Karnivool, 05/07/2012 @ Hi Fi Bar and Ballroom

When a band I love as much as Karnivool announces a tour, it's usually a very celebratory occasion, with tickets being purchased immediately, and since last year, usually to multiple shows. This year was no different, and just to add to the awesomeness, they decided to call it the "Melodias Frescas" tour. What does that mean, you ask? NEW SONGS! And continuing their history of (almost always) picking great and interesting support bands, we had Sydney post-rock favourites sleepmakeswaves, and Melbourne stoner rockers Redcoats joining in for the festivities. This was set to be a great night right from the word go, and I'm happy to say it lived up to expectations.

I was a little disappointed that sleepmakeswaves were only given a 30 minute opening slot, considering they have more released material, and longer songs, than Redcoats. Nevertheless, seeing sleepmakeswaves a sixth time (and fourth for the year), I was hardly complaining. They were awesome as they always are. Bassist Alex Wilson has written an extremely entertaining and detailed blog of the tour, and it sounds like it could not have gone better for them. Not only did they get to play opener for an extremely popular band, but the people that were watching them actually enjoyed it and they made loads of new fans on the tour, by the sounds of things. As for this actual set, this was definitely the biggest rooom I've ever seen them play in and it sounded amazing. Cannot say enough good things about these dudes.
SETLIST:
to you they are birds, to me they are voices in the forest
in limbs and joints
we sing the body electric
(hello) cloud mountain
a gaze as blank and pitiless as the sun
(recording to follow)

Redcoats were up next, and I was looking forward to them quite a bit, after impulse buying their EP a few months ago and really enjoying it. Guess it's fair to say I'm a big fan of the stoner/psych rock sound, and they fit nicely under that. However, for some reason they just didn't do it for me as much as I thought they would on the night. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed them. But I think they just lack a little something when it comes to performing live. Hopefully I'll enoy them a bit more next time. Anyway, they played a whole lot of new songs from their upcoming debut album, so that's why a majority of these don't have titles. I am looking forward to hearing the album too.
(Working) SETLIST:
Kaytrucker
Giants

House of Luna
Evergreen

Raven
Dreamshaker
(recording to follow)

And then, the mighty Karnivool. What an absolute belter this was. I was excited in the lead-up to the show, but there was also a part of me that thought, "Oh well, it's not the BEST gig I'll see, they tour every year, they're only an Australian band". Then I remembered, "Hang on, these guys are actually one of, probably THE, best live act in Australia". Right from the word go, this show just ruled. And true to their word (and the name of the tour), they played NEW songs. Four in total, or three if you want to exclude The Refusal as it was played last year. All of them quite different to each other, all of them awesome. But yeah, it was the old favourites that got the biggest response, quite a lot of singing and moshing going on on this particular evening. My only complaint was about those old songs, actually - they were almost exactly the same as what was played last year. It would have been great to see something from Themata make it in that they hadn't played for a while. Or even The Caudal Lure. But yeah, other than that, this show was a perfect 10/10. Actually, it was still 10/10. Some of the songs are affected by movement, I was encouraged by a friend to get right in the front, and although I won't deny I had an absolute blast, it means the recording isn't so good. Sorry about that.

SETLIST:
(Intro on recording)
The Refusal
Goliath
Simple Boy
C.O.T.E.
We Are
All I Know
Deadman
Umbra
A.M. War
Set Fire to the Hive (with amusing false start)
Roquefort
----Encore----
Aeons
Themata
New Day
DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE