Given that it was Metal Church’s first Australian tour in their almost 30 year career, it was hardly surprising that the Crowbar was heartily full tonight.. The queue snaked well down Parramatta road, and despite the rubbish weather, the punters were in good spirits, eagerly anticipating Aberdeen Washington’s (original) finest.
Norton’s Irish Pub beforehand was an early indication, the old school (young & old) were seriously out in force tonight! It was like a battle jacket convention! I haven’t seen this many patched vests since I took old Auntie Doris to the Quilt convention back in ’89. But seriously, it was great to see, and there was a really good camaraderie amongst the crowd as well.
Temtris bounded out of the gates, and didn’t let up for their entire set. Genevieve working the crowd like a veteran, I feel like she was about as excited about this gig as anyone here… “I bought tickets” she said at one point. The bass and drums lay a great platform for her to wail over, while lead guitarist the Fox is really entertaining in his own right, and Anthony Hoffman’s grizzly backing vocals (much higher in the mix tonight than last time I saw them) are a good counterpoint for Genevieve’s vibrato. A lot of Temtris t-shirts in the crowd tonight, and with festivals in NZ on the horizon, its onward & upward for the Shoalhaven contingent.
Hazmat came out and despite some cantankerous guitar sound issues early, they latched onto their groove and didn’t let go. While their sound has a fairly faithful Megadeth into Metallica vibe, but there is no hint of pretention and they lay into their muscular tunes with a great energy. Extra props to the new guitarist Roy, (filling the boots of original guitarist Duck) he fit in seamlessly on the left of stage, he & singer / guitarist Jay providing some great guitar interaction. Overall, really solid! I don’t think the term ‘dud show’ exists in the Hazmat vocabulary.
Metal Church emerged from behind the red curtain for their first ever Sydney show to a full room and… I have to say the greeting was fairly underwhelming.
I’m not sure if it was the choice of opener with its “hummm, hummm’ refrain (‘Damned if you do’ from the latest album) or what, but the first couple of songs were greeted with silence throughout & respectful applause at the end, Possibly due to being newer & unfamiliar I’m not sure, but with the definite exception of the one-woman moshpit standing near me, it certainly seemed to take a while for the crowd to warm up. However by 3rd tune, ‘Badlands’, the crowd seemed to wake up. This is no reflection on the work being put in onstage mind you, Mike Howe is a great front man, and the band were working hard to make sure that their first Sydney show was a memorable one. Drummer Stet Howland doing more than his share or revving up the crowd.
‘Start the fire’, a fairly huge ‘watch the children play’, ‘No friend of mine’ with a great Rick Van Zandt guitar solo, and ‘Beyond the black’ were all highlights.
It would have been particularly gratifying for long time fans who have waited over 20 years for the opportunity to see these guys live, and have them deliver. A great night for the old school!
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Adam Sivewright
Metal Church
Hazmat & Temtris
