Gig

Deafheaven - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 27th February @ The Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Feb 28, 2019

7 min read

Deafheaven
The Corner, VIC
February 27th, 2019
Support: Divide and Dissolve

You either love them or you don’t. That’s the kind of band Californians Deafheaven are. The outfit have completely redefined the parameters of metal and have a 2019 Grammy Award nomination to prove it. Having conquered the world with their Ordinary Corrupt Human Love album tour cycle, Deafheaven are simply embracing the loyalty of fans, and have stopped by Australia in February for a few massive shows, including the open-air Perth Festival.

Divide and Dissolve were the direct supports for the evening, and they were a suitable choice for the genre and environment of a Deafheaven show. The duo have been taking the world by storm with their doomy instrumentation (drums and guitar). The Victorians captured the attention of the sold out crowd from start to finish with incredibly emotive sounds and transitions. Each beat was performed with incredible passion and embodiment. Divide and Dissolve used their platform to do an Acknowledgement of Country and encouraged the crowd to respect the land of our elders. The pair received a respectful round of applause for their statements before launching into a dynamic saxophone-filled track delivering just the right amount of experimentation; “We’re just so happy to be touring with Deafheaven, we’re such nerds.”

Without overcomplicating the evening’s agenda, it was all about stage setup for the San Francisco metal titans. At 8.30pm sharp, the droney introduction began as the instrumentalists entered the stage. The crowd were shoulder-to-shoulder and everyone was screaming for the band as ‘Brought to Water’ was recognised. Vocalist George Clarke appeared on stage with longer hair since his last Australian tour, windmilling it around as he dry-retched a blistering vocal effort sending everyone into a swarm. Clarke had his t-shirt tucked into his jeans, with elbow-high black leather gloves on - which we think he should have worn to The Grammys.

Melbourne fans were in for a real treat, as the front-man announced to the crowd that they were about to debut a track live that was only set to be released as a B-side single to Ordinary Corrupt Human Love later that evening. In an interview with him earlier, he told Wall of Sound that it was heavier than any track off Sunbather - so we were naturally excited. The song didn’t disappoint. I think fans may have been surprised as ‘Black Brick’ didn’t commence with the band’s usual calming forces, but rather a chaotic sensation of rapid riffs. Clarke’s belted into the microphone with one foot on the amp to leverage his persona and energy; eyes bursting with demonic passion. Fans were going insane for this beautiful debut.

With tracks that extend beyond ten minutes, the band blistered through just seven-songs, albeit over a decent period of time, closing their set with extraordinary renditions of ‘Sunbather’ and ‘Dreamhouse’ leaving fans torn between that feeling of salivating for more and incredibly content.

Gig Review by Ricky Aarons @rickysaul90

Photo Gallery by Sean Fabre-Simmonds. Insta: @gravy_havock
Please credit Wall of Sound and Sean Fabre-Simmonds if you use published photos

Divide and Dissolve

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Deafheaven