the Earth
City of Light
I Could Tell You Things That Would Break Your Heart
Floods
Last Apple in the Big Man's Orchard

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So it's been a little while since I've seen The Khyber Belt, and I'm happy to report that they are still pretty damn awesome. I was a little bit sleep-deprived on this particular evening but I knew that as soon as I saw Forbes McKail onstage being his usual bouncy self, that it'd give me the boost I needed, and thankfully I was right. It took me a little while to warm to these guys since their first shows last year, but the EP is a solid listen and they're a pretty rockin' live act. After The Siren Tower's chilled out start to the evening, it was good to have this act pick up the pace a bit in anticipation of TBE. Great set; loved the two newies too.
SETLIST:
Sun
We The People
(Unknown new song)
(Another unknown new song; the same one they played at Creepshow though)
Don't Look to the Sky
London

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And then, it was time for the big one. The tour had come to an end, but it was the end of far more than that. The shows on this tour have clearly shown the band at their best (in contrast to last year, as I mentioned), and really, what better way is there to go out? Can't really fault the setlist for this tour either, though it's been identical in each city until tonight. When Clint came on for the second encore and announced "this is the last three songs you're gonna see", my friend and I looked at each other with the biggest smiles on our faces, because though we were hopeful that there would be some extra/different songs, we weren't really expecting it to happen. There's not much else to say. Hope everyone really enjoys this as much as I did; it's only the third time I've seen them, and this is definitely the way I wanted to remember them. So, this is it. If The Butterfly Effect are hanging up the axes after this, then they went out on top. But I'm still curious to see if they will replace Clint.

SETLIST:
Beautiful Mine (Clint solo with piano backing track)
Window and the Watcher
A Slow Descent
Phoenix
Perception Twin
Final Conversation
Aisles of White
Crave
Wilma's Rainbow (Helmet cover)
Room Without a View
Reach
Consequence
Everybody Runs (acoustic)
One Second of Insanity
Worlds on Fire
----Encore 1----
Gone (acoustic)
The Cell
The End
----Encore 2----
Sweet & Low
Take It Away
Always
Goodbye (I thought it would be better if I put Clint's last words as a separate track to do them proper justice.)

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Explosions In The Sky @ Coachella Festival (2012-04-20)

Explosions In The Sky
Loved this set. Absolutely loved it!!
After the disappointment of The Rapture this was exactly what I needed to turn my mood around. Arriving just as they started we took a spot pretty far back on the field and sat down to watch. About 20 minutes later we moved to the right and much much closer to the stage. There my girlfriend and I took the chance to lay down and appreciate the band. Well, I did.... Tab doesn't like post-rock so I think she was trying to sleep through it. So while she tried to fall asleep I used her as a pillow to watch the band. And quite frankly, it was one of the best times I had that weekend. It's amazing how much I enjoy watching this band and it just felt so nice to relax and watch them after the heat we had to endure earlier in the day.
You may here some sound bleed from The Black Keys in this one because they were on mainstage and stupidly loud and boring. Other than that though it's a pretty good recording.

I recorded this from pretty far back towards the right side. Microphones were actually on the ground resting on a hat facing the stacks. At the beginning of Your Hand In Mine I moved much closer to the stage but kept the same microphone configuration. Sorry but I was tired and just wanted to lay down and relax.



Setlist:
1. The Birth and Death of The Day
2. Catastrophe and The Cure
3. Your Hand In Mine
4. Let Me Back In
5. The Only Moment We Were Alone

Length: 45:55

Sound Quality:

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