Live Review: The Butterfly Effect - UNSW Roundhouse

14 May 2012 | 3:17 pm | Fiona Cameron

Band and punters kept it together pretty well right up until the heartfelt Gone managed to choke us all up. “I’ve got to be honest with you, you really fucking got me! That’s the closest I’ve come in over twelve years, since it all began in 2001,” said a clearly moved frontman Clint Boge.

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The fans turned out to farewell the 'Butters' on their final go round in this present incarnation. It seems many in fact had plunked down considerable amounts of time and money following the tour across several venues and dates in an effort to take in as much of the stomping goodness while it was still going.

Brisbane three-piece Greenthief kicked things off with their grungy take on rock and put in the effort despite a sparely peopled room. The fact that their stuff is pretty different to that of the headliner didn't appear to do much for the punters that had turned up early, but hey, that's hardly their fault.

Numbers Radio seemed to have a few more fans down front, but it could also have been the die-hards staking out their turf. They do a nice line in short, sharp, fast, loud with some interesting flourishes and don't shy away from the old school guitar solo. Unfortunately it sounds a bit too So-Cal early noughties pop/punk to these ears, prompting several rounds of 'spot the riff' and a feeling that it's all been done ten years ago. They still mixed in the odd '70s element and they got a few more cheers than the first band.

The Butterfly Effect took the stage to thunderous applause and plenty of pogoing. In the midst of the familiar bombastic majesty we had all come to love about their live show, the career-spanning set was heavy on the big singles and crowd favourites. Some numbers had been re-worked for the tour and others had been stripped down to the bare essentials as acoustic versions.

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While it took a while for the singalongs to ramp up to howlalongs, the beefy bloke next to Drum seemed determined to the make up the difference. Band and punters kept it together pretty well right up until the heartfelt Gone managed to choke us all up. “I've got to be honest with you, you really fucking got me! That's the closest I've come in over twelve years, since it all began in 2001,” said a clearly moved frontman Clint Boge.

The boys came back for a quick photo, two encores and a signing at the merch desk where again the love flowed, the tears were wiped and what will come next was pondered. Long live the Kings.