Rock The Bay @ The Espy, Melbourne (18/02/2012)
It was that time of year again as a plethora of Melbourne and Australia’s best rock bands descended upon The Espy for the annual Rock The Bay festival, now in its fourth year. The 2012 edition of what is quickly becoming a Melbourne institution boasted by far its biggest line up to date, promising to deliver an outstanding afternoon and night of eclectic rock music.
I Am Duckeye are very quickly turning heads wherever they go; and for good reason. In what can only be described as Queens of the Stone Age crossed with Tenacious D, I Am Duckeye are nothing if not an entertaining live act. With set highlights including near-nudity and songs about punching dicks, I Am Duckeye were one of the festival highlights.
New Zealand’s Decortica showed exactly why they’re creating more than a little bit of noise in their native country, with their decidedly epic take on progressive rock wowing those in the Front Bar. Sitting somewhere between Deftones and Muse, Decortica most definitely fit in with the current trend of Australian rock bands. One only hopes they make the journey across the ditch a few more times in 2012.
Fellow jetsetters Tim McMillan Band’s homecoming from Germany was a great one, featuring all of the usual guitar wizardry and goblin stories with plenty of stage tricks. Frontman Tim McMillan’s acoustic guitar shreds mixed with plenty of cabaret gave the perfect respite for those wanting a break from the hard rock and metal bands.
Melbourne mainstays Bellusira delivered exactly what was expected, with a high quality set of rock buoyed by Crystal Ignite’s soaring vocals. Bellusira tore through their very strong back catalogue, with ‘One Second’ and ‘Change’ being particular highlights. The latter featuring guest vocals from Over-Reactor vocalist Ezekiel Ox, serving as the perfect end to a great set.
Next up in the Front Bar were the latest additions to Melbourne’s rock scene, Sub Atari Knives. Born out of the ashes of three great bands, vocalist Hugo Tremayne (ex-K-Osscillate), bassist Nick Adams (ex-Mammal) and drummer Ben Ellingworth (ex-MM9) are bringing something very new to the table. Channelling everyone from Rage Against The Machine to The Prodigy, Sub Atari Knives were the surprise packets of the night. The very high energy set drew a sizable crowd, lapping up the trio’s left of centre take on industrial.
Put simply, there’s a reason progressive rock wunderkinds Floating Me were nominated for an ARIA last year. They’re a very, very good band, despite their relatively young age as a collective. On Saturday night in a packed Gershwin room, Floating Me only enhanced that notion. Early renditions of ‘Deathless’ and ‘Narke’ had punters in raptures, whilst live favourite ‘Breaking To Breathe’ was most definitely the set highlight, its massive chorus being belted out by many in the crowd. Andrew Gillespie’s powerful baritone is easily one of the best voices in Australian rock, whilst drummer Lucius Borich very nearly stole the show with his incredible skinsmanship. If you haven’t seen Floating Me yet, go do it. Now. You wont regret it.
Meanwhile, in the Front Bar, resident Melbourne Twelve Foot Ninja were both confusing and wowing punters simultaneously with their very original take on alternative rock. Sporting a new second guitarist, the now five piece delivered in spades traversing as many genres as possible throughout their set. Typically, ‘Clarion’ and ‘FEAR’ drew huge responses, but it was the new songs that pleased punters most, all drawing on Twelve Foot Ninja’s extremely diverse palate of influences. With hints of an album on the horizon, it is very easy to see Twelve Foot Ninja going from strength to strength in 2012.
There’s something genuinely special about a band that is used to playing in 1500 capacity venues returning to the very pubs where they cut their teeth, which is exactly what Aussie rock stalwarts Dead Letter Circus did on Saturday night. Within the first jangled riffs of opener ‘The Mile,’ the Brisbane boys showed exactly why they were headlining. Fresh off yet another North American tour, the five-piece haven’t missed a beat, rolling out all of the old favourites. ‘Here We Divide’ sounded simply enormous, with the entirety of the front bar seemingly moving in unison. Similarly, ‘Cage’ and ‘Disconnect and Apply’ were given outstanding renditions, while the inclusion of old favourite ‘Tremors’ pleased the band’s older fans greatly. Vocalist Kim Benzie was pitch perfect throughout, despite being completely drowned out by rabid fans screaming the lyrics back at him 80% of their set. Closing out with ‘Next In Line’ sent punters into a frenzy, with the end of the song seeing fans walking away exhausted from what was certainly one of DLC’s better Melbourne sets in a while.
