Texas rock titans …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead played in full their modern classic, Source Tags & Codes, for only the second time since they recorded it back in 2002. Whilst they matched the record in terms of sheer visceral brutality and raw emotional power, they lacked the finesse, the focus and the profound sense of consciousness that singled the album out and elevated it into iconic status.
Adelaide outfit Sincerely, Grizzly opened up with a short set of songs that smacked (in a good way) of too much Mogwai and Glassjaw back-in-the-day. Their nice build-ups and breakdowns kept the tension on a low simmer, and that, combined with the excellent way they played with tempo and time signatures was a sign of good things to come. They were tight, and their angular chugging riffs felt contained and pressurised. Every now and then they'd release it in beautiful mushrooming passages, and it was easy to lose yourself in the moment.
Since getting That Review all those years ago …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead have had numerous requests to play Source Tags & Codes, either in a formal arrangement or by screaming fans at regular concerts. They've played previous album, Madonna, in Tokyo, but now it was our turn. Our reaction will determine if they move forward with more shows like it.
Invocation drew the surprisingly small crowd towards the stage. The band assembled under dim light and assaulted us with opener, It Was There That I Saw You. From there it was an up and down experience. Expectation can be a killer (something these guys know all too well) and it was interesting watching the band and the crowd adjusting themselves to each other, gauging reaction and performance. Any other band playing any other show would have it easier, but things like a buzzing, often indecipherable bass tone (as much the fault of the Metro's system), bad tuning and a shot-to-pieces voice from a jittery frontman felt like tangible offences to an audience champing at the bit to shower the band in sweaty praise.
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After the intermission (yeah, they had one of those) things got better. The song list was a good mix of old and new (thankfully very little of their prog material), and by the end they were tearing the place to pieces with incredible versions of A Perfect Teenhood, Caterwaul and Totally Natural. Extra points to Jason Reece for Aged Dolls.
