For the second Saturday night in a row I find myself at the Cavern Club, the owner Teresa has been a strong advocate for the live music scene in Adelaide for a long time. Tonight the venue plays host to Speedmachine, Odyssey and ICYU.

Unfortunately for ICYU having two bands pull out at the twelfth hour has left them as the black sheep of this show. More to the point they are the rose amongst the thorns, ICYU are a clean cut rock band amongst two bands that could have quite easily have staggered in off the Sunset Strip in Hollywood during the glorious days of the late eighties.

ICYU were playing their final show before the members move into various other projects, they played a style of music that won't offend your mother, clean cut, three piece suit, soft rock. Members of the band are all veterans of the music scene and they looked at ease playing their own brand of laid back rock. The addition of The Beatles “Come Together” was a good indication of the scope of musical influence. 

For a relatively new band, Odyssey are quickly gaining a loyal supporter base. The band took to the stage to the accompanying chants of “Odyssey, Odyssey, Odyssey” and it was great to see the front of the stage fill up even before the soundcheck was complete. Odyssey are the antithesis of ICYU, this is down and dirty, lock up your daughters and your liquor cabinet rock and roll. We are talking The Cult style rock, tinges of punk peppered with a large dose of attitude. The music is at times sultry and other times sleazy but beware, when you are not expecting it Odyssey will punch you clean in the face. The music reduces the listener to involuntarily tapping of their feet; this is high energy, well played music with a lot of groove. They set the headlining band a pretty tough challenge, laying down the gauntlet to the headlining band.

Speedmachine’s attitude was eloquently established before the band had even started when drummer Brad Tsoumbris revealed to the crowd his customary pre-show tradition. The band true to their moniker of quarter mile rock ‘n’ roll launched straight into 'Snake Bite Rock And Roll', this song personifies what this four piece band is all about. 

This band completely understands that a good show needs to be made up of good music, good stage presence and the show has to be entertaining. This is good old fashioned pub rock played with flair by some seriously talented performers. This is how music is supposed to be presented, they are the real deal. Imagine old school Aussie pub rock complete with guitar solos that would make Ace Frehley blush, the only thing missing was the smoke coming out of Schmidt’s Les Paul or rockets being fired into the audience.

If you are a fan of AC/DC, The Screaming Jets, The Angels and Rose Tattoo then this is the band for you . Get onto Speedmachine so you can say you saw them before they were big. The style of music and presentation is something that has been sadly missing in Australian rock for a long, long time; finally Adelaide may have unearthed its next Aussie pub rock legends. I reiterate my previous point and mark my words this band is the real deal.



Review by Mike Trandafil
Photos by Tanya Louise Begg

It’s amazing what a setlist change and different crowd can do.

Yes, I went on both nights to see Ball Park Music perform at The Gov on their Trippin’ the Light Fantastic tour. Yes, those were my fourth and fifth times seeing the band. And yes, I am a fan.

After the initial Wednesday show selling out quickly, the Brisbane band added another date, which they have never had to do before in Adelaide, despite playing at the same venue five months previously. Thus, the Wednesday crowd were generally keen fans who had nabbed tickets as soon as they could.

The Tuesday crowd seemed to be a mix of younger fans at their first gig (good choice, kids) and some Ball Park veterans rolling their eyes at kids screaming because they spotted Sam peeking behind the curtain. Waiting in the heat had made a large portion of the crowd sleepy, and by the time Pluto Jonze had made an appearance, yawns, baffled looks and folded arms confronted him, which was unfortunate because his quirky set was hardly yawn-worthy. The audience mainly stood still through 'Millions' too, and barely got into the first few Ball Park songs. That being said, the band seemed tired too. They were still good, but lacked their usual cheeky energy. It was a disappointment to see Cocaine Lion absent from the setlist, but instead they played Struggle Street for the first time on tour.

However, Wednesday was a different story. These were the hardcore fans (well, apart from the girl waiting in line who boasted to everyone within earshot that she didn’t know one song and had only listened to them the night before and was only there because her friend was). Sydney’s Pluto Jonze received a warm welcome, and he had the crowd bopping along right from Plastic Bag in a Hurricane to the annoyingly catchy Eject, all the while playing a theremin like a dark wizard conjuring curses. Smartly- dressed Millions from Brisbane were at ease, with lead singer Dom’s voice likely winning over a lot of new followers.

