Live Review: Dead Letter Circus

One of the best things about the festival season is the warm-up shows that allow bands to prepare for the big event, test out some new music and make a bit of quick cash on the side.  Dead Letter Circus was one of the bands to sweep through town post-Christmas on their way to Pyramid and Gold Coast Big Day Out.

Opening for them in the small and sweaty venue was the atmospheric drama of Marlow. Like Dead Letter, they have a strong vocalist who threw himself on the dancefloor for the final song of their short set which was high on moody prog-rock, youthful intensity and solid sound.

Hands Like Houses looked slightly more awkward in their preppy shirts and moustaches. Big on harmony and samples, the crowd were particularly taken with their metal sounds towards the end of the set. With not an ounce of black to be seen, they might just be bringing hard rock to the hipsters.

The cramped and hot punters were intense yet well-behaved in their adoration of Dead Letter Circus who opened with favourites like Here We Divide, Big, Lines, The Mile and Reaction, providing perfect crowd participation which is always vital at a DLC gig. Things started to slow down mid-gig when they road-tested two news songs either side of Tremors - both greeted with a mild reaction. There was no doubt they boasted a classic DLC sound but they didn't seem to immediately connect with the audience - but as one person in the crowd pointed out: their songs do sneak up on you.

As often happens at a Dead Letter gig, singer Kim Benzie's spectacular vocals started to sound slightly tired leading him to appeal “Help me out, Sydney'' towards the end. Although with such intensely enthusiastic sing-alongs on One Step, Space On The Wall and, final song, Next In Line, Benzie could have taken the rest of the night off.