I saw Klaxons a few years back at the Forum. The mosh was incredible, but the show was a little, well, meh. They lacked the crazy antics and mental light show that should accompany their music. This time around, they kept the mosh and brought the rest along, too.
Here's my full review of the show, as published on thedwarf.com.au:
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They’ve taken their damn time with it all, but Klaxons are finally back on the scene, causing a stir and getting the indie ravers excited once again. In the interim, however, they’ve managed to lose a bit of the buzz that made them so huge off the back of Myths of the Near Future. The super-hype is overrated though, and even if Klaxons couldn’t sell tremendous amounts of tickets to their Melbourne show, they managed to put on one hell of a good one. Armed with their sophomore effort, Surfing the Void, Klaxons gave the eager punters exactly what they wanted.
Before the night’s main attraction came Parades, a local sextet that seems to be going from strength to strength. Parades offered the dismal showing of early comers a more than worthwhile set – the poor numbers probably thanks to the headliners late arrival and hour wait between live bands.
The band offered a mix of sounds, from ambient soundscapes to electronic numbers and with plenty of rock thrown in, too. Shared vocals helped a lot in variation stakes as well. One memorable track saw real percussion swapped for electronic pads, guitar replaced with an effects board and a water bottle of rice added to the mix – altogether creating a lengthy and impressive instrumental number, complete with some sweet vocal effects thrown in.
Not ones to save it all for the end, Parades broke into full rock jams throughout the set; the three guitarists playing in anarchy with drums thundering from the side of stage. That being said, the best of these moments was saved til last, with flashing white spotlights sending Parades out in fine form.
If there was any question as to what kind of show Klaxons were going to bring to Melbourne this time around, that was answered within five minutes of their arriving on stage. Opening with ‘Flashover’ off their latest release, Klaxons – who look like the most misfit outfit around (the rock star, the pretty boy, the creepy one and the geeky one) – bashed out a demonstration of the set to come: loud, fast and enough to get the rowdy crowd riled up.
Opening track 'Flashover'
The crowd reacted on the floor by surging into a mosh pit, jumping in chaotic unison and punching fists to the air. Similarly, those on the balcony gave their response, causing the platform to shake underfoot all round. From the beginning, the band and crowd were giving it their all.
There’ve been plenty of mixed reactions surrounding the Klaxons' second release, but all that was difficult to see as all songs slotted in nicely together on the setlist. There was little to no jarring between new and old and whilst the crowd admittedly reacted a lot more keenly to older favourites, the new stuff wasn’t snubbed off. The heavy radio beatings of ‘Echoes’ seemed to have paid off, too, with the track getting as big a crowd reaction as the formidable ‘Golden Scans’.
The mosh pit heaved throughout the hour set; there were crowd surfers, fights, cans and drinks thrown and other such ugly behaviour from within the crowd, but Klaxons seemed to lap it up, the band proclaiming, “That’s madness, that’s what that is” following the sheer mental reaction to ‘Magick’.
Before the clock’s big hand had completed full circle, Klaxons rounded out their set with another mosh-friendly number, ‘It’s Not Over Yet’ (which the crowd knew too well it wasn’t). Back they came minutes later with two more – ‘Surfing the Void’ (chaos in song form) and ‘Atlantis to Interzone’ – the final one proving to be the night’s standout with every booming “DJ” a signal for the crowd up front to intensify its behaviour.
Klaxons might have taken their time for the second take, but on the stage that period has paid off tremendously. They’ll be back for Falls Festival at year’s end and, quite frankly, this is what a good New Year’s party is calling for.
'Two Receivers'
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