Dead Letter Circus, Fair To Midland, Twelve Foot Ninja @ The Hi-Fi Bar, Sydney (25/05/2012)
Brisbane’s Dead Letter Circus and American friends Fair To Midland rocked Sydney’s new Hi-Fi venue with a varied show of sometimes heavy, sometimes innovative, yet always melodic progressive rock.
Twelve Foot Ninja set upon the stage and delivered a highly unique blend of heavy proggy and funky music. They might well have been the loudest band on the night – with the Hi-Fi a suitably cosy yet deafening setting. With great confidence their lead singer Kin engaged with the packed out venue with a variety of anecdotes about their upcoming debut and how much he hates local councils. Even from the upper terrace of the Hi-Fi they put on the show of a band with many promising things to come.
International visitors of the night were Fair To Midland. Having a large worldwide following, and headlining the previous USA tour with DLC – it was more of a dual headlining affair than a support set. This more than sated the droves of fans that had turned up primarily for Fair to Midland on their first Australian tour and gladly chanted almost all their lyrics back at the stage, such as during set highlight Tall Tales Taste Like Sour Grapes.
Despite an impressive vocal performance from lead singer Darroh Sudderth, their performance was marred by poor sound with vocals pretty quiet in the mix. He seamlessly alternated between a wrestling-style growl and angelic tones, epitomised by a solid performance of Dance of the Manatee, and continually entertained through his schizophrenic moonwalk dancing.
At one point he started a circle pit whilst within the mosh and at another time spectacularly failed jumping from the barrier back to the stage. All in all, it was a highly engaging performance from a skilled band who really could have nailed it with a little more clarity with their prized vocals.
Dead Letter Circus had obviously worked their magic because as soon as they took to the stage, all of the audio seemed immaculately clear and crisp, allowing the high notes of prodigious vocalist Kim Benzie to entrance the Hi-Fi.
The crowd responded with gusto to the soaring guitars of early track Lines, seeming simply immense. Cage introduced a slower and more measured turn of pace before they introduced Wake Up, a new track which fits well with their previous offerings – to the point where at first lesson it seems identical. It’s quality can’t be faltered however and bodes well for any upcoming release they may have in store for us.
Album single Big made a return to their live show, and the way they played it, and the response it received, begs the question as to why it was ever left off their previous setlists in the first place. Throughout the gig a large, inebriated man near me repeatedly shouted out Space on the Wall in the hope that they’d play it.
Despite this, a rousing performance of the song wasn’t enough to stop him requesting it and unfortunately they didn’t perform a reprise in their encore. What we were treated to however was an extended solo by drummer Luke Williams which was impressive but perhaps dragged on, and then a performance of Next In Line which finished perfectly with Kim in the mosh and several crowd members taking selfies with the band onstage. Overall, a fitting end to a highly entertaining gig of great value.
Oscar Coleman
Twelve Foot Ninja set upon the stage and delivered a highly unique blend of heavy proggy and funky music. They might well have been the loudest band on the night – with the Hi-Fi a suitably cosy yet deafening setting. With great confidence their lead singer Kin engaged with the packed out venue with a variety of anecdotes about their upcoming debut and how much he hates local councils. Even from the upper terrace of the Hi-Fi they put on the show of a band with many promising things to come.
International visitors of the night were Fair To Midland. Having a large worldwide following, and headlining the previous USA tour with DLC – it was more of a dual headlining affair than a support set. This more than sated the droves of fans that had turned up primarily for Fair to Midland on their first Australian tour and gladly chanted almost all their lyrics back at the stage, such as during set highlight Tall Tales Taste Like Sour Grapes.
Despite an impressive vocal performance from lead singer Darroh Sudderth, their performance was marred by poor sound with vocals pretty quiet in the mix. He seamlessly alternated between a wrestling-style growl and angelic tones, epitomised by a solid performance of Dance of the Manatee, and continually entertained through his schizophrenic moonwalk dancing.
At one point he started a circle pit whilst within the mosh and at another time spectacularly failed jumping from the barrier back to the stage. All in all, it was a highly engaging performance from a skilled band who really could have nailed it with a little more clarity with their prized vocals.
Dead Letter Circus had obviously worked their magic because as soon as they took to the stage, all of the audio seemed immaculately clear and crisp, allowing the high notes of prodigious vocalist Kim Benzie to entrance the Hi-Fi.
The crowd responded with gusto to the soaring guitars of early track Lines, seeming simply immense. Cage introduced a slower and more measured turn of pace before they introduced Wake Up, a new track which fits well with their previous offerings – to the point where at first lesson it seems identical. It’s quality can’t be faltered however and bodes well for any upcoming release they may have in store for us.
Album single Big made a return to their live show, and the way they played it, and the response it received, begs the question as to why it was ever left off their previous setlists in the first place. Throughout the gig a large, inebriated man near me repeatedly shouted out Space on the Wall in the hope that they’d play it.
Despite this, a rousing performance of the song wasn’t enough to stop him requesting it and unfortunately they didn’t perform a reprise in their encore. What we were treated to however was an extended solo by drummer Luke Williams which was impressive but perhaps dragged on, and then a performance of Next In Line which finished perfectly with Kim in the mosh and several crowd members taking selfies with the band onstage. Overall, a fitting end to a highly entertaining gig of great value.
Oscar Coleman