FIGURES live @ The Evelyn
w/ MUSHROOM GIANT, SEIMS, BEAUTIFUL BEDLAM, SENTIA + GIANT CLAM
Written by: Rod Whitfield - Independent Writer | Thursday 11th August 2022
Six very different bands in the space of around six hours, it’s going to be a hectic and eclectic bill. But tonight is the type of night that warms the cockles of a rock punter’s heart on a cool Melbourne winter’s evening, and we are more than ready for it.
Firstly, one of the grand old dames of the Melbourne music scene, The Evelyn Hotel, has changed its look a little, renovations obviously having gone ahead during the covid years. The owners have spruced up the interior, given it a bit of a modern facelift, and in doing so they have taken away a little of the rough edge that has always given the venue its rustic charm. Oh well, I suppose it’s not about the walls, it’s about what goes on within those walls that counts.
Pictured: GIANT CLAM
Photo by: Michael Reynolds
And what’s going on within the Evelyn’s four walls this evening is very special indeed. At the very early hour of 6:40pm, GIANT CLAM take the stage and demand our attention. There is somewhat of an indie tone to their quirky, sometimes experimental all-instrumental post-rocky sound, although much power emanates from their triple-guitar setup (all three guitars creating very different, intertwining textures at a given time), and it’s a curious and compelling mix. Their off-kilter grooves and odd but oddly cohesive changes only add to their ‘throw everything at it and make it stick’ approach, and our ears are kept on their toes, so to speak. Whilst possessed of a vibe that’s all their own, they also do what a good post-rock band should, that is, transition from subtle and understated to swelling with almost overwhelming sound and emotion with practised ease, and they remain crowd-pleasing to aficionados of the style.
By the necessity of the sheer volume of bands on the bill this night, GIANT CLAM’s set whizzes by in a head-spinning manner, but their impact, more stealthy than in-your-face, is felt by all in the growing throng.
Pictured: SENTIA
Photo by: Michael Reynolds
Time to head back to relative normality. SENTIA are a long running and very entertaining vocal-based five-piece who create more traditional song structures and deliver them with a gusto that is infectious. All that said, they certainly still have their own thing going on, injecting their modern, groovin’ alt-rock sound with some 80s new romantic nostalgia. The tone and the strength of the lines created by the bass guitarist drive the sound, and much personality flows from the clean melodic vocals. While their sound fits comfortably in the ‘alt-rock’ spectrum, they throw several kitchen sinks at it at the same time, cohesively blending electronic, reggae and jazzy elements at times. They even remind me of FAITH NO MORE in their schmaltzier moments. And it all rolls off their hands in seamless fashion in a live setting.
SENTIA’s set is once again brief, but they pack a shitload of fun into their allotted 30 minutes. They are a band that only gets better with age.
Pictured: BEAUTIFUL BEDLAM
Photo by: Michael Reynolds
Melbourne’s BEAUTIFUL BEDLAM are well named. Rising after the fall of illustrious Melbourne prog act A LONELY CROWD, BB plough a similar idiosyncratic musical field, although employing trade-off male vocals rather than a single female singer. Their unique take on proggy experimental rock comes replete with the aforementioned contrasting vocalists, pulsating keyboard textures, bombastic drumming and liberal pepperings of odd time playing, all delivered with an energy that puts a collective cheesy grin on the crowd’s face. Making it even more impressive is the fact that they have used a stand-in bassist this night after only one rehearsal. We would not have known if it had not been pointed out, so seamless was the sound.
If you dig on MR BUNGLE, you would love BEAUTIFUL BEDLAM. Check them out.
The evening takes yet another sharp turn to the left as Sydney’s SEIMS burst into the crowd’s consciousness. This band’s lineup may be stripped back, being a three-piece (two guitars and drums, although one of the guitarist grabs a bass two-thirds of the way in, fattening and bottoming the sound measurably), but the sound is anything but threadbare. In fact, it is wild, cinematic and expansive, belying the fact that only three stand the stage. The sound is mostly instrumental, although they start to weave in some vocals, some structured, some more textural, as the set progresses, culminating in a very unexpected and very Seims-ified cover of BLUR’s Song 2 towards the end. Experimental moments keep interest high, pulled-back atmospherics provide the dynamics, and a rock solid drummer holds the chaos around him together beautifully.
Pictured: SEIMS
Photo by: Michael Reynolds
Although it is officially FIGURES’s gig, I would describe the night as a co-headliner, with Melbourne’s mighty MUSHROOM GIANT up next. With a two decade history behind them, this is a band that cannot be stopped, and with a new album on the way and a live show that can best be described as transcendent, they will not be denied.
Swirling atmospherics signal the opening of their set, a violin bow across the strings of the bass guitar lending the sound eeriness and a mesmerising tone. This is another band that plies their own path, and to hell with convention, expectation and traditional song structures. They let it all hang out, as they have done for so long, an ebbing and flowing wash pouring from the stage captivating all in its path, the rear-screen visuals only adding to the psychedelic vibe of the whole thing. Sometimes this band rocks like the blazes, sometimes they apply the break and drag things back to an unsettling ambience, sometimes they sit on a relatively straightforward groove, and everything they do fills the room with swells of beautiful sound. And it all works, maintaining the interest and piquing the stimulation levels from go to woah.
Pictured: MUSHROOM GIANT
Photo by: Michael Reynolds
Forty minutes is nowhere near enough to satiate us with the Mushroom, but tonight it’s all we get. Until next time…
Bringing the diversity one final time is FIGURES. These guys and gal have been around for a while too: I’ve seen them several times, and always very much enjoyed their set. But tonight is something else altogether. Not being in their inner circle, I can’t say for certain, but it seems from the outside looking in that they’ve been working extremely hard behind the scenes on their sound, songs and stage presentation, and they have now hit a new level of professionalism and sheer entertainment value.
In direct contrast to most of what came before them, bands with intertwining instrumentation and an eschewing of traditional structures, FIGURES have that feel of everything punching powerfully as one, a sonic fist smashing you repeatedly, a charging engine firing on all eight cylinders. It’s very heavy and ballsy alternative rock, but they somehow manage to be highly melodic and accessible at the same time. It’s a heady mix, and one that’s not easy to achieve with conviction and credibility, but this band absolutely nails it.
Pictured: FIGURES
Photo by: Michael Reynolds
Unsurprisingly, much of said melody springs from the vocals of frontman Mark Tronson, who is in absolutely soaring form this evening.
Tonight, FIGURES give us a full hour of pounding but dynamic rock, and while six hours and six bands is a long haul (especially for this creaky middle-aged rocker), their sound and performance energises we punters in the crowd till the very end. My only disappointment is that we don’t get to hear Emoticonic, but it’s a small grievance when their set otherwise is so spectacular.
Tonight is a night of contrast, a night of pure enjoyment, and yet another night that makes me thankful that I’m closely connected with the Melbourne/Australian independent rock scene.
