Written by: Belinda Quick | Friday 23rd February 2023
Photos by: Alysha Mallia >> SEE PHOTOS

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT illuminates Hindley Street Music Hall in Adelaide
on the final night of their national 20 Years of Begins Here tour

There are moments in our lives which move us. They shift something within and have the power to change mind and spirit. For the musically inclined, forever remembered in surround sound, those are the times we say, ‘That’s it… it all Begins Here.’

After almost a dozen dates throughout February, THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT made their curtain call on the Begins Here anniversary tour at Adelaide’s Hindley Street Music Hall. A pristine venue, the spectacular chandelier overhanging the pit floor, tiered terraces and theatrical mezzanine provided the perfect setting for this monumental occasion.

From setting to characters, the diversity in the crowd was striking. Everywhere were families; children lined the barricade with their parents protecting them, and as the night wore on, switching to pure embrace in sharing the moment. This was not a night for chaos and crowdsurfing like it once had been, it was for appreciation and wonderment.

There were peers too, all feeling our older age and joking about the two decades that had passed in the blink of an eye; excitedly buzzing and feeling just like we had when the debut album was released. We were like teenagers at a blisteringly hot summer festival - a sentiment shared by Thomas Davenport of Melbourne’s WAYSIDE.

I’ll admit, I was unsure of who could hold space (especially as the single opener) for such an occasion. Facing an audience here for a singular purpose, WAYSIDES’s DEFTONES-influenced aesthetic was a perfect choice. Shifting through 45 minutes of dreamy yet grungy movements, the band commanded the stage from opener ‘Madonna’. A personal favourite ‘Half Nelson’ follows an interlude of DEFTONES’ own ‘Pink Cellphone’. Following that, Josh Ehmer’s guitar riff in ‘Safe Forever’ has me singing in my head the chorus to ‘Rocket Skates’. They say mimicry is the highest form of flattery but the Australian duo and their touring accompanists do so in their own way.

The stage lights drop and an immense LED screen flickers on like an old television, a series of spliced clips plays the major events of 2003. Excitedly the crowd can be heard murmuring, “I remember that”, and explaining moments to the young ones who weren’t yet around.

Enthralled from the get-go by Kurt Goedhart and Glenn Esmond’s dual guitar Intro, the haunting opening lines of ‘Perception Twin’ evoke screams of ecstasy, the crowd looking frantically for where Clint Boge is positioned. A beam of light illuminates him at the back of stage behind Ben Hall’s drum kit, until ‘One Second of Insanity’ draws him to centre stage. Although he will joke later, in the resplendent, orchestral rendition of ‘Beautiful Mine’ that he was “much skinnier and better looking” in 2003, we all disagree. Dressed in navy velvet and tight black jeans, he is a handsome sight and has arguably never sounded better.

The same goes for the entire band and the performance is scintillating… spine-tingling; there are far too many moments to encapsulate in short format. Of the many, some take precedence – the band’s silhouette during a rare live performance of ‘Without Wings’, the dusk lighting Clint and Kurt’s acoustic duet of ‘Overwhelmed’, and a personal memory of a blue-and-silver-painted Clint climbing a stage scaffold while not missing a note of ‘Filling Silence’ at BDO 2004 when Begins Here had only just been released.

Above all though was ‘Always’. Without invitation, the crowd’s roar of the opening title is enormous. The choir continued, Clint offers his microphone for extra emphasis before powerfully leading the final repetition. Carrying immense weight in 2003, the depth of emotion conjured this time around as Clint screamed “I am with you always” was evocative to say the least. It was both his own and our collective feeling.

‘Outro’ encourages one last mammoth eruption to news that, “If anyone is wondering, there’ll be an Imago tour in 2026”, before a carefully selected final four encore tracks are performed.

‘Gone’, featuring only Clint, keys and cello, is heartbreaking as ever, especially in dedication to those no longer with us 20 years later. ‘Window & the Watcher’ remains an undisputed crowd favourite, moving and singing to Clint’s conduction. To see this band, after so much has passed, time and otherwise, dance together in joy during ‘Take It Away’ was a blessing that brought tears to my eyes. They overflowed, as did so many others’, to saying goodbye with ‘Reach’. I took a moment to look at the band one last time, then out to the crowd; everywhere for both, smiles abounded, eyes were closed, movement was lively and final seconds savoured.

In closing, I’d like to offer my gratitude – for the privilege of writing this review, for sharing again these blissful moments with so many others, but most of all to Clint, Ben, Glenn and Kurt. Your music changed me then and moves me now. Thank you, forever and Always.

Photos by: Alysha Mallia
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