GIG REVIEW: BAND OF SKULLS | THE CORNER (MELB) | 7.4.15
Saturday, April 11, 2015
(Photographer: Kristy Smolcic)
After their highly
noted performance in Byron Bay for Blues Fest 2015, the trio were back in
the town of Melbourne to kick off a string of sideshows. We were lucky enough
to catch them play at The Corner Hotel in Melbourne as part of.
As part of this review
it should be noted that I have seen these guys before last year at The Hi-Fi in
Melbourne and back in 2012 at The Corner. It is always a pleasure to see them,
they are one band that seems to be digressing and with that they deserve every
bit of success being earned.
Local band, Spooky
Land warmed up the stage for Band Of Skulls as supports on the tour and did a
credited job at it.
Currently on tour
promoting their newly released album ‘Himalayan’, Band Of Skulls are no
strangers when it comes to visiting down under and performing a handful of
stacked out shows. The more times they have visited the comfort that you feel
from them seems to be real, with a stability in connecting with the crowd so
warmly that it is very heart felting to see. They did this frequently
throughout their gig, acknowledging their fans for continuing to come back and
see them, even though they visit quiet often, more than other bands.
With such vision, it
was a pleasure to see fans enjoying their new tunes preformed live. Breaking
out from the new album was their firstly released single, ‘Himalayan’ which had
gained quite the rotation on Triple J radio, which could define the reason why
fans were so appealed to it live. The crowd were also lucky enough to gaze a
close, intimate guitar riff by Russell Marsden where at this point he was right
at the end of the stage connecting with the crowd to the sight of where they
would freeze and just adore, and it had only been three songs in. Another new
track that was also a definite stand out was ‘Hoochie Coochie.
The sexiness in that
track is filled with such thrills that came to life more when preformed live,
such sexual appeal and rock and roll’s ‘no care’ attitude was in force,
especially by Emma Richardson was slaying her way with her bass line rhythms and
subtle vocals that oozed flair. We must not forget master beat maker who can
not be broken, drummer Matt Hayward, who throughout the night was seen smiling
giving the impression that he was even feeling the great vibes from the night.
The group kept their
most popular track ‘Sweet Sour’ near the end, I was expecting it to be an
encore track, however this was a nice surprise as it showed that people still
wanted to hear more, not just that song when they finished their first set before
encore.
After seeing them for
a third time, I believe fans are still driven for more music by these guys.
Their live performances make you impulse yourself to pick up a CD, or purchase
their music because it is that thrilling. The impacts real, their music is real
and they keep it real. Lets just say, I can’t wait to see them back in
Australia again.