Gyroscope

Upon arriving at Capitol about 15 minutes early, I had to join an already forming queue. This is for a local band! These guys played to half empty pubs here not that long ago. Not only that, but this show sold out! Many punters were turned away at the door because of this, and were all equally surprised that a local band was able to sell out a show like this. I had never been to Club Capitol, but inside that place is swanky, sporting an all modern style with lots of red, plus a cool upstairs section with balconies. There was also a barrier in front of the stage which suggested a decent crowd that would be going hard. I hoped so.

The Critics kicked things off, and having already seen these guys several times and not been impressed, I was pleased to see that they are making some progress. They sounded tighter, and they put out a fair bit of energy. My problem with them is the singing. None of the lyrics are audible and the singer’s voice has no range. My other gripe is that the speed never changes. Were The Critics to solve these problems, they may be able to progress beyond the support slot, but until then I feel they are doomed to be kicking off the night for their more popular peers (like my alliteration?). Next up were The Bleeders from NZ. I had never so much as heard of these guys, so I was pleasantly surprised when they burst on and played some real hard songs straight up. Playing something halfway between hard rock and screamo, they blew the front row away, and got the crowd moving, which was an achievement, because it had been a bit stagnant until this point. I must also say that it was a refreshing change not to get any preaching from a singer with straight edge tats. I don’t have anything against the notion of a drug-free lifestyle, but the preaching often ends up taking precedence over the music. So The Bleeders rocked hard, tight and fast, and I may just have to purchase their debut LP. You should too.

A short break followed, and then a flood of bodies forced their way to the pit signaling Gyroscope was taking the stage. A wall of noise punctuated the lead up to “Driving For The Storm” which rocked out, and was followed by possibly their best number for the night “Confidence In Confidentiality” which Dan barely had to sing for because the crowd was yelling every word. Lead single “Fast Girl” was applauded loudly, as were a number of other songs from Are You Involved? Personally though, the tracks from Sound Shattering Sound were downright balltearers. “Take This For Granted” and “Safe Forever” went right off, with Dan heading into the crowd during the song and playing half of it standing on the bar. He also played a song sitting on the barrier with the sound guy holding his mic stand for him so he could sing while sitting there with the crowd singing around him.

The greatest part of the night for dedicated Gyroscope fans though, was a short acoustic interlude which was impressive to say the least. This showed the versatility of not only Dan and Zoran, but also the adaptability of the songs to work in the setting as well as they do. The night concluded with a great encore which finished with live favourites “Fire Away” and “Doctor Doctor”, and I couldn’t be more impressed with a local band that has firmly entrenched itself as one of the best live Australian rock bands of today.

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