Live @ The Triffid - Brisbane, QLD - Sunday 20 June 2021

Written by: Rod Whitfield - Independent

Apologies for opening this review with a cliché, but necessity is often the mother of invention, and the heavily-hit live music industry may be reinventing itself before our eyes, adapting before it perishes, finding new avenues in which to fulfil itself, opening new ‘streams’ of income so to speak. In the Covid-driven absence of real live music, it is fantastic that we can still experience a live show in this way, albeit without some of the trappings of the medium we love so dearly.

Sometimes you must take what you can get.

Pictured: Jim Grey - CALIGULA’S HORSE live @ The Triffid - Saturday 19 June 2021 Photographer: CeeJay Johnson - Zest Photography & Design — Pictured: *Jim Grey* - CALIGULA’S HORSE live @ ***The Triffid*** - Saturday 19 June 2021
Photographer: *CeeJay Johnson* - ***Zest Photography & Design***

The Livestream

And what a band to do it with. Brisbane’s almighty CALIGULA’S HORSE have been a progressive music juggernaut for a decade now, and this, to my knowledge, is their first ever livestream show.

This humble writer experienced his first ever livestream show a couple of weeks ago, that of Melbourne progressive rock powerhouse ACOLYTE, and it’s difficult to avoid comparisons. Meticulously produced, ACOLYTE’s show was like a ‘live in the studio’ performance, no crowd, and extraordinarily close to flawless studio sound. The C-HORSE, on the other hand, opt for more of a raw, live feel. Playing in a classic Brisbane live venue before an actual audience, the sound is just a smidgeon more rough around the edges, as live shows always are.

Neither approach is better or worse than the other, and both are just as enjoyable, in different ways.

And that of course is not to say CALIGULA’S sound is poor. Far from it. Each instrument is still clear, loud and powerful, and the mix gels sweetly across the online forum, bringing out the band’s trademark dynamics and exemplary musicianship to great effect. The work of the twin lead six-stringers is particularly ear-pleasing.

This band’s particular brand of highly melodic progressive metal seems made for this type of setting. Or are they very heavy progressive rock? Who cares….

The band slams and caresses its way through a set of well over an hour’s worth of career-spanning material, focusing mainly on their last two records, Rise Radiant (which, frighteningly, is a year old now) and In Contact, before lead vocalist Jim Grey announces they will not do the cheesy ‘encore’ thing, rather they would play one more tune. That one more tune just happens to be the epic Graves, and the set winds out to be the better part of a very satisfying one hour and a half, giving the punters, both at home across the planet and at the venue, some serious money’s worth.

Grey is just a tiny bit scratchy on occasion, but after having played a single show (the previous Friday night) in the last 18 months, he can very much be forgiven. Aside from this, he is his usual colloquial and affable self, chatting and bantering amiably with the crowd in between songs and having only a very brief crack at our useless conservative government and its disdainful attitude towards music and the arts. Naturally, this leads into his riveting spoken-word piece, Inertia and the Weapon of the Wall, which raises neck-hairs once again.

My only other minor complaint is that I would have loved to have heard Songs for No One. But hey, five albums in, no one is likely to get everything they want across the course of a C-HORSE set.

Visually, the show is a feast as well. The lighting is dazzling, the shots of the crowd rocking TF out to the band’s powerful music are most welcome, and the drum cam is a real treat, giving a perspective on the skinsman’s performance you don’t normally get at a live show.

Pictured: CALIGULA’S HORSE live @ The Triffid - Sunday 06 June 2021 Photographer: Nicole Matthews — Pictured: CALIGULA’S HORSE live @ *The Triffid* - Sunday 06 June 2021
Photographer: *Nicole Matthews*

The Verdict

‘Fun’ might not be a word you automatically associate with the music and presentation of CALIGULA’S HORSE, but this livestream is full of it. Sound, visuals, performance and most importantly, the songs, are all top shelf, and this is another highly professional and very enjoyable livestream.