In Hearts Wake - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 10th July @ Capitol, Perth WA
In Hearts Wake
Capitol, Perth WA
July 10th, 2017
Supports: While She Sleeps, Crossfaith and Polaris
I’m losing credibility with regards to how frequently I write these words but, once again, gig of the year may have just swept through Perth, and as the first city of In Hearts Wake’s gigantic Australian tour, I can’t be told otherwise just yet. The Byron Bay metalcore maestros toddled into town with a couple of household names, namely While She Sleeps and Crossfaith. If that wasn’t enough to pack out Capitol in Perth, then throw on UNFD signed Aussie up and comers Polaris, and you’ve got yourself a pretty little evening.
Punters bottlenecked into the venue, bypassing the merch desk initially – the crowd were aware of the upcoming bill and needed to secure their spots. Sydney-siders Polaris sported some of their hard-hitting tracks that got heads banging and circle pits erupting. The band’s new material was impressively technical and ventures down the progressive route. Polaris certainly have a strong musical career ahead of them if they keep maturing at the exponential rate they have recently.
By the time the band left the stage, Capitol was packed like sardines from front to back and side to side – surely close to a sell-out. The next couple of hours was a bit of a Soundwave throwbacks, led by the almighty Crossfaith. Japanese electro-infused-metalcore outfit hit the stage with the horsepower of a Ferrari. The five-piece band graced the stage with sharp hairstyles and party-outfits. Opening with ‘Monolith’ from the Zion EP, the Osaka-bred boys busted out enormous decibels of EDM tossed riffs. Keyboardist Terufumi Tamano was a true showman with the crowd, engaging with punters in his shirtless leather jacket. Crossfaith played a well-mixed set from records Apocalyze and Xeno. Circle pits were a bit too cute for the Asian antagonists. Like spreading the Red Sea, front man Kenta Koie gestured for the crowd to split from the middle. You could smell the adrenaline in the room – and as the break-down dropped, the wall of death engaged. The stand-out of the set was when a punter got on stage and found a shoe. Tamano obviously needed to fulfil an Australian dream and poured into the shoe from his bottle of Jamieson and facilitated a beautiful shoey on stage. Crossfaith played a perfect set and arguably stole the show.
Though it was hard to top the party metalers, Sheffield band While She Sleeps were certainly not under-excited for their return to Aussie shores for the first time in a decent few years. The Brits hit the stage under a dark red stage light in preparation to performing a well-tuned set. The award winning metalcore band delivered a healthy mix of hits from their recent album You Are We and debut album This is the Six. Punters were being purged on stage and getting their 15 seconds of fame before catapulting themselves back into the frenzy of bodies. Vocalist Lawrence Taylor maintained the mood and energy that Crossfaith had precipitated. The front man disappeared for a few moments and appeared over the balcony jumping into the crowd who carried him back to the front. The clear crowd favourite of the evening from While She Sleeps was undoubtedly ‘Silence Speaks’ which is features Bring Me the Horizon’s Oli Sykes on the recording. The crowd went berserk and in normal circumstances would have been ultimately satisfied to leave before even seeing the headliner of the evening.
The thing about In Hearts Wake is that they always bring the party. You can simply imagine the boys sitting together and going “how can we top the last tour” – and somehow they always manage to outdo themselves. Finally, the Aussie heroes graced the stage and turned it up to 100. The crowd surged forward and began to go wild. With an impressive portfolio of records, the band slipped in and out of the back catalogue which had an unquestionably cumulative effect on the evening.
Vocalist Jake Taylor belched out the growls, standing tall on the front awning of the stage. What’s a show with a Byron Bay band without blow-up pool toys consisting of multiple dolphins? It’s not a Byron Bay lead show if you’re asking. Debuting a new shtick to their show, front man Taylor brought a raised flag to the crowd’s attention, being erected at the back of the venue. He is instructed fans to carry him on a dinghy to retrieve the flag and bring it back on stage by the end of the song. To no one’s surprise, the crazed punters managed this feet in the first 20-seconds of the track.
Punters kept pouring on stage as the mosh-pit was overflowing with movement. Music-lovers fell backwards into the entrusting crowd and truly lived in the moment, filled with bass-drops, piercing riffs and eclectic vocals. The Crossfaith and While She Sleeps front-men joined In Hearts Wake for separate tracks and surprised the crowd with some guest-spots. Tamano also made a cameo half-way through the set and jumped shirtless into the crowd. Playing a massive set, In Hearts Wake disappeared for a few moments before returning on stage to close with ‘Skydancer’. The band really brought the ruckus to their Australian tour and will be most likely partying their hearts out for the remaining cities.
Review by – Ricky Aarons (@rickyaarons)
Revisit our interview with While She Sleeps lead guitarist Sean Long here
Photo Gallery by Josh Ludlow. Please credit Wall of Sound and Josh Ludlow if you use published photos.
Polaris
Crossfaith
While She Sleeps
In Hearts Wake
In Hearts Wake – Australian Tour 2017With Special Guests: While She Sleeps, Crossfaith & Polaris
Tuesday 11 July – The Gov, Adelaide (LIC/AA)
Thursday 13 July – The Forum, Melbourne (18+)
Friday 14 July – Enmore Theatre, Sydney (Lic/AA)
Saturday 15 July – The Tivoli, Brisbane (18+)
Tickets on sale here
