Written by: Rod Whitfield - Independent Professional Writer
All photos by: Darren Chan on behalf of AMNplify

Northcote Social Club - Melbourne, VIC - Friday 24th June 2022

What a fabulous occasion. A sold-out night, a packed-out venue for a local instrumental rock/metal guitarist who’s taken a sharp left turn and released an all-acoustic album. It doesn’t get much better than that, and massive kudos to all involved in putting on and promoting such an event.

RO1

I just love it how Melbourne audiences almost always show up for the support act, and tonight is another prime example. And tonight’s openers have special significance in relation to the headliner. RO1 is a solo project for a keyboard whiz by the name of Rohan Sharma, who also tinkles the keys in I BUILT THE SKY.

It’s 8.30pm, RO1 takes the stage and the joint is already packed to the rafters. Surprisingly, RO1 is not a full band production, but a duo, featuring Sharma on the keys and a drummer, playing along with guitar and bass backing tracks. A purist would hate it, but who cares, RO1’s set is a rollicking good ride, a highly enjoyable feast of key-driven proggy goodness, and that’s all that matters.

In fact, the energy and personality flowing off the stage and these two smash out their blistering, fusion-esque prog is truly infectious. Sharma swaps from the keyboard to the keytar, with which he literally takes centre stage, with seamless and swaggering ease and plays up to the crowd with fist pumps and devil’s horns as he dazzles us with his flying-fingered keyboard wizardry and live delivery of his blistering compositions. And the heaving crowd responds in kind with raised horns of our own.

All the while, drummer David Parkes thunders around the kit with skilled abandon and with an almost constant smile on his face.

Such is the dexterity with which Sharma navigates his keyboards, the mate I’m here with says to no one in particular, “time to give up the piano”, which draws a laugh from several in the immediate vicinity. Sharma even gives us a moment of George Michael’s Careless Whisper, which goes down an absolute treat.

Tonight is a night of positive energy and good, fun vibes, and RO1 is the perfect way to kick it off.

I BUILT THE SKY - Acoustic Set

Although the tone and the visceral energy of the night takes a step back for IBTS’s acoustic set, the mood remains buoyant in the choc-a-block room as main man Rohan Stevenson takes the stage, all alone with his guitar initially. Then, after one acoustic piece, the relatively tiny NSC stage fills with people and instruments as he is joined by a string trio (violin, viola and cello), a second guitarist, plus a percussionist and keyboardist, who just happen to be the two members of RO2.

Keeping it fun and keeping it all in the family.

There are now no fewer than seven people onstage, the only bugger being that they are all seated, and with the stage at the NSC being relatively low, the players are a little hard to see if you’re not up front.

The strings are just a touch lost in the mix in the initial stages, but are given more presence as the set goes on, and the trio’s contribution to the live sound is absolutely sweet. Acoustic guitars over a wash of stringy goodness always sound amazing, if orchestrated properly, and Stevenson’s string-accompanied acoustic compositions are just magical, beautifully written and delivered.  He writes his acoustic pieces with the soul of what he is, a prog rock/metal guitarist, that is, with intricate arrangements and notes flying everywhere.

Around three-quarters of the way through the set, the strings leave the stage and things are stripped back to two guitars, percussion and keys for the final few tunes. But the magic is present for all phases of this beautiful acoustic set.

I BUILT THE SKY - Electric Set

A rousing fanfare heralds the return of the band for their loud set, Stevenson in the middle with his electric guitar, electric bassist to his left, keys to his right and the thunderous pound of the drums behind him, and they unleash upon an audience whose aural palette has been soothed by 45 minutes of sweet stringy acoustic ambience. But we are so very ready for it, ready to have the shit rocked out of us.

And rock the shit out of the NSC they do. The sound is enormous, although with big sound in a live setting in a small venue, clarity is sometimes sacrificed just a little. In a perfect world, Stevenson’s blistering melodic lines could have cut through the wall of sound just a smidgeon more. But hey, it’s live music, played and mixed live by human beings, so we can’t expect perfection.

What we can expect is energy, passion and highly skilled musicianship from players who are masters of their crafts, and that’s exactly what IBTS delivers in spades as they deliver cuts from Stevenson’s ever-burgeoning catalogue. And that energy and passion flows from the stage and affects and infects every person present, even as they stand admiring the highly skilled musicianship.

Indeed, there is a rather unique type of energy filling the room this evening, stemming from its infectious nature that feeds off itself and spreads through the gathered throng, and also from the fact that the entire night is rather unique. Nights like tonight are extremely uncommon: opening with a live-wire prog instrumental duo, followed by an acoustic ensemble backed by a string trio, and climaxed by a full-blown four-piece instrumental rock/metal act at the very top of their game. This is rare air, and we in the crowd are lucky to be witnessing it.

Melbourne’s illustrious live music scene is slowly but surely coming back to life, and this night is another big step in that reawakening, making one realise what a unique and vibrant scene we still have here.

All photos by: Darren Chan on behalf of AMNplify

The Setlist