Live Review: ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, The Red Paintings, Solkyri

Sydney quartet Solkyri open proceedings tonight, their passionate brand of instrumental post-rock filling the venue's confines with ease as the crowd starts to filter in. All four members switch seemlessly between caressing and punishing their instruments and treat each soaring song like a journey to navigate and survive, and it's quite fascinating to watch their commitment as the music clearly courses through their very being. They finish with current single Yes, I'm Breathing (from recent second album Sad Boys Club) which finds the three guitarists contorting and writhing in complete abandon.

Next up are prodigal art-rockers The Red Paintings, the former locals now ensconced overseas but still receiving a strong welcome from their old stomping ground. They've clearly shed neither their theatrical bent nor artistic pretensions, the stage resplendent with artists adorning human canvasses and strange affectations like a hamster wheel upon one of the amps, all augmented by strangely costumed forest nymphs scurrying through the crowd. Focused frontman Trash Mc Sweeney is as bombastic as ever as they pound through a string of intense art-rock productions such as It Is As It Was, The Fall Of Rome and Wasps, violinist Alix Kol in particular nicely fleshing out the pristine, sculpted sound as they end with a flurry of well received tracks including The Streets Fell Into My Window, I'll Sell You Suicide and old fave The Revolution Is Never Coming.

Finally the four members of Texan ensemble ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead enter the fray to INXS' Never Tear You Apart, bassist Autry Fulbright II pulling shapes with a conspicuous unlit cigarette as they start with an instrumental flourish before pounding into Will You Smile Again? which builds to an epic crescendo. Co-frontmen Conrad Keely and Jason Reece hammer their guitars and take turns spitting artful bile into their respective microphones, vocally uniting for the bombastic Heart In The Hand Of The Matter before Reece swaps positions with drummer Jamie Miller, who takes guitar/vocal reins for new track Lie Without A Liar (from recent album IX). Early number Mistakes & Regrets (from masterful 1999 sophomore effort Madonna) has lost none of its punch, nor has key single Another Morning Stoner (perhaps their most recognisable track, being from 2002 highwater mark Source Tags & Codes). They're still a force to be reckoned with in the live realm, delivering well oiled precision mayhem with panache, and they complete a powerful set with another classic run of tunes featuring Relative Ways, Caterwaul and A Perfect Teenhood.

Essentially requesting their own encore (asking politely, "Is it okay if we play a couple more songs?"), ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead finish with another burst of their trademark visceral intensity, Worlds Apart sounding massive before it all builds into a maelstrom which finds Reece absolutely pummelling the drum kit like his life depends on it. At the conclusion of the ferocious barrage the band all file into the darkness, just Keely remaining on stage noodling away in silhouette before he's suddenly gone too, leaving a cutting edge to the enveloping silence.