Tuesday night was the first show of Tesseract’s Australian tour in support of their latest album Sonder. With Perth being their first stop on the way, we went along to Capitol to check out the festivities.
After having just finished an especially brutal test at uni, I was looking forward to a Tuesday night out. It got off to a good start when, as I walked in to Capitol, I couldn’t help but notice that the sound guy was playing the greatest hits of Helloween. In fact after this he went to the greatest hits of Blind Guardian, Hammerfall, all sorts of great power metal bands. A bit of an odd choice considering the night’s performing bands, however as a power metal fan I give my thumbs up. I got a beer, tied my shoelaces extra tight to prevent losing my shoes to the sticky floor and settled in to watch the action unfold.
The first band to play were local boys Chaos Divine. It was the first time I’d seen them since they supported Arch Enemy earlier this year and they were in fine form. They played such a tight set it was impressive to see, with some harmonising guitars that made my beard tingle with excitement. The sound mixing for the evening was spot on, with every note on the kick drums reverberating around in my chest. If I was going to nitpick, their singer David Anderton seemed to be struggling a bit maintaining tone. Considering it was still cold season though it was probably understandable. I definitely enjoyed their musical skills and look forward to the next time they play a local stage.
Next up was Circles, a band I had never heard of before. This was clearly a mistake on my part. During soundcheck they got the crowd going with some Freddie Mercury style “aaaaayyyy oh”s. Then they began playing. They delivered an amazing performance; highly energetic and passionate that got the Tuesday night crowd going. The friend I went with commented that they have a very At The Drive In feel and I agreed, from their music right down to the frontman’s exuberant hair. I’d even suggest a bit of Opeth in there too, as they had a great mix of both the energetic sections and quiet reflective bits. In any case once they were done I clicked Like on their Facebook page, as I really hope they come back to Perth soon. They rocked my face hard that night.
Finally up came headliners Tesseract (styled as TesseracT). They commented that it’s hard with Perth being the first stop on the tour and that they were still on British time, but from their on stage presence you’d never know it. If there’s one thing you could say about their performance is that they perfectly replicated how they sounded on record. Their singer Daniel Tompkins was especially noteworthy as he could hit those high notes like a beast. He even put in a few dance moves, doing the robot like he got lessons from Noel Fielding. Their bassist Amos Williams also put in some lithe moves himself, moving around like a snake being charmed.
Their breakdowns had more syncopated rhythms than you could shake a 20 stringed guitar at, which got lots of people up and jumping around. I could really notice the influence from Djentier bands like Meshuggah, but they put their own prog edge in. I honestly don’t know how musicians remember rhythms that complex. Maybe they break down those break downs into Morse Code ala Rush’s YYZ. They mixed these heavier sections in with more atmospheric bits to let their singer (and the light show) show off their chops.
I’d say I had a really nice night. The bands on show really lifted my spirits after my bad day. If prog and proggy djent are your kind of thing, this is the gig for you!
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Adrian Thomson
TOUR DATES
Tuesday, September 11: Capitol, Perth
Thursday, September 13: The Gov, Adelaide
Friday, September 14: Melbourne 170 Russell, Melbourne
Saturday, September 15: The Metro, Sydney
Sunday, September 16: The Triffid, Brisbane
Tickets are on sale now!
www.livenation.com.au/artist/tesseract-tickets
