Live Review: Kingswood,Tired Lion, My Echo

While you might be gearing up for the Easter weekend right now, pay a little mind to last weekend: Kingswood, the big rolling machine of chugging Australian groove-rock, finished their Australian tour in a fittingly raucous Sunday night. It was a good night.

Melbourne four-piece My Echo kicked it off early, their swinging, anthemic rock getting a crowd going in the big room. Say what you will about a Sunday gig, but there was plenty of end-tour energy on show. My Echo’s lyrical content doesn’t dip too much out of “I’m in a rock band, and it rules”, which was pretty much what was called for by the audience.

Locals Tired Lion had big shoes and a big stage to fill, but as proven by their track record in recent months filled it amicably. The four-piece have noticeably evolved into an exciting and entertaining rock act, and the turbulent energy of their set was testament to such.

There was a fair deal of excitement for Kingswood’s eventual appearance, with the hirsute four-piece walking on stage, a devoted fan base lining the room. Kingswood’s debut album is a complete tour de force of driving, crunchy Aussie rock, and it’s a good thing to see that they lose none of that energy on stage. Fully adept at transitioning between rolling grooves and rollercoasters of soaring riffage, Kingswood delivered wall-to-wall entertainment for the whole set, with Fergus Linacre’s voice and Alex Laska’s often haunting guitar notes filling the room superbly. There’s nary a low note in terms of Kingswood’s set list, but tracks like Micro Wars and ICFTYDLM (I Can Feel That You Don’t Love Me), chock full of groove-laden danciness as it is, were clear highlights.

With a big tour season wrapping up, the relief was clear in Kingswood’s relaxed and free-form stage presence – one of the reasons they’ve become another beloved Australian rock act. A winning late-weekend show, and a pretty bloody good reason to be excited about this band’s place in Australian music.