Dead Letter Circus

On the last Thursday night to pass, if one had happened to have been wandering down Hindley St. in Adelaide, then one might have found a rather long line outside the dimly-lit little club known as Jive Bar. The reason is that Brisbane-siders Dead Letter Circuswere back in town, pretty recently again after their touring support of the Butterfly Effect in July – they’re getting a reputation as quite a heavy-touring band. On this tour, however, they were doing their own headlining, and they managed to sell out Jive. Good show, old sports.

The first band on stage was Adelaide locals San Marcos, a five-piece blend of rock and hardcore. Their first three songs were all quite interesting, as they all seemed to be in different styles; the first a very hook-oriented blend of pop and rock, the second a no-nonsense hardcore blast, and the third a straight-up big rock anthem for the masses. With plenty of energy, a good stage dynamic, and some very decent guitar work ala old-school Korn and Slipknot, they are easily one of the best opening bands I’ve heard this year. I’d be happy to see them again at any rock/metal-based gig, and most of the crowd seemed to share my sentiment. A fine start to the night.

Jive filled up reasonably quickly – I guess there’s not much else to do on a typical Thursday night that’s better than hanging out and watching some bands. Or maybe it’s just that plenty of people were like me, and particularly wanted to see the next band, Victoria’s Sydonia.

Having seen them before, I was fully expecting it when the band opened up with their typical pro-drumming riffs, and I lapped up every second of it. The lead singer, with his long hair, was dressed in a kilt and some high books, and from the above balcony very much had a female aspect – one I gathered was not accidental, as one of their merch shirts reads “I Fucked The Chick From Sydonia”. I’m not sure where they’re going with this one…

Nevertheless, despite a bit too much ambient noise from kit and guitars, the set was a great one, with the songs floating between heavy and light and dreamy, and the band royally rocking out. Particularly when two of the lads from Dead Letter Circus came out for a song to help out with back-up drumming, so the song had five drummers and guitarist/vocalist. Awesome.

Finally, Dead Letter Circus themselves were appointed to the stage, with plenty of crowd support. They launched straight into songs, but the most amusing note was the way the lead singer kept getting distracted by people handing him things – beer, food, even cameras to take photos of the fans with their thumbs up. I love a friendly gig.

Now, I’m not entirely certain about this, but I believe the drummer was not the regular. But whoever he was, he was bloody brilliant – one of the best live drummers I’ve seen in a long time, he was whipping out complicated riffs and beats all night, while twirling his sticks and looking like he was having the time of his life. Really a pleasure to watch.

The rest of the band were stepping it up as well, rocking (even raging, in the case of the bassist) out on their instruments, having fun, and playing very worthy music. The highlight of the set was without a doubt when lead singer Kim clambered up on top of one of the speaker stacks, sang out a song to the best of his ability, and then stage-dived from quite a height into the eager crowd (who caught him well, I should add).

A great set all round, helped by a few of my old buddies Coopers Sparkling Ale. What would I do without you.

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