Gig

Saviour – Gig Review 22nd September @ The Northcote Social Club, Melbourne VIC

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Heavy Metal Wordsmith

/10

Sep 23, 2018

7 min read

Saviour
The Northcote Social Club, VIC
22 September, 2018
Supports: Deadlights, Pridelands, Earthbound and Steadfast

Melodic hardcore has never been more alive, and Saviour’s Never Sleep tour is a true testament to this, as the bands collected were from all corners of the country. The Perth group have recently dropped a couple of singles, so ahead of a new album they have been building some excitement on the road, and with a whopping four support bands in Melbourne.

Steadfast delivered a raw set, filled with genuine energy and passion. Their raspy vocals matched with the band’s chaotic rhythm, brought about a head-bang-worthy few minutes. A handful of punters caught the locals early, ahead of a big evening.

Next cab off the ranks were Earthbound who brought more of a metalcore sound, with layered riffs and breakdowns that mixed up the evening quite nicely. An interchange of screams and cleans was the pinch of variety that the band needed to emphasise hooks and drops. The crowd were getting loose, circle-pitting and jumping on stage for mic-grabs.

With the locals having packed up, the national tour tag-alongs were up next, and the calibre of talent was notably visible. Over the last few years Pridelands have been kicking all kinds of goals and releasing some massive tunes. With two vocalists, the seasoned band belted out some crisp hits. The crowd was well and truly detonated, as you’d expect at a home show.

Post-hardcore Brisbane band Deadlights came down to play a few final bangers before the headliners hit the stage. At this point of the night, everyone was pretty boozed and craving a good time with the upbeat band. Deadlights like all the other bands, thanked all the bands before them and for Saviour for having them on. The guys have a huge future ahead of them with a well-structured approach to song-writing.

And here we go. After priming the crowd with Post Malone’s moody hit ‘I Fall Apart’ blaring across the venue, Perth heroes Saviour burst on stage with an excitable energy and with amps turned up to 110. The entire band were on fire and were warmed up from the prior legs of their tour, and ready to finish up with a bang.

Showcasing their brand new singles, Saviour proved to fans that they’re still going strong after more than ten years on the scene and a few line-up changes. The emotive squad got the crowd jamming to OG tracks like ‘Vomit’ and ‘Jaded’. It was great to see that compared to more recent years Shontay Snow had more of a spotlight on stage and even gave front-man Bryant Best a breather during ‘Little Birds’.

After a few seconds of encore requests, the band came back to close with their signature anthem ‘Unstoppable’ to punters who still had a bit of steam left in them. It was certainly a value-for-money evening at the Northcote Social Club.

Gig Review by Ricky Aarons @rickysaul90