11 October 2010
A fight broke out in the mosh and crowd surfers were bobbing past our heads before Alexisonfire had even finished opening track Young Cardinals; this was just the beginning of a raucous night at Sydney’s Roundhouse.
It was a mish-mash set from the Canadian five-piece, new tracks We Are Heading For the Sun and Old Crows alternated with Crisis album tracks like We Are The Sound and This Could Be Anywhere In The World. A shredding rendition of No Transitory was also thrown in from the band’s second album Watch Out!
Frontman George Petit saw the anarchy taking place in the pit, kids were spilling over the barrier before security could catch them; he asked the crowd for mutual respect from fans and security.
“This next song is a love song and for every person on this room. This is for everyone on this Goddamn continent. We love coming here, this song is called Rough Hands,” with a cheeky grin, George introduced the crowd favourite.
Midnight Regulations followed and guitarist Wade MacNeil and bassist Chris Steele showcased the intricate skill in post-hardcore, making it look seamlessly fluent.
Alexisonfire played the title track from their new EP Dog’s Blood; the song was well received and proved the boys had not lost their heavy grit. Accept Crime from their fourth and latest album Old Crows/Young Cardinals seemed to be a little too much for the AOF zealots; three fans tried to fight their way onto the stage and one was successful.
However, his taste of fame was short-lived, he was crash-tackled and dragged backstage after knocking the seraphic-voiced Dallas Green’s mic stand over.
“I'm pretty sure that guy had an assault rifle and just came up here and started shooting,” said Petit.
Green was soon jeered back onstage and ripped us to shreds with This Could Be Anywhere In The World before the band vacated the stage.
Questioning the chants of “One more song, one more song” when the band emerged, MacNeil howled for the crowd’s approval that they had “four more Goddammit…it’s not that hard!”
Of the four encore tracks which included a haunting cover of Midnight Oil’s The Dead Heart, the bands Methodist hymn inspired track The Northern was an unequivocal highlight. Petit stood atop the amp, his arms wide open like a possessed effigy. Steele moved like a zombie about the stage as strings of saliva fell heavy from his beard.
For the final track Happiness By The Kilowatt, the crowd was treated to a 9-minute rendition with an impressive instrumental in the guts of it.
Petit spat his Mount Franklin water into Steele’s mouth before the band threw their towels in. Drummer Jordan ‘Ratbeard’ Hastings threw his sticks into the sweat-soaked crowd, and the band said Bonjour to another epic live show.
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