But the crowd was there for one band. And that band did not fail to impress. Whatever they had lacked in the night before was more than made up for. Ball Park are not a band who ignore their fans; they shuffled their setlist, replacing Shithaus with Cocaine Lion, and opening with Struggle Street. Their fantastic cover of Vampire Weekend’s Diane Young was moved to the middle of the set instead of the encore, which was Fence Sitter. The strong chemistry between the band was evident on this night; they joked with each other and the crowd, some of whom still were wearing their 3D glasses halfway through the set, unaware they did “shit all”, as Sam eloquently confessed. Jen, the bass player, who is usually rather shy, bounced about happily in the middle of the stage alongside Dean. The crowd sung along the full time, and danced and swayed as one body, which meant that not one song appeared to be a favourite.

It cannot be stressed enough: if you have never been along to a BPM gig then you’re missing out. They put on a better show than a lot of international bands, and they’re a down to earth bunch, even if their songs include sheep on clouds.

Review and photograph by Kirsten Mooney

The Bridgeway Hotel has seen the rise and fall of countless musical genres throughout its illustrious existence. From the glorious heyday of Aussie pub rock, the spandex and big hair of the 80’s to the heavy metal and grunge bands from the 90’s. This stage was the mecca of the Adelaide music scene, bands such as Cold Chisel, Rose Tattoo, The Angels, The Screaming Jets and right up to internationally renowned metal acts as Uriah Heep, Anthrax and Motorhead have all graced the hallowed stage. The last time original heavy metal bands treaded these boards half of the musicians on tonight’s line up weren’t even born yet. Metalcore would make its loud and triumphant debut at this venue and there was an added air of excitement with the realisation that tonight’s bands would precede Amity Affliction who are set to play here in January.

For The Vultures, Fortune From Tragedy, Storm The Asylum, Iron Feather and Oceans Wake all played tonight as part of the Northern Exposure Thursday night showcases. The shows hosted by Focus Promotions are aimed at giving original bands an opportunity to play on the big stage, with concert sound and lighting production by Novatech. The showcases cover a range of different genres and tonight’s show featured an extreme metal roster.

Oceans Wake were set the task of launching tonight’s proceedings, they are young post hardcore band starting to find their feet in the music scene. At a guess, the average age of members would be 16 or 17 and to their credit they put on a performance that belied their years. With the benefit of it being an all-ages show they brought a sizeable crowd who were eager to get up the front and join in the high energy mayhem. The set consisted mainly of covers from the genre’s luminaries such as A Day To Remember, Of Mice And Men and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus rounded out with an original that sent those lined up at the front of the stage into a frenzy.

Like the openers, Storm The Asylum drew a huge number of punters out for their first official “pub” gig. The band consisted of two pint sized singers Kaethan and Jamesy who left everyone in the crowd reeling with intensity of their voices, the strength and delivery of their vocals defied their age and stature. Storm The Asylum thundered through a 25 min set to a rapturous applause from the huge gathering of supporters there to witness the show. They played a balanced mix of material including Amity Affliction and even mixed it up a bit with a Green Day cover to show their diversity. Once again they handled big stage like seasoned professionals and appeared undaunted by this big occasion. They put on a flawless performance well beyond their years. The band could really benefit with the addition of a bass player, it will be interesting to watch this band's development.

This is thinking man's (or woman’s) metal. A diverse tapestry of musical landscapes driven by melodic hooks, tight musicianship and complex arrangements. At various stages I was fleetingly reminded of Disturbed, Bullet For My Valentine and In Flames but the sense of individuality and originality in the songs make these comparisons superfluous.

The other aspect that made this show special was that Octanic know how to entertain, the band clearly enjoy their time on stage and the atmosphere created spills over into the audience. Vocalist Jay Shepherdson stalks the stage like a caged beast ensuring every member of the crowd is drawn into his world. The talented musicians that support him had to dodge and weave to avoid being drawn into the hurricane that he creates on the stage. The highlight of the night was the encore “Pariah”, were Jay was joined on stage by Damo Seller from the band Sever Hill… The vocal sparring between the two sent shivers down my spine.

