Sparta

Once in a while you go to a show where everything you know about live music gets turned around on you. White becomes black, day becomes night, all those sorts of cliches. Seeing Sparta at The Metro was one of these experiences. This was a band that was born from the remnants of a band that changed the way I listen to music, so it is fair to say that the expectation upon them was high. However, it was more than met. For a little over an hour I was privileged to see a band that is completely in love with what they do and believe 100 per cent in what they say and do.

The night opened with Sydney locals, Kiai Academy. Here was a tight, rock band, with a heavy punk influence. It is a mistake to think that they are doing anything original or particularly groundbreaking with their music. But what they do, they do very well. They entertain, and they perform catchy tunes that get your toes tapping and your head bobbing. It was a little strange to have their up-tempo punk sound juxtaposed against the melancholy tones of Sparta, but that was perhaps a good thing in hindsight, as clearly the audience was there to see Jim Ward and company deliver what they do best.

In recent interviews Sparta have claimed that it's fun to be in a band again and when they finally hit the boards, it was immediately clear that this is a band reborn. They've taken to the stage with an enthusiasm that lets the audience know immediately that on that stage they are going to lay their souls and their passion for what they do bare for all to see. The usually staid and serious Jim Ward is actually smiling. Tony Hajjar pounds the skins of his drum with all the strength he can muster. Keeley Davis is moving around the stage with the enthusiasm of a kid experiencing his first time on stage. The addition of Davis to the band has done them well, as he brought energy and charisma to the stage.

As expected from a band with their experience and pedigree, Sparta delivered an impressively tight package of a set, which combined the polished rock-based songs from Threes, with the more atmospheric tracks from Porcelain and the raw, ragged, enraged songs from Wiretap Scars.

“Unstitch Your Mouth” was clearly one of the highlights of the set. It perfectly demonstrates what Sparta are capable of delivering. Ward's vocals take the forefront, followed closely behind by the atmospheric guitar of Davis. Then enters the throbbing bass and the snapping snare, and you realise, here is a band where all it's members know their roles precisely and are entirely comfortable with it.

It was the audience that ended the show on the best note. Remarkably still for most of the show, when “Air” was played to close the main portion of the set the audience came to life. Bodies moved everywhere, voices were screamed at the top of lungs, hands were clapped and for the last time we saw what makes Sparta such a mind-blowing live experience. That was until the cliché of the encore was fulfilled, and everyone – the band and the crowd – took it up a notch. The two-song encore mixed the old and the new - “Cut Your Ribbon” from Wiretap Scars and “Atlas” from Threes – and ended on an almost poetic note.

Picture this scene – the band rocking out. As the lights fade to a single spotlight on Ward at the centre of the stage, the rest of the band members leave it. Ward remains in this single spotlight strumming his guitar and singing “more than life expose who you are” over and over. By this point, the entire audience has joined in the singing and Ward has moved away from the microphone, in awe of the monster he has created. As quickly as this scene begins, it's over, much like the whole night.

The theme of the night was clearly raw energy and raw emotion. Sparta have taken back control of their lives, their band, their live show and for that one hour they took back control over an audience that loved them and rocked with them. What more could a band want?

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