On Tour With Adelaide Rockers Cobra

Our first stop was in Brisbane, where we were staying with Dylan Davidson, the vocalist of post-hardcore band Deadlights, who recently signed to Greyscale Records.

Someone at the airport thought Dylan was their Uber driver, and began loading their bags into his car. Amid the confusion, and seeing that we were in a band, the drunken man bought one of our singles for $20, and proceeded to give us another $50 when we said it his initial purchase would help us eat.

Dylan and his housemates live in what surely used to be a Swingers household, the crowning jewel being the massive bathtub complete with a floor to ceiling window and a lush garden on the other side. Talk of the night was of Deadlights debut album Mesma, as Northlane proceeded to announce their forthcoming record Mesmer not long after; an unintended yet conflicting coincidence.

Our Brisbane show was at Crowbar, an awesome venue I would recommend to any hardcore, metal, or punk band. We met with Brad, Alex and Brendan from Three Wise Monkeys as we were loading in and were introduced to the fellas from Mobius and Indica, our local supports from Brisbane. Each band was fantastic. Mobius drummer Peter Strasser handled lead vocals like I had never seen before, and Three Wise Monkeys are a sight to behold, with every member a prodigious player. I constantly wonder how they have not yet been signed. Indica brought the heavy, all running Sunn 0))) T Model Re-Issue Heads, and sounding like a mix of Electric Wizard, Sleep and Down.

The following day we went to a waterfall on the Sunshine Coast with a rope swing and spent the day swimming, jumping and smoking. The weather was great and there were heaps of people around enjoying the sunshine and tropical vibes. There were plenty of stories of people grievously injuring themselves on the rope swing, but that was no barrier to bassist Kyle Clarke and myself.

The following day I went to see Meshuggah at the Tivoli with Dylan and Deadlights drummer Josh. I had purposely booked our tour around their dates so I could see them on every leg of the tour - let’s call it a birthday present to myself. The show was sick, as goes without saying, and afterwards we dropped in for a chat with Andy Marsh from Thy Art is Murder, as he manages Deadlights. Plenty of insight into the big bad music biz was discussed.

We had a blast in Brisbane and were upset to be leaving. Heading to Sydney that morning we had a BBQ with my Uncle and his family. A reminder that if you’re an independent band you can always do fun stuff while you’re on the road. That night Kyle and I saw Meshuggah at The Enmore. There had to be around 3000 people there, so it was one hell of a show.

The next morning we flew to Melbourne, where we had two days off before the show. We couldn’t check into our Air BnB straight away, so we went to get some food in the city. I left my backpack there and didn’t realise until we got back, and had to turn straight back to the city to get it. Our accommodation was a sweet four-story warehouse that had been converted into a home. We spent our time off catching up with mates who used to live in Adelaide.

The show that night was great fun, with Malcura being the stand out of our local supports. A mix of traditional flamenco and heavy metal conventions you will have never heard anything like it! This was our last show with Three Wise Monkeys, as Perth and Adelaide were both beyond their reach this time. It was both Cobra and 3WM’s first shows in Brisbane and Sydney, so we felt rather accomplished.

Feeling tender at the airport we were on the same flight as Client Liaison. It was interesting to see how much gear they had in comparison to us. Thankfully there were complimentary beers on the flight and I smashed a few Crownies while watching Suicide Squad. I should have heeded the warnings as it sucked.

Landing in Perth we made our way to our friend Marshall Cooper’s house, who plays in a punk band called the Sperts. A typically punk household full of skateboards and paraphernalia, Clowns had played a house party show a couple weeks beforehand.

At this point, we were all super broke, and as we went to get an Uber to the venue my account was too far overdrawn and no one else had cash. Marshall doesn’t drive so we had to ask his housemate, who only has a two-seater ute. We convinced him to let two of us jump in the tray. As we were fixing the lid we realised there was a bunch of Redback spiders and their egg sacks hanging off the tray. A quick attack with the broom to get rid of them and Kyle and I jumped in the back with all our gear. It kind of felt like being inside of a coffin.

It was amusing climbing out the back of the ute when we arrived for the gig. El Grotto is a sick Mexican themed cocktail bar on the beachfront in Scarborough. We were supported by Yaqui Yeti who played a grunge-influenced garage kind of psych rock, and Western Kinsmen of the Sun, who were one of my favourite bands on the entire tour! They really had it going on with every member of the band locked together.

Yanni and I went to see Meshuggah the next night while Kyke went off with the locals to Mojo’s Bar where The VeeBees were playing with The Sperts.

Our flight home was spent trying to catch up on sleep before the final show of our tour at Crown & Anchor. It was awesome and surreal to be home and drinking beers with our mates once again. We played with Euphoria and Pollard Row, two of our favourite up and coming prog bands from Adelaide. We can’t wait to tour Australia again with the release of our album later this year.