In the Adelaide heavy metal scene Octanic are in a league of their own and tonight’s blistering performance was one that I will not forget in a hurry. Suitably armed with both Octanic albums, I walked away from the Cavern Club tonight with a sense that I had witnessed one of the truly special performances from a band slated for much bigger things.


Review by Mike Trandafil
Photos by Tanya Begg - see the full gallery here 

You may wonder which band did the first (and only) wall of death of the night. In Hearts Wake created a crowd with limbs flying everywhere, with their third song 'Healer' influencing wary side-spectators to jump into the mayhem. All I heard around me were the thirsty fans screaming the lyrics along with lead singer Jake Taylor, with red lipstick and breaking voices ringing in my ears. For their last song 'Divine', Jake’s words “Alright Adelaide, if you know these words, sing them loud!” caused a massive uproar.

The Ghost Inside sure were the culprits for the most circle pits of the night. The love for their fans was expressed by “We remember every one of you guys,” which shows how the fans are just as important as any band members: they support and love the music they make. They played their newest song 'Out of Control', with Jake from In Hearts Wake joining in for 'Between The Lines'. For their last song, absolute pandemonium struck. If you guessed 'Engine 45' being that song, you obviously understand the definition of "metal as fuck".

Being the final band of the night, I Killed The Prom Queen certainly delivered what the crowd was wanting: a mental finish to a mental night. One word to describe the pit? Lethal: there was no way I was going into that. After almost every song, lead singer Jamie Hope exclaimed, “hell fuckin’ yeah” to the crowd, only to receive a “hell fuckin’ yeah” in return. With guitar solos by Jona and absolute passion from Jamie, IKTPQ delivered a strong and powerful end to the night.

I say "strong and powerful" because my ears are still ringing 24 hours later. No regrets.

Review by Georgia Lake.
Photos by Sofie Marsden. View the full gallery here.

Before Architects even ascended the stage, dedicated fans were opening up the pit with intense enthusiasm. The Brit metal-core rockers delivered a full-on set, unleashing their rage-filled riffs upon the audience who were lapping it up. Front man Tom took a moment to passionately thank the audience for their support as he had never seen such support for metal anywhere.

Then shit got real. Immediately The Amity Affliction ripped into the lead single off their latest album ‘Pittsburgh’, barely pausing for breath in between songs. The set was intense, laden with Amity’s perfect balance of melodic hard-core riffs with powerful lyrics. Rarely do you see a crowd so passionately scream the lyrics, or feel such comradery amongst the crowd. Smoke effects and LED screens with The Amity Affliction splashed across them in red added to the intensity of the set rather than distracting from the music.

The only qualm long term fans of Amity had was the utter lack of old material on the set list, which predominantly featured hits from ‘Chasing Ghosts’ and their latest album ‘Let The Ocean Take Me’.  The night concluded with ‘Give It All’ to which vocalist Joel Birch left the audience to finish, and left punters sweaty, exhausted and satisfied.

Review by Isabella Carbone
Photos by Melissa Donato

Going international now, Bodyjar brought San Francisco natives Samiam for some extra flavour. There really isn’t much to write about Samiam, they played a classic 90’s punk set with a youthful spirit that is rare for a band with over 25 years under their belt. They brought their great songs with them and their wealth of live experience to provide a perfect precursor for Bodyjar.

When Bodyjar hit the stage, no matter how bad your night was up until that point, it instantly improved tenfold. They ripped through their classic album Rimshot! with a ferocious energy that hadn’t faltered over the years. Their signature vocal harmonies were on point through out the evening that shone particularly through their fan favourite and delightful cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Hazy Shade of Winter” that perfectly interrupted their start to finish run of Rimshot! They wrapped up their evening with what they liked to call the “request fest”. They mainly stuck to their hits like “One in a Million” and set highlight, closer “Not The Same” that ended with a stage invasion of the preceding bands and a big sing-along of that infectious chorus. It was the perfect summary of what Bodyjar were there to do; they gave the fans what they wanted to hear and loved every minute of it

It was clear to everyone in the room, including the band themselves, that Bodyjar had their moment in the sun a while back, but if soaking up the last remaining sunrays is Bodyjar playing because they love to play, they have fans that want to hear it and it’s that much fun, who can really complain?


Review by Noah Ward
Photos by Chloe Miller. See full gallery here