Thus, Rock The Bay was done and dusted for yet another year, once again providing a brilliant example of the sheer diversity in music Australia has to offer. Given the strength of the line for the 2012 edition, the current trajectory suggests 2013 is going to be absolutely massive. Bring it on!
Billy Geary
I Am Duckeye are very quickly turning heads wherever they go; and for good reason. In what can only be described as Queens of the Stone Age crossed with Tenacious D, I Am Duckeye are nothing if not an entertaining live act. With set highlights including near-nudity and songs about punching dicks, I Am Duckeye were one of the festival highlights.
New Zealand’s Decortica showed exactly why they’re creating more than a little bit of noise in their native country, with their decidedly epic take on progressive rock wowing those in the Front Bar. Sitting somewhere between Deftones and Muse, Decortica most definitely fit in with the current trend of Australian rock bands. One only hopes they make the journey across the ditch a few more times in 2012.
Fellow jetsetters Tim McMillan Band’s homecoming from Germany was a great one, featuring all of the usual guitar wizardry and goblin stories with plenty of stage tricks. Frontman Tim McMillan’s acoustic guitar shreds mixed with plenty of cabaret gave the perfect respite for those wanting a break from the hard rock and metal bands.
Melbourne mainstays Bellusira delivered exactly what was expected, with a high quality set of rock buoyed by Crystal Ignite’s soaring vocals. Bellusira tore through their very strong back catalogue, with ‘One Second’ and ‘Change’ being particular highlights. The latter featuring guest vocals from Over-Reactor vocalist Ezekiel Ox, serving as the perfect end to a great set.
Next up in the Front Bar were the latest additions to Melbourne’s rock scene, Sub Atari Knives. Born out of the ashes of three great bands, vocalist Hugo Tremayne (ex-K-Osscillate), bassist Nick Adams (ex-Mammal) and drummer Ben Ellingworth (ex-MM9) are bringing something very new to the table. Channelling everyone from Rage Against The Machine to The Prodigy, Sub Atari Knives were the surprise packets of the night. The very high energy set drew a sizable crowd, lapping up the trio’s left of centre take on industrial.
Put simply, there’s a reason progressive rock wunderkinds Floating Me were nominated for an ARIA last year. They’re a very, very good band, despite their relatively young age as a collective. On Saturday night in a packed Gershwin room, Floating Me only enhanced that notion. Early renditions of ‘Deathless’ and ‘Narke’ had punters in raptures, whilst live favourite ‘Breaking To Breathe’ was most definitely the set highlight, its massive chorus being belted out by many in the crowd. Andrew Gillespie’s powerful baritone is easily one of the best voices in Australian rock, whilst drummer Lucius Borich very nearly stole the show with his incredible skinsmanship. If you haven’t seen Floating Me yet, go do it. Now. You wont regret it.
Meanwhile, in the Front Bar, resident Melbourne Twelve Foot Ninja were both confusing and wowing punters simultaneously with their very original take on alternative rock. Sporting a new second guitarist, the now five piece delivered in spades traversing as many genres as possible throughout their set. Typically, ‘Clarion’ and ‘FEAR’ drew huge responses, but it was the new songs that pleased punters most, all drawing on Twelve Foot Ninja’s extremely diverse palate of influences. With hints of an album on the horizon, it is very easy to see Twelve Foot Ninja going from strength to strength in 2012.
There’s something genuinely special about a band that is used to playing in 1500 capacity venues returning to the very pubs where they cut their teeth, which is exactly what Aussie rock stalwarts Dead Letter Circus did on Saturday night. Within the first jangled riffs of opener ‘The Mile,’ the Brisbane boys showed exactly why they were headlining. Fresh off yet another North American tour, the five-piece haven’t missed a beat, rolling out all of the old favourites. ‘Here We Divide’ sounded simply enormous, with the entirety of the front bar seemingly moving in unison. Similarly, ‘Cage’ and ‘Disconnect and Apply’ were given outstanding renditions, while the inclusion of old favourite ‘Tremors’ pleased the band’s older fans greatly. Vocalist Kim Benzie was pitch perfect throughout, despite being completely drowned out by rabid fans screaming the lyrics back at him 80% of their set. Closing out with ‘Next In Line’ sent punters into a frenzy, with the end of the song seeing fans walking away exhausted from what was certainly one of DLC’s better Melbourne sets in a while.
Thus, Rock The Bay was done and dusted for yet another year, once again providing a brilliant example of the sheer diversity in music Australia has to offer. Given the strength of the line for the 2012 edition, the current trajectory suggests 2013 is going to be absolutely massive. Bring it on!
Billy Geary