Karnivool

I jumped at the chance to see Karnivool on this dismal Saturday afternoon in Sydney, however I was concerned that we would not witness Karnivool’s regular kicking live show, as I knew that they had booked an All Ages show in the afternoon, and an hour later, an Over 18’s show. For some reason, I had a feeling that they wouldn’t play to their full potential, conserving their energy for the somewhat larger Over 18’s crowd. My friends convinced me otherwise however and we headed to the Manning Bar.

The first support were Antistatic from WA, whose set was a mixture of heavy riffs, syncopated drumbeats and then disappointing ‘emo’ vocals superimposed over the top. The following band were the slightly known Blindspott from Auckland, NZ. They were energetic, heavy and had a good stage presence, but unfortunately, like Antistatic, their vocals were a major let down. Similarly their set lacked variation.

We were ravenous for some quality rock once it was Karnivool’s turn, and stood in anticipation at the barrier watching the setup. Karnivool then launched in ‘Roquefort’, a single that has the strange effect of making everyone want to dance (whether that means moshing, skanking or salsa dancing...whatever takes your fancy). ‘Roquefort’ bled into the equally awesome ‘Fear of the Sky’, which caused similar crowd energy, but also some confusion at the unconventional time signatures!

Ian Kenny (lead singer), it must be said, is a fantastic frontman, combining powerful vocals with completely puzzling facial expressions, regular cheeky grins and some enthusiastic shout-outs. There were some awkward silences between songs though, and perhaps Karnivool were a little complacent about playing in front of a small all ages crowd. At one point, before beginning ‘Headcase’, Kenny explained “This is gonna sound funny, but is this the all ages one or is it under 18’s or...?”.

Karnivool ran ‘Shutterspeed’, ‘Fade’ and ‘C.O.T.E.’ together smoothly, keeping the intensity of the earlier songs, although ‘Shutterspeed’ and ‘C.O.T.E.’ in particular had moments of what seemed like boredom emanating from certain members of the band. Nevertheless, John (bassist) was especially thunderous tonight.

‘Mauseum’ and ‘Lifelike’, both from ‘Themata’, were two of the best songs of the set; ‘Lifelike’s breakdown section caused mayhem on the floor, and drummer Steve was abnormally animated during ‘Mauseum’.

Tonight’s rendition of ‘Synops’ will stand out for Karnivool as one they would like to forget. After a hesitant start, Kenny seemed to have problems with either his in-ear monitors, and proceeded to sing the entire song a tone too low. I looked at a few of my mates at this point, who cringed, and we all felt equally sympathetic for the otherwise flawless and enigmatic frontman.

In what seemed like frustration, Karnivool closed the set with their biggest single, and the title-track to their album, ‘Themata’. Although a blistering song, this rendition resounded “anticlimax”, as Drew Goddard shook his head but proceeded to amaze all with his hammer-on, pull-off riff. The lights went down to a huge cheer, but I couldn’t help but feel that the set had been cut short, in hope of a better show later in the night...

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