Posts Tagged ‘ butcher birds ’

The Smokestack Orchestra @ The Beetle Bar

April 18th, 2011

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Date: April 15, 2011
Venue: The Beetle Bar
Acts: The Smokestack Orchestra, Butcher Birds, Die On Planes, Dreamtime

There are several moments tonight when I am just blown away by the force of the bands on display.

Everything about Die On Planes furious racket from the slow Sabbath-like riffing that defines much of their one-tune, 25-minute set to the moaning chant at the end that alternates between nihilistic screaming and a raga-like throat-singing. The point when Donovan Miller’s sticks begin to shred, sliver and splinter in his hands as Butcher Birds amp things up on Bare Arms. Then, later, the pent ferocity of Stacey Coleman’s vocals throughout new song Volt.

And when headliners The Smokestack Orchestra shove even more bottom-end grunt under the engine courtesy of a second drummer. I don’t know if it’s a permanent thing — it’s not as though Skritch is a lightweight on the skins — but it was glorious to watch and just as popular with everyone else judging from the enthusiastic, drunken dancing going on.

Violent Soho @ The Zoo

October 10th, 2010

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Date: July 24, 2010
Venue: The Zoo, Brisbane
Acts: Violent Soho, Scul Hazzards, Butcher Birds, The Seizures

It’s a night of triumph for local lads Violent Soho. Sold out show, a monster backline of a dozen or so amps courtesy of Tym Guitars and a typically brutal performance… What am I saying? It’s beyond “typically brutal” — the four Mansfield lads are in searing form as they pummel an energetic and very willing audience with both old staples and newer material.

Crucially, the several hundred shows the band has played touring the United States has finally given them the endurance to push their sets past the 45 minute mark — a fantastic 90 minutes passes before the performance concludes in an orgy of stage invasions and crowd surfing. Frontman Luke Boerdam claims the last word, hurling himself upon the front rows at the climax of the final song.

Butcher Birds @ The Step Inn

August 2nd, 2010

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Date: June 11, 2010
Venue: The Step Inn, Brisbane
Acts: Butcher Birds

Plague has struck down fully three-quarters of the Butcher Birds tonight and it shows. Flu-afflicted and, by their own admission, out of practise, guitarists Stacey Coleman and Jacinta Walker, and bassist Jo Nilson struggle to muster any sort of rhythm. Coleman’s voice crackles roughly around the notes, never quite hitting the right pitch. Early on it’s rougher than they’ve ever been in the dozen or more time that I’ve caught them since the Valley Fiesta’s 2007 edition, although they improve markedly after they hit The Gate around halfway through the set.

Still, it doesn’t matter one whit. They know and we know. So we can all bask in the glorious messiness, and just enjoy the music for what it effectively is tonight: a house-party gig for a house-party audience that just happens to be using the Step Inn’s space and PA. And, for just eight bucks, it’s a steal:  this foursome has more passion, guts and tunes than any number of indie-wannabes pumping out tepid MOR nonsense for the mass market.

Butcher Birds @ Ric’s Bar

August 1st, 2010

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Date:  February 5, 2010
Venue: Ric’s Bar, Brisbane
Acts: Butcher Birds

My first gig at Ric’s Bar under its new management. The new staff’s (all of them presumably dragged in from the George next door) lack of knowledge about Tsing-tao is laughably predictable while the new lighting rig and wider stage is a welcome addition. It’s a case of mixed feelings, I guess.

Butcher Birds, playing here for the first time in … forever, are in good form despite a few sound issues with the foldbacks. My sole disappointment — and, strangely, my most enduring memory — is when the band abruptly aborts Yoko Coma after just a few bars after Jo has some difficulties syncing with her band-members because of the afore-mentioned sound issues.

Valley Fiesta @ Fortitude Valley

October 26th, 2009

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Venue: Valley Fiesta, Fortitude Valley
Date: October 24, 2009
Acts: Butcher Birds, SixFtHick, Vegas Kings

Jo Nilson’s mildly exasperated “Wake up Fortitude Valley!” is Butcher Birds‘ sole protest against a somnolent late-afternoon crowd too full of sun (and, presumably, booze) to bestir themselves and get into the tunes. Instead, the songs do the talking as the band powers through a set replete with cuts from new long-player Set My Bones.

The confidence is well placed: The Gate, Millions and Blood Message pitch a thumping, crunching bottom-end against fuzzing guitars and the sleek vocals of Stacey Coleman in the most toothsome fashion. Hook-laden fuzz becomes visceral, punk anger when Donovan Miller briefly steals vocals duties for Amp. Even if the punters are a little introverted today, the broad smiles of the Butcher Birds as they conclude with a screeching, dissonant cover of The Amps’ Tipp City shows at least four people in the Valley are keen to cut loose.

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