Live Review: Karnivool

Themata is widely regarded as one of the best debut albums of the past ten years and to hear it played in its entirety was a treat few dedicated fans would forgo.

It takes a special kind of nerve to accept the support slot on a show like this where the one-eyed and dedicated are out in force with little patience for distraction beyond the headliner. But our worries quickly evaporated when Kiwi two-piece, Cairo Knife Fight, took the stage and began cranking out their first number.

This pair makes a lot of noise – really good, arresting, hook-laden, textured noise – with lots of layers for listeners to dig through. By the third track they’d made an audience not their own sit up and take notice. By the end of the set they’d won the house, and no doubt plenty of buyers for the album that will drop later this month.

Themata is widely regarded as one of the best debut albums of the past ten years and to hear it played in its entirety was a treat few dedicated fans would forgo. The cheering, howling, stomping roar that greeted Karnivool’s arrival on stage never really abated throughout the rest of the show, a highlight of which has to have been the singalongs that drowned out them out on more than one number and the clapalongs that kept energy and momentum pulsing.

Highlights included Roquefort, L1FEL1KE and Omitted For Clarity, while ‘encore’ highlights included Simple Boy, New Day and the airing of a new number which no doubt will soon generate singalongs of its own.

Intense, visceral and just as powerful ten years on – here’s to another decade.