Hellions - Gig Review 20th October @ Crowbar, Brisbane QLD
Hellions
Crowbar, Brisbane QLD
October 20th, 2018
There's something special about album launch shows. Intimate gatherings for fans and band members to get to know each other and hear new tunes from what should be a fantastic new addition to the catalogue. That's exactly how last night played out for Hellions and their Rue Album Launch show at Crowbar.
Arriving early, there were a sea of people ranging in age from 18 to 60 (no shit someone brought their parents) and we were all there for one reason, to show our appreciation for Hellions' latest masterpiece which scored a whopping 9.5/10 from our reviewer this week (review here), but how will the songs be perceived in a live setting, let alone a small venue like Crowie (considering the last time I caught these guys was during their mindblowing UNIFY Gathering performance this year). Turns out, it was almost as good.
The Sydney lads hit the stage shortly after 10pm and kicked off the festivities by ploughing straight into Rue's first three opening tracks '(Blueberry)' and 'Odyssey' before frontman Dre Faive addressed the crowd, thanked them for coming and added "this next song is called X" before launching into crowd fav 'X (mwah)', the song they famously debuted at UNIFY back in Jan and from that point, it's still as well received live as it was back then. My view in front of the sound box was skewed so I could barely see Anthony 'Aff' Caurso bashing away on his kit and guitarist Matt Gravolin was slipped through cracks in the crowd during the night but seeing Josh Campiao smiling like a Cheshire cat as he played along on his guitar roved the guys were loving every minute of it.
The setlist took us for a trip through the band's albums with songs like 'Nightliner Rhapsody', '25', '24' and 'Hellions' invoking crowd sing-a-longs and mild to extreme moshing within the limited space we had, whereas songs like 'Furrow', '(cocoon)' and 'Smile' had everyone feeling a whole lot more closer to each other. The aforementioned track 'Smile' (which is arguably, hands down the best belter on the new album) was so well received I couldn't heard the band singing along during the chorus, but when you looked around the room, everyone in attendance was dancing, jumping and singing along to the now iconic lyrics of "if we could shut the fuck up, maybe we could learnt to smile for once" and if this doesn't become an anthem for behavioural self-awareness, the I'll eat my sweaty, chafe-preventing underwear.
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'Quality of Life' sent fans into a frenzy with at least three crowd surfers floating around for the duration of the song and new track 'Get Up!' made it's live debut and goddamn it riffs hard. Its fast, punky and you can't help but move when it's played. Look out for that one at future shows. 'Smile' had confetti shot into our close proximity faces (by this point I came out of mosh retirement for the final two songs) and closing track 'Thresher' had fans going buck wild again without a care in the world.
Post show the boys came out to meet & greet fans, stop for photos and chats and upon standing back, I had the realisation that this could be the last time this foursome play such a small venue like this. They have grown in popularity so fast its almost hard to keep up at times but they still, to this day, give anyone the time of day who wants to share stories about how the band had changed/helped or encouraged them to be the best they can be. Hellions are killing it, there's no denying that and as a fan (of the band and the boys on a professional level) it is so encouraging seeing them progress as musicians/humans while still maintaining a clear, non-egotistical outlook on life.
Hellions are in their prime right now and there is absolutely nothing stopping them from achieving greatness and success. Their live shows replicate their studio produced music and both compliment each other perfectly. I'll say it again, if you're not on the Hellions bandwagon yet, you're fucking missing out.
Gig Review by Browny @brownypaul
Revisit Hellions drummer Anthony 'Aff' Caruso co-hosting our Wall of Sound: Up Against The Wall podcast right here
Photos by Marienne Te Haara and Browny
Hellions
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Hellions – Rue Album Launch Shows
Wednesday 24th October – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne - SOLD OUT
Thursday 25th October – The Lair (Metro Theatre), Sydney - SOLD OUT
UNIFY Gathering 2019
January 11 to 13th @ Tarwin Lower, VIC
WIN your way to UNIFY Gathering 2019 as our Intern. Competition Details here
