Live Review: Knapsack, We Set Sail, Seahorse Divorce

The awesomely dingy confines of Crowbar tonight find local five-piece Seahorse Divorce opening proceedings with a welcoming collection of genuine, heartfelt indie-rock. Their often dreamy soundscapes are intricate but subtle and feature interesting tones and time signatures, and when charismatic singer Josh Coxon’s voice soars during Hessian Transgression it drags the whole thing thrillingly skywards.

When We Set Sail kick off roaming the extended Crowbar stage pounding their instruments amidst pre-recorded vocals it’s eerily reminiscent of early From Monument To Masses (no bad thing), but they soon find their own voice as they progress into a set of dense and passionate post-rock. They share vocal duties which adds interesting versatility, the songs meandering at times but possessing innate melody and occasional sharp turns which usher fascinating shifts in mood. Musically the Brissie five-piece mesh perfectly, but the often fractured and yelled vocals offset this unison throughout, creating a unique and ultimately enticing proposition.

The crowd is pumped for reformed Californian ‘90s indie legends Knapsack’s first ever show in these parts, but the forlorn look on frontman Blair Shehan’s face as he takes the mic speaks volumes – sadly his voice is absolutely gone, and he huskily begs the crowd’s forgiveness. Shehan’s soaring vocals are integral to the band’s quiet/loud aesthetic and his lyrics essential to their songs’ inherent power so this is a potentially devastating loss, but as they power into Arrows To The Action and Shehan screams his already hoarse voice into oblivion trying to do the right thing it’s clear that the night’s not wasted – the twin guitars (Shehan alongside Samian’s Sergie Loobkoff) and mix sound fantastic and the crowd does their best to take up the vocal slack (one committed fan appearing onstage intermittently to add vocals at important junctures). Just being present as tracks like Simple Favor, The Shape Of The Fear and Steeper Than We Thought are trotted out is special enough, even if they’re usually reliant on Shehan’s vocal timbre and narratives for full impact. Nonetheless the fans up front seemed unperturbed and the four-piece play with a real conviction that somehow makes the whole effort transcend the less-than-ideal circumstances, the deft tones and nuances from the Knapsack repertoire all present and accounted for as they move through Effortless, Courage Was Confused and the inspiring Boxing Gloves. Powerful songs like Katherine The Grateful and Please Shut Off The Lights are instantly recognisable even in this altered state – it’s clearly far better to see an amazing band under the weather than not at all – and when they finish with the pummeling and uplifting Decorate The Spine the entire performance is bathed in a pathos that would have been missing where it not for the dire straits. Slightly sad but also admirably affirming.