Gig

Drowning Pool – Gig Review and Photo Gallery 31st July @ Capitol, Perth WA

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Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Aug 1, 2016

7 min read

DROWNING POOL
Capitol, Perth WA
July 31^st, 2016
Support – Tempest Rising & Make Way For Man

After fourteen years of absence, straight-up metalers Drowning Pool have finally made it down under, and wound up their final show of the tour in WA’s appreciative capital (at Capitol), thanks to Metropolis Touring and Tombowler. For some context, the band have been around for fifteen years, so it’s been just about their lifetime since heading to Australia – excitement from all ends is an understatement, read our interview with the band here.

You know how everyone thinks that Perth weather is sunny and above thirty-five degrees all year-round? Well the rumours can now be quashed as fans lined up in a brisk five-degree queue to catch the show-openers.

Perth locals Make Way For Man have recently burst on the scene and have scored some tasty support slots like this one, as well as with Trivium and Fear Factory not so long ago. The metalcore outfit powered through bangers from their debut EP Evolve and Repair. The duo vocalists delivered an eager vibe, as they jumped around the stage exchanging deep bellows and melodic highs. Punters were certainly stretching those neck muscles with a cheeky head-bang throughout the abundant breakdowns. The band are rapidly making progress in their live performance delivery, particularly with the venue’s acoustics marrying to their sound quite nicely.

After a quick-turn-around and an enjoyable house-music overlay of Machine Head and Killswitch Engage, the crowd were keen to hear what Tempest Rising had to offer. The bittersweet outcome of Perth’s isolation and consequence of no national supports, is the opportunity to bask in some of our hometown’s latest talent. The band had a strong instrumental influence from bands like As I Lay Dying but then also had a metallic and operatic traditional sound, which you could relate to as post-Iron Maiden or something? Diversely, vocalist Vin Trikeriotis carried out some sick growls that fit with the set of riffs coming through. With tracks like ‘Devil in Me’, the outfit definitely showed some potential.

Enough warming up, it was then time for Texan band Drowning Pool to exercise their reputation and flick the volume switch up a notch. ‘If you’re crazy and you know it, shoot yourself’ bled their intro backing track. Entering the stage to a huge reception from the packed venue, the band launched onto their self-titled track from debut album Sinner – the perfect way to get things started. Circle pits erupted and devil horns were erected.

Renowned for a history of vocalist changes, Jason Moreno demonstrated why he was the impeccable fit for Drowning Pool. The front man could not only perform older tracks like they were recorded, but he could also put forward his unique sound on during some of the newer tracks played like ‘We Are the Devil’ and ‘Push’ from Hallelujah.

Moreno bellowed across the venue, asking fans from front-to-back and side-to-side to scream, move and enjoy together the long awaiting visit. Drowning Pool played a really consistent set, in a satisfying way. Fans really enjoyed the freshness of tracks from the new release which seemed to pleasantly surprise the band.

After getting the newer tracks out of the way though, the band knew that it was time to hit the time machine again. The last part of the set was simply a trip down memory lane, with the band playing half of the Sinner album, which punters went naturally berserk for.

But let’s be real, the set-closer is the big cheese of what the evening was all about. Morello thanked the crowd profusely and invited everyone back on stage to share the next moment with him and the band. With a lengthy build-up, he finally started to whisper – “let the bodies hit the floor”; and carnage ensued. Moreno shared the mic with the excitable crowd throughout ‘Bodies’ – the timeless track that has been carried through movie soundtracks and is arguably one of the biggest metal anthems today. Drowning Pool successfully brought us back to the noughties for just one memorable night in Perth.