Circles - Gig Review 19th July @ The Zoo, Brisbane QLD
Circles
The Zoo, Brisbane QLD
July 19th, 2019
Supports: Balloons Kill Babies, Ebonivory and Kodiak Empire
Circles hit Brisbane in the middle of their Winter Tour, and a night of prog rock was just the thing to chase away our winter blues. Joined by Kodiak Empire, Ebonivory and Balloons Kill Babies it promised a good night of exceptional talent.
First of four bands to take up the stage were locals Balloons Kill Babies. Ominous name but actually lovely music! They pulled a sparse crowd to the stage and left the other punters relaxing in their chairs with great views and sounds. They played some new songs which went down quite alright and their evolving melodies really started the night off well.
Ebonivory played an unexpectedly impressive set. These fellas hailed all the way from Ballarat in rural Victoria, and they took to the stage running; they looked like five youthful guys and sounded like a proggy beast. Energy was high and the way they danced showed they loved performing and being on stage. There's nothing better than seeing a band enjoy themselves and enjoy the crowd. And they kept the energy rolling through their set, every song played was a step up from the previous and their melodic prog had punches of heavy vocals and breakdowns at just the right time. I don't know where the hell this band came from, but fuck yes.
The final support slot of the night was Brisbane's own Kodiak Empire and to be honest, they probably didn't bring enough energy to precede Circles. They played a couple of songs from their forthcoming release which some members of the crowd were excited about but the band didn't really work the stage or connect too well with the audience. Sound wise there was some definite overlapping of guitars, keys maybe even some synths which made the actual melody hard to distinguish. Whatever was going on there, their music just didn't translate live as cleanly and clearly as it should've.
But Circles were the band everyone came to see, and boy did The Zoo fill up almost immediately. Kicking it off with 'Dream Sequence' the crowd was 100% there for it. This band has great stage presence, and frontman Ben Rechter has a certain quality that really draws the eye. He probably spent over half the time on stage really looking at the crowd and acknowledging them, rather than looking down at his guitar or singing with his eyes closed. It was really refreshing and he made a powerful picture.
Circles played banger after banger and they have some heavy breakdowns in a fair few of their songs, and damn are they even better live. A mosh pit was created during 'Resolution' and stayed through 'As It Is Above', 'Winter' and 'Arrival' with one man running from the bar into the pit and straight into dance mode.
They ended on their hit song from their latest album 'Tether' and didn't return to the stage despite the crowd chanting for one more song. Circles are a stand up band that put on a stellar show and sound just as good live (if not better!) than they are recorded. These guys are welcome to tour anytime. We'll be there.
Review by Ebony Story
Setlist
- Dream Sequence
- Breaker
- The Messenger
- Another Me
- Erased
- Ground Shift
- Responses
- Blueprints for a Great Escape
- The Frontline
- Eye Embedded
- Resolution
- As It Is Above
- Winter
- Arrival
- Tether
Melbourne Show Photo Gallery by DylanMartin. Insta: @dylanmartin_photography
Please credit Wall of Sound and DylanMartin if you use published photos.
Rival Fire
Ebonivory
Circles
Circles – The Winter Tour
with City of Souls and Ebonivory
Friday July 26 – The Basement, Canberra*
Friday August 2 – Sooki Lounge, Belgrave
Saturday August 3 – Karova Lounge, Ballarat
*City Of Souls Not Appearing
^Ebonivory Not Appearing
