Review: COG - Live in Brisbane

30 Nov

The Vinyl Tour Continued @ Crowbar - Brisbane, QLD

Saturday 30th November 2024

Review and Photos by: Rashid AlKamraikhi

It was a strange feeling walking into the venue. It was the opening week for Crowbar Brisbane, having returned to Brisbane after closing the doors of its original location some four years ago, and reopening in the space formerly occupied by the legendary The Zoo.

Gone were the jovial animals that used to adorn the walls, floors, and rafters, instead replaced by Crowbars’ more chic (read black on black) aesthetic. It was like visiting a friends new home to find out they have rented the same house where someone else you know used to live. It all feels familiar yet out of place at the same time. I’m sure a few more trips and this will all feel normal, but for now it’s an adjustment period.

One thing that is unmistakably unchanged though is that iconic stage. THE SEA BENZ are our opening act for the night, and they take to it bathed in blue light. The Byron Bay (because it’s cooler than saying Northern Rivers admits their drummer) band display a high level of musicianship as they work through their all-instrumental material. Their set is comprised of relatively relaxed bluesy psych-rock jams that spike in moments of greater intensity as the crowd continues to file up the stairs and populate the venue.

They are followed up by the irrepressible force of HAMMERS. Every time I catch them, they seem to sound huger than the time before. Having recently returned from a tour overseas to New Zealand and Japan, they are firing on all cylinders and you can tell they want to push the pedal even harder. It makes me reflect on the first time I saw them, which was coincidentally at the original Crowbar, and how far they have come. Not only in the polish of their sound, but also in the calibre of shows they have been playing.

By the end of HAMMERS set the venue is packed, and the crowd are gathered en-masse at the front of the stage. It is now time to welcome COG to the proceedings, which the audience does with thunderous applause. The Bondi trio assume their positions and rip into their set, playing cuts from across their two full-length albums; The New Normal and Sharing Space. Along the way they encourage the crowd to sing along with them, which was already in full effect from the get-go and greatly amplified in songs like Resonate, Run, and My Enemy.

Mid-set Flynn informs us that they have had a trying day with airline SNAFUs leading to the uncertainty of whether they were even going to be able to make it to Brisbane to perform for us. Thankfully it has all worked out, and they are greatly appreciative of the enthusiasm that they are feeling from the crowd tonight after such stressful events. Flynn remarks that he wishes we could “all see what he sees”. Well mate I gotta tell you, it all looks, and sounds pretty good from here!