As part of touring around Australia with the Soundwave Festival, the various genre of bands
all played warm-up side shows the night before hitting the main stages at each of the states. While in Melbourne, Straylight Run played at the Next! at Colonial Hotel, corner of King and Lonsdale St, along with Jaguar Love and Minus the Bear.
Now, my companions that night included (by their blog IDs) Chicken, Patrick, Chau! and Veeble; a bunch of crazy hooligan friends I picked up around my first year of university. Actually, change of plans, I seem to have writers block, so from now on, I’m just going to write as I talk…no more structured sentences! (Thanks Chicken!)
Ok, so here’s the story, we were in the city at about 6pm, and the show was scheduled to start at 9pm, so we had a good 3 hours to eat and bum (As in laze around! Don’t think dirty!! O_O).
In the end we ate at the Nandos along King St, and guess who came in! Straylight Run themselves!! My body almost died from sheer shock and happiness! I was just going to hide and spy on them for a while, but luckily my companions had more sense than me to convince me to talk and get photos with them, we did, and now I cherish these photos more than table tennis balls!
Anywhoooo, we got in the place at about 9pm. Next! is a nicely designed place, a darkish atmosphere with a light red glow theme (sorry I don’t remember much more!). The small stage was, of course, the central point for the venue, with various balconies and reserved places to view the performance.
The show started on time with Jaguar Love performing first, no offence, but they sounded horrible. With only two members, an OKish guitarist (using a Gibson SG guitar) and a crazy frizzball vocalist (with a cat’s screech for a voice), plus a tape for backup drums and sync, the whole thing sounded like a very loud and noisy mess…
Next, Straylight Run! They performed an array of old and new songs. Let me also note, that Will Noon is a mad drummer (in a good sense!) He really rips those drums like no tomorrow!
Starting off with Wait and Watch, they immediately captured my attention with its mixture of a melodic piano tune and thudding drum and bass beats, followed by a more heavier and aggressive chorus bellowing “I’m gonna wait and watch the world die!”
Mistakes We Knew We Were Making had a similar format, but with its chorus being a bit more cheery (poppy?) and less demanding. This was the song when I forgot about all my troubles. The lines “So we bottle and shelve, all our regrets…” and onwards really made me feel at bliss, and temporary shielded me from the issues and problems I was experiencing at the time…Thanks Straylight Run! =)Around the middle of the set, they played a new song, I think it was called I Do, but definitely not sure! Being the incurable nature of a live performance, it was hard to process and understand the new song completely, but it sounded like it had something to do with marrying someone?
Existentialism on Prom Night needs to be mentioned, as it is mine and Chicken’s song. Not much to note about this particular performance, except that without former member, Michelle Nolan’s guitar strums, it sounded very empty and naked, not that I’m complaining! I quite like this broken down version!
They finished off with an emotionally high Hands in the Sky, which I felt left a very foreboding and hollow feeling in the air, constantly echoing “…they’ll tell you when they’re hungry again… they’ll tell you when they’re hungry again… they’ll tell you when they’re hungry again…” A good mysterious and sense-hungry impression to leave on the audience!
Well, we left after their performance, we didn’t wait to watch Minus the Bear (personally, I didn’t want to risk another Jaguar Love like performance).
We all got home safely and that’s the end! I realise that I wrote too much! So if you read up to here, thanks for bearing to read all this nonsense! Really appreciated! I am definitely not a writer, nor do I particularly enjoy writing, so please don’t criticise my review too badly!
I would give Straylight Run’s side-show a whooping 5/5 ducks! They performed perfectly and well! Not relying on bopping heads and hardcore ‘rocking out’ like some other idiotic bands out there! Now, off to get Roast duck on my next outing! YUM!
Trung!
your description of jaguar love is SO strikingly pin pointedly ACCURATE!
there was no other way of describing them!
when i hear jaguar love's songs through their album it was much more bearable. thank goodness for technology to wind down his shrieks!!
love how you depicted the sounds of straylight run. great observations! you really illuminated the vast emotions and sweat that poured from nolan, noon and cooper's voices, talents and great looks. (yes nolan looked nice in his long beautiful curls and shaggy beard. but like i said, that's because the hair covers most of his face!)
it was a really big shame how we couldnt hear noon's voice very well, if at all.
but watching him play was definately satisfying.
thank you for posting!!
ps. the video's sound quality was better than i thought!
Thanks Chicken! your clucking comments have made my day! Plus I don't think this is a review, its more of a story!
Oh you posted! Thooper dooper (super duper, but with a lisp) work. Awesome, Trung! I like how you meticulously mentioned the "!" at the end of my name. So now when people read it to themselves, they'd have to shout it out.
CCW reader: ..Chicken, Patrick, (screams) CHAAU!!!!! and Veeble...
Oh noes, don't eat the ducks!
Trungle, you're such a fabulous raconteur. Meeting Straylight Run at Nando's was very cool. Who would have thought, they eat what we eat =) Go Nando's!
And Chau!, not only did he exclaim your name, he even remembered to do it for Next!. Oh that Trung, always one step ahead...
LOL!
CHAU!: (*shouts!) I THOUGHT THAT WAS YOUR AWESOME ONLINE BLOG NAME! IT HIDES YOUR TRUE IDENTITY, SO NO ONE KNOWS WHAT YOUR REAL NAME IS! JUST LIKE HOW SUPERMAN AMAZINGLY DISGUISES HIMSELF AS THE MILD MANNERED CLARK KENT WITH JUST A PAIR OF GLASSES!
Dearest Patrick: Ducks are wonderful! especially roasted! Don't know why Nando's decided to specialise in chicken when they could have made much more money in roast duck meals, plus it promotes duck season (run daffy!). PLUS ducks are cuter, so funner to kill! (joking! i'm not sadistic...)
John Nolan has an awesome voice...oh, *sigh*
Don't forget his awesome beard, makes any decent person